Help! had its Royal World Premiere at the London Pavilion Theatre in the West End of London on 29 July 1965 in the presence of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and the Earl of Snowdon. While not reviewed at the time with the same high level of admiration as their first film, Help! is now credited with influencing the development of music videos.
An easterncult (a parody of the Thuggee cult) is about to sacrifice a woman to their goddess, Kali. They notice that she is not wearing the sacrificial ring. Instead, Ringo Starr, drummer of the Beatles, has the ring, sent to him by the intended victim, who is a fan of the band. Determined to retrieve the ring and sacrifice the girl, the chief priest, Clang, several cult members, and high priestess Ahme leave for London. After failed attempts to steal the ring without Ringo noticing, they confront him in an Indian restaurant. Ringo learns that he will be the next sacrifice if he does not give up the ring. However, the ring is stuck on his finger and he cannot take it off.
The Beatles are chased around London by members of the cult. After a jeweller fails to cut the ring off, the band resorts to the bumbling efforts of Professor Foot, a mad scientist and his assistant Algernon; when his equipment has no effect on the ring, Foot decides that he must somehow acquire it. Ahme comes to the Beatles' rescue and tries to shrink Ringo's finger to get the ring off with a temporary shrinking solution, but the cult and the scientists ambush the band's home, causing Ahme to drop the syringe in Paul, temporarily shrinking him instead.
Once Paul returns to his normal size, the band runs to the Austrian Alps and narrowly escapes a trap there, thanks to Ahme, who is secretly aiding them. To stay safe, they ask for protection from Scotland Yard. They are hidden in Buckingham Palace, narrowly avoiding capture by the scientists. Later at a pub, Clang sets a trap for Ringo involving a trap door and a tiger.
Then they flee to the Bahamas, followed by the police officers, the scientists, and the cult members. After Ringo is nearly captured, the police have the other Beatles pose as him in order to ensnare the cult members. Despite their best efforts, however, the scientists catch Ringo and hide him aboard a boat where Foot intends to cut off Ringo's finger to get the ring. Ahme rescues Ringo by giving the scientists the shrinking solution in exchange. The two of them dive into the ocean to escape, but Ringo cannot swim, and they are both captured by Clang and his followers.
In the end, when Ringo is about to be sacrificed on the beach, the ring suddenly comes off. He puts the ring on Clang's finger, who is then chased by his own cult as the song "Help!" plays.
Viviane Ventura as Girl on the sacrificial altar (uncredited)
Production
According to interviews conducted with Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr for The Beatles Anthology, director Richard Lester was given a larger budget for this film than he had for A Hard Day's Night, thanks to the commercial success of the latter. Thus, this feature film was in colour and was shot on several overseas locations. It was also given a more extensive musical score than A Hard Day's Night, provided by a full orchestra, and included excerpts of well known classical music: Wagner's Lohengrin, Act III prelude, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and, during the end credits and with the Beatles' own comic vocalisations, Rossini's Barber of Seville overture, as well as orchestral arrangements of Beatles songs, among them "A Hard Day's Night" and "She's a Woman." The original title for the film – only changed to Help! very near to its release – was Eight Arms to Hold You.[4] As such, Capitol Records' original pressings of the "Ticket to Ride" single have the subheading: From the United Artists release "Eight Arms to Hold You."[5]
Help! was shot in London, Salisbury Plain, the AustrianAlps, New Providence Island and Paradise Island in the Bahamas, and Twickenham Film Studios. Shooting commenced in the Bahamas on 23 February 1965. Starr commented in The Beatles Anthology that they were in the Bahamas to film the hot weather scenes, and therefore had to wear light clothing even though it was winter and the weather at the time was actually cool. Tony Bramwell, the assistant to Beatles manager Brian Epstein, stated in his book A Magical Mystery Tour that Epstein chose the Bahamas for tax reasons. According to The Beatles Anthology, during the restaurant sequence filmed in early April, Harrison began to discover Indian-style music, which would be a key element in future songs such as "Norwegian Wood". Filming finished on 14 April at Ailsa Avenue in Twickenham.[citation needed]
The ski scenes were shot at Obertauern, a small village in Austria. One reason this location was chosen was that the stars of the film were less likely to be recognised there than at one of the larger resorts with many British tourists. The Beatles were in Obertauern for about two weeks in March 1965 along with a film crew of around 60 people. Locals served as ski stunt doubles for the Beatles, who stayed at the hotel "Edelweiss". Most of the crew were based in the hotel Marieta, where one night the Beatles gave an impromptu concert on the occasion of a director's assistant's birthday. This was the only time they ever performed in Austria.[6]
The Beatles did not particularly enjoy filming Help!,[7] nor were they pleased with the end product. In 1970, John Lennon said they felt like extras in their own film:
The film was out of our control. With A Hard Day's Night, we had a lot of input, and it was semi-realistic. But with Help!, Dick Lester didn't tell us what it was all about.
