Beatles First Movie and Soundtrack Marks 50

July 6,2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' first movie A HARD DAY'S NIGHT in which the date of the filming marked its golden anniversary four months earlier.

Being the first of the fab four's five films,the movie highlights the day in the life of a rock n' roll band in which no film has ever done before.

The film starts with George,John and Ringo being chased by female fans with George even tripping and slumping straight into the sidewalk.The Beatles' acting debut marks the band into another level,thus,the film became one of the most influential in the history of rock music.

The movie captures the humor of being in a rock group ran by paranoid producers and mischievous family members.It also shows the life of handling fame while seeking personal joy amidst touring and management pressures.It shadows the Beatles as "prisoners" as it was pointed out by Paul's grandfather(played by Irish actor Wilfrid Brambell) during a train scene featuring a cameo appearance by Pattie Boyd who later became the wife of George Harrison.Such word was probably used to symbolize the price of fame wherein they no longer have privacy and were already considered to be public property.

1964 was when Beatlemania was at its peak,the lads has just conquered the United States and Elvis was practically overwhelmed with the sudden change in rock music with  bands on both sides of the Atlantic having a 'friendly competition' with one another.Nevertheless,the bands that came from across the pond were much stronger and they just couldn't stop coming--rock music has changed indeed and it became the standard the way we hear it today.

The title of both the song and film was inspired by Ringo's whining about being tired from working all day and night.With the beginning scene featuring the band being chased off by female fans,director Richard Lester captured the band as near as how they deal with their own personal lives though he stated on one interview that such exposure of one's own personal life is considered x-rated during that time-at least thats what an x-rating means back then.

Wilfrid Brambell played Paul's fictional "grandfather"

The film was not only known for its famous songs but also it introduced the world into British humor.Homegrown manufactured bands like the Monkees got the idea of a television show because of this movie.John Lennon and Paul McCartney were said to have written the title track and got it delivered in less than 24 hours.And the fact that the movie's soundtrack is the sole Beatles album that has songs that were written alone by the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership.Other albums by the band if not with covers included in it such as the early stuff,were filled with songs written by the latter half of George Harrison and Ringo Starr.A DVD/Blu Ray re-issue was released last June 24 containing loads of extras and a documentary made by director Richard Lester.

(photo right:Pattie Boyd who made a cameo appearance in the movie and later became Mrs George Harrison)

 

 

 

THE SOUNDTRACK:

The soundtrack album came out four days later after the film was released.The release pattern during that time was different with the UK/ worldwide release and the US release.The latter's release,however was with a different song lineup with only nine songs including "I'll Cry Instead" with the other five songs on the original side two removed to the band's surprise.In its replacement instead were the film scores that can be heard on the movie.The action taken by Capitol and United Artists wasn't taken kindly by the fab four especially Paul McCartney,considering that their US distributor has been altering their albums since the very beginning.Both albums in their respective formats went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.


The original UK and worldwide release contains 13 songs,some of which were never sung on the film.

TRACK LISTING:
All tracks were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

1.A HARD DAY'S NIGHT
2.I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER
3.IF I FELL
4.I'M HAPPY JUST TO DANCE WITH YOU
5.AND I LOVE HER
6.TELL ME WHY
7.CAN'T BUY ME LOVE
8.ANY TIME AT ALL
9.I'LL CRY INSTEAD
10.THINGS WE SAID TODAY
11.WHEN I GET HOME
12.YOU CAN'T DO THAT
13.I'LL BE BACK


The original 13 track lineup was released in the US on February 26,1987 through the unification effort made by EMI and the US version was hereby deleted to avoid confusions among Beatles fans.The latter version however,was reissued on both box sets,first on the Capitol albums Volume 1 and later on the re-issued US box sets celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles arriving in America.


For my article about the story of the Beatles albums click here

US cover version

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio