Help! (1965)

Ringo Starr finds himself the human sacrifice target of a cult, and his fellow members of The Beatles must try to protect him from it.

Director:

Richard Lester

Writers:

Marc Behm (screenplay), Charles Wood (screenplay)

Stars:

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
The Beatles	...	The Beatles
Leo McKern	...	Clang
Eleanor Bron	...	Ahme
Victor Spinetti	...	Foot
Roy Kinnear	...	Algernon
John Bluthal	...	Bhuta
Patrick Cargill	...	Superintendent
Alfie Bass	...	Doorman
Warren Mitchell	...	Abdul
Peter Copley	...	Jeweller
Bruce Lacey	...	Lawnmower

Storyline

An Eastern cult discovers that the sacrificial ring is missing. Ringo, drummer of The Beatles band has it; sent by the girl (who's to be sacrificed) as a gift. Clang, Ahme, Bhuta and several cult members leave for London to retrieve the ring. After several failed attempts to steal the ring, they confront him in an Indian restaurant. Ringo learns that if he does not return the ring soon, he will become the next sacrifice. Ringo then discovers that the ring is stuck on his finger. Its a race against time; John, Paul, and George try to protect their friend while they're all being chased not only by Clang and his minions, but also by two mad scientists and the chief inspector of Scotland yard. Will Ringo be saved, or will he be sacrificed?

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Plot Keywords:

ring | mad scientist | human sacrifice | the beatles | drummer | 

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Taglines:

Help yourself to seven great new Beatle hits! (Poster).

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

¡Socorro!

Filming Locations:

Ailsa Avenue, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walter Shenson Films, Subafilms

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby Digital (re-release)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While filming in the Bahamas, The Beatles rented sports cars for each of them to drive in. According to various stories, they drove to a rock quarry and began having races and smashing into each other for fun. There is filmed evidence of this fact: in the theatrical trailer, there are excerpts of the Beatles driving around in the quarry, mixed with the movie footage.

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Goofs

When Clang is on the bike after the first attempt at getting the ring back, you can easily see the string/cable that pulls the bike along.

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Quotes

[Offering gold to Paul]
Clang: Hey, Be-a-tle! How about this, eh? Shufty gold! All of it pure gold in easy-to-handle denominational nuggets. Not marked, not a mark on 'em, eh?
Paul: No, I hate them.
Ahme: No!
Paul: I I do! I mean, they make your fingers go green.
Ahme: It is not the Beatle with the ring, he.
Paul: Aren't I?
Ahme: No unfortunately!
[laughs as Paul gives her a dirty look]

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Crazy Credits

During the closing credits, you can see Paul McCartney take a bong hit, then proceed to blow smoke into the camera.

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Alternate Versions

The film originally used the mono mix version of the song HELP! which has a different vocal performance from the stereo mix. When the film was 'remixed' into stereo, the stereo version was dubbed over the mono rather than remixed. This caused some lip-sync issues due to different phrasing and a lower-key HELP! from John when the title flashes up on the screen (the original mono version was more appropriately 'shouted' out).

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Bee Movie/Wristcutters: A Love Story/No Country for Old Men/Martian Child/Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains (2007)

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Soundtracks

I Need You
(1965)
Written by George Harrison
Performed by The Beatles (uncredited)
Published by Capitol Records

User Reviews

Outdo A Hard Day's Night?!? Why?

With all due respect to the doctor, the Beatles clearly had no intention of "outdo(ing) 'A Hard Day's Night.'" A little historical perspective will show that, unlike many entertainers of the day, the Beatles were obviously not too concerned with `selling out' or cashing in on a proven formula nor were they obsessed with the quality of the finished product necessarily. Lennon was later quoted as saying that the `best bits were left on the cutting room floor To suggest, however, that the Beatles were trying to `outdo A Hard Day's Night' is just unadulterated ignorance. One has to take into account that, in the sixties (especially in the Beatles' entourage), artistic integrity stood for something. Selling out was frowned upon and just wasn't what the Beatles did.

The restored film by The Four Media Company is worth searching out, as it contains the original version of the title song, `Help!,' which differs distinctly from the album, more well-known, version of the song. This version was originally released with the movie and the single, and was later eliminated from the album soundtrack in favor of a more polished version. In my own humble opinion, the version of the song `Help!' that originally appeared in the film release seems to represent more of how Lennon had intended the song. He's on record as stating that he always wanted to redo the song. It's not as upbeat as the album version, but it seems silly now to sing this song upbeat, given the subject matter.