A Hard Day's Night (1964)

Director:

Richard Lester

Writer:

Alun Owen (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 August 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Music

Tagline:

The Beatles starring in their first full-length, hilarious action-packed film !

Plot:

A 'typical' day in the life of the Beatles, including many of their famous songs. |

Plot Keywords:

The Beatles | Rehearsal | Pub | Police Chase | Screaming

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

John Lennon	...	John
Paul McCartney	...	Paul
George Harrison	...	George
Ringo Starr	...	Ringo
Wilfrid Brambell	...	John McCartney - Paul's Grandfather
Norman Rossington	...	Norm
John Junkin	...	Shake
Victor Spinetti	...	Richard - T.V. Director
Anna Quayle	...	Millie
Deryck Guyler	...	Police Inspector
Richard Vernon	...	Man on Train
Edward Malin	...	Hotel Waiter (as Eddie Malin)
Robin Ray	...	T.V. Floor Manager
Lionel Blair	...	T.V. Choreographer
Alison Seebohm	...	Dolly - Simon's Secretary

Also Known As:

Beatles No. 1 (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (1982 re-release) | Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Australia:G (original rating) | Canada:F (Ontario) (re-rating) (1982) | Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating) (1982) | Canada:PG (Ontario) (original rating) | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/12 | USA:Approved (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1979) | USA:TV-14 (cable rating) | Argentina:Atp | Finland:S | France:U (2001 re-release) | Peru:PT | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | West Germany:6 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, London, England, UK

Company:

Proscenium Films

Trivia:

John's written answer to the female reporter asking him if he has any hobbies, is the word "tits".

Goofs:

Continuity: When The Beatles leave their fan letters to go clubbing, George and John are wearing white dress shirts covered by coats. When they are later seen dancing at the club, George is and John are wearing black turtlenecks.

Quotes:

Grandfather: Look, I thought I was supposed to be getting a change of scenery. But so far, I've been in a train and a room, and a car and a room, and a room and a room. Well, maybe that's all right for a bunch of powdered gee-gahs like yourselves, but I'm feeling decidedly strait-jacketed.
Lead makeup woman: What a clean old man!
Grandfather: Ah, don't press your luck.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield (1997) (VG)

Soundtrack:

If I Fell

Beatlemania in black and white

What a fun movie. I first saw this during it's initial theatrical release as a kid in 1964. (They gave us black and white Beatles Fan Club buttons.) Looking back through a 10 year old's eye's I couldn't wait to see The Beatles in a movie. I had seen them on TV and in magazines but an entire movie about them was going to be a watershed event in the career of the group. Indoctrinated by all the corny teen movies that mostly were made prior to Hard Day's Night you knew that if they were going to be portrayed as conventional teen idols it was going to be a bust but if it was a glimpse into what it was like being a Beatle and the London mod scene of '64 and The Beatles in their irreverent but likable persona with cool clothes and Beatle boots and lots of Beatle's music and The Beatles playing their guitars it was going to be a hit. Well it didn't disappoint. I didn't even expect there to be a story. I just wanted to see the Beatles on the big screen and hear their music. (The theater even had women playing nurses in nursing outfits and stretchers for people who fainted. Cool and campy. I have to give that theater credit for all they did. The first 50 people in got Beatles wigs.) As I grew older this film did not when I would see it on TV. Sure it was dated but it was still fun. Supporting, or in this case actual actors, Norman Rossington as Norm and Victor Spinetti as the TV Director along with Wiford Brambell as Paul's "clean" grandfather and John Junkin as Jake gave the movie a legitimate cast to cohesively hold it together and it worked well but heck, The Beatles were good on their own first time out. George Harrison's future wife, fashion model Pattie Boyd is one of the girls in the train car with the band (Her only line is "prisonors") and even future rock and pop star Phil Collins is in a scene as a teen fan. Director Richard Lester should have been at least nominated for an Academy Award as Best Director. Alun Owen did get a nomination for Best Screenplay in the only film he ever did. George Martin also received an Academy Award nomination for Scoring of Music Adaptation. Any of The Beatles songs in this film should have been nominated for Best Original Song but they weren't. Gilbert Taylor was the cinematographer for this film. He had just come off doing the cinematography for the film Dr. Strangelove. John Jympson who had just come off editing the film Zulu was the editor. This film does a wonderful job of capturing the era of mid 1960's London and Beatlemania on film in black and white. Their next film Help, also directed by Lester tried to be too James Bondish and although good was largely silly and didn't come close to HDN. This film has been with me so long and I've seen it so many times I can't help but give it a 10.