A HARD DAY'S NIGHT!

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For reasons that will soon become obvious, it's actually been "A Hard Day's Hell" as I drove completely across town to pay a short visit to my Mother, grabbed her mail at the end of the driveway and proceeded into the house only to realize that my cell phone had disappeared. After an extensive search, I called my cell phone service provider and had the phone locked up, trying to imagine some moron who may have come upon said phone at a gas station where I had just purchased a good cup of coffee probably calling all over Europe to his or her friends (on the assumption they have friends...and specifically, in Europe!). Needless to add, I spent substantially all afternoon backtracking like Dennis Hopper in--well, the movie "Backtrack", albeit without the pleasure of Jodie Foster along. Fate later lent a hand when my Mother phoned me at home on the Land Line earlier in the evening to say the cell phone was recovered. "I found it! It was on the grass where you got out of your car". So, I had the cellular service restored of course with no moron in the actual story (please, I know!). Afterwards, I drove across town again to reclaim the cell phone, as I've started yet another freelance assignment and needed the phone badly. When I stopped to refuel, the overhead outdoor speakers at the gas station were playing "In My Life" by The Beatles. So, I figured one good fortune deserved another in the form of lighter fare that is fun. And on the strength of this deep story of mine, I decided to hold off on my original pick for "Friday Movie Suggestion Night" and bring forward a fun cast of characters. They are rather obvious (but still fun to introduce): 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 the band's Manager; John Junkin as Shake; Victor Spinetti as the T.V. Director; Anna Quayle (no relation to Dan) as Millie, and Deryck Guyler as the Police Inspector.

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This film debuted as "The Boy's" first Soundtrack with the songs, "I'll Cry Instead", "A Hard Day's Night", "I Should Have Known Better", "Can't Buy Me Love", "If I Fell", "And I Love Her", "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You", "This Boy" (which I just learned is also known as "Ringo's Theme"), "Tell Me Why", "Don't Bother Me", " I Wanna Be Your Man", "All My Loving" (still a hot number at a McCartney concert today), and "She Loves You". All brought together neatly with my cell phone story! The film was Directed by Richard Lester and was shot for United Artists in black and white over a 16-week period in the spring of 1964 because the studio thought that Beatlemania wouldn't even last into the summer! So, the thinking was 'Why blow a wad of cash on color?' One cool innovative technique that works well here is cutting the images to the beat of the music. Lester also produced "Help" in 1965 and well into the 1970's and 1980's with films such as "The Three Musketeers" and "Superman II". Screenwriter Alun Owen was chosen because the band was familiar with his brand of Liverpool humor and dialogue. THE PLOT: This is a mock documentary-style of The Beatles arriving at a theatre to rehearse and later perform in a television special. During the filming, The Beatles described their existence to Owen over a 7-day period as "a room and a car and a room and a car and a room and car". An unfortunate and accurate description I have personally found in every book I've read on The Beatles first arrival here in the United States. Owen quickly grasped that in just two years, The Beatles were prisoners of their own fame, and their schedule of performances and studio work (by that time) was beyond exhaustion. In this film, The Beatles appear constantly amazed at the attention they receive and want nothing more than to run around and have a good time. But to do so meant having to deal with escaping screaming crowds to save life and limb, not to mention putting up a semi-serious demeanor with journalists asking frankly stupid questions. But it is fun! In 2004, Total Film magazine named "A Hard Day's Night" as the 42nd Greatest British Film of All Time. And in 2005, Time.com named it one of the "100 Best Films of the Last 80 Years". ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS, 1965: Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment: George Martin; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen: Alun Owen. So, how could I resist? One more word.

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ENJOY!