A Hard Day’s Night (#084)

Directed by: Richard Lester » Written by: Alun Owen, 1964 » Region/Time: U.K., black & white, 87 minutes

Starring: John Lennon as John » Paul McCartney as Paul » George Harrison as George » Ringo Starr as Ringo » Wilfrid Brambell as Paul’s Grandfather » Norman Rossington as Norm » John Junkin as Shake.

“Are you a mod or a rocker?” – Journalist
“I’m a mocker” – Ringo

Oh, that glorious, ringing chord! It blasts out of George Harrison’s 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and hangs suspended for a few moments before the rest of the song comes charging in. From that point on, neither the song nor the film A Hard Day’s Night let up their hectic forward motion.

Titled after a late-night comment by Ringo, A Hard Day’s Night is a fictionalized snapshot of a day in the life of The Beatles circa 1964. At the time the movie was being filmed, they had the top 5 spots on the top 40 singles charts: “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “Twist and Shout”, “She Loves You”, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Please Please Me”. They were kings of the world, and they knew it.

In the movie, The Beatles are charged with looking after Paul grandfather (“That’s not your grandfather. I’ve met your grandfather.” “This is my other one.” “How’d you reckon that, then?” “Well…everyone’s entitled to two.”) who is, apparently, very clean. In addition, the fictional roadie and manager, Norm and Shake, have to guide the fab foursome through a press conference and a live TV performance, all the while avoided the rampaging mob of screaming girls. The movie is a thin scaffolding that allows The Beatles to sing and joke about at will. Although there was a script, many of The Beatles one-liners were ad libbed: “How did you find America?” “Turn left at Greenland.”; “What do you call that haircut?” “Arthur.” In the same sequence, a female reporter asks John if he has any hobbies. He takes her notepad and clearly writes “tits” on it.

Watching the movie now, full of screaming girls who seem to be literally LOSING THEIR MINDS, one can see how our celebrity culture has changed. While people still obsess over celebrity, people don’t seem to lose their sanity as much these days. In the final concert sequence there is one blonde girl in particular who is hilarious: tears are pouring down her face and she is screaming “GEORGE!” My favourite sequence is when the boys momentarily escape their rehearsal for the TV show by running around in a field like a bunch of idiots while “Can’t Buy Me Love” blasts on the soundtrack.

The movie itself is filmed in a pseudodocumentary style, in sharp black & white handheld camera and full of jump cuts, freeze frames and fast- and slow-motion. It was an incredibly influential film of its time. Critics went to the preview screenings ready to savage the movie, only to be won over before the opening credits were finished. Roger Ebert writes that “after more than three decades, it has not aged and is not dated; it stands outside its time, its genre and even rock. It is one of the great life-affirming landmarks of the movies. … Today when we watch TV and see quick cutting, hand-held cameras, interviews conducted on the run with moving targets, quickly intercut snatches of dialogue, music under documentary action and all the other trademarks of the modern style, we are looking at the children of A Hard Day’s Night.”

Two small items of music trivia: Phil Collins appears briefly as a fan in the “She Loves You” concert sequence and one of the two schoolgirls on the train ended up being George Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. Pattie Boyd had perhaps the greatest love song written about her, “Something”, after which she started having an affair with George’s best friend, Eric Clapton, who wrote “Layla” for her. As ridiculously nice as he was, Harrison forgave Clapton, and Clapton and Boyd married in the late 1970s.

And regarding that opening chord, here here is a physics paper that discusses it.

Up Next in the Film Canon: Fear of the Blank Page.