Ten years later Lennon was more charitable:
I realize, looking back, how advanced it was. It was a precursor to the Batman "Pow! Wow!" on TV – that kind of stuff. But [Lester] never explained it to us. Partly, maybe, because we hadn't spent a lot of time together between A Hard Day's Night and Help!, and partly because we were smoking marijuana for breakfast during that period. Nobody could communicate with us, it was all glazed eyes and giggling all the time. In our own world. It's like doing nothing most of the time, but still having to rise at 7am, so we became bored.[8]
A contributing factor was exhaustion attributable to their busy schedule of writing, recording and touring. Afterwards they were hesitant to begin another film project, and Help! was their last full-length scripted theatrical film. The Beatles saw the 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine (in which their characters were voiced by actors, and they themselves made only a token appearance) as a favourable way to complete their commitment to United Artists for a third film. Many fans have assumed that the cartoon did not satisfy the contract, but their cameo appearance at the end was included so as to satisfy the terms of the contract requiring their personal appearances in three films. The Beatles' next film Let It Be (1970) was not connected to the original three-picture deal.[9]
Inspiration
The Beatles said the film was inspired by the classic Marx Brothers film Duck Soup;[10] it was also directly satirical of the James Bond series of films.[11] At the time of the original release of Help!, its distributor, United Artists, also held the rights to the Bond series.[citation needed]
The humour of the film is strongly influenced by the abstract humour of The Goon Show, in which the director had personal and direct experience in the conversion of the radio format to television, and personal working experience with Peter Sellers in particular.[12] Beatles recording producer George Martin had also produced records for the Goon Show team. McCartney has always said that the Beatles' style of humour was taken from the Goon Show. Many of the film's concepts are derived from Goon Shows, such as the presence of wild animals, music, fourth wall-breaking jokes and abstractions such as the closing statement that concludes the film.[citation needed]
Among the original working titles for the film were Beatles Phase II and Beatles Two, before Starr suggested Eight Arms to Hold You,[13] which was announced as the official title in mid-March 1965.[14][15][16] The latter title was printed on the cover artwork of the single "Ticket to Ride" as from the upcoming film.[17][18][19] Because of this, the phrase has been used as a title for an album by Veruca Salt, and for songs by Goon Squad for the Goonies movie, and by the Brittles, a Beatles-pastiche band.[citation needed]
By mid-April 1965, the press was already announcing the film would be retitled.[20][21] In an interview, Starr said "We wanted to use Stop the World, We Want to Get On, but I believe that Brando's doing that," though it may have been said in sarcasm.[21] Producer Walter Shenson also suggested the title The Day the Clowns Collapsed.[13]Help! was settled on as the film's title later in April, after neither Lennon nor McCartney were able to compose a good title song from its previous name.[13] Lennon then wrote the song "Help!" that same night. The official title was announced on 14 April. Aside from Eight Arms to Hold You, this title won over suggestions from Harrison (Who's Been Sleeping in My Porridge) and United Artists producer Walter Shenson (The Day the Clowns Collapsed).[22] The Beatles had also suggested High-Heeled Knickers, a play on the title of Tommy Tucker's 1964 hit song "High-Heeled Sneakers".[23]
Michael Peto photographs
The photographer Michael Peto was commissioned in 1965 to take still photographs during the making of the film; these became known for their candid and expressive quality. During the digitisation of the Michael Peto Collection, which is held by Archive Services, University of Dundee, in 2002, 500 previously unpublished photographs of the Beatles taken during the making of Help! were reported to have been uncovered.[24]Now These Days are Gone, a limited edition volume of Peto's photographs focusing on the Beatles images was produced in 2006 with deluxe editions of the book signed by Richard Lester. An exhibition of the photographs to mark the book's launch was held at Hoopers Gallery, Clerkenwell, in January 2006.[25] Another exhibition of the photographs was held at the University of Dundee in 2007 as part of the university's 40th anniversary celebrations, with the exhibition then moving to the National Conservation Centre, Liverpool.[26] In 2011, the photographs were exhibited in Dundee, as part of the Scottish Beatles Weekend, and at the Proud Gallery in Camden.[27]
"The Night Before" (interspersed with excerpts of "She's A Woman", with an explosion at the end not heard on the Beatles' commercial recordings. Also played as an instrumental)
"She's a Woman" (heard in the background, on a tape machine, and underground in the Salisbury Plain scene)
"A Hard Day's Night" titled on the US soundtrack album as "Another Hard Day's Night" (played by Indian musicians and as an instrumental medley comprising "A Hard Day's Night", "Can't Buy Me Love" and "I Should Have Known Better")
"You Can't Do That" (played as an instrumental during the Austrian Alps sequence)
"From Me to You" titled on the US soundtrack album as "From Me to You Fantasy" (played as an instrumental during scenes of attempts to remove the ring from Ringo's finger while he sleeps in the Beatles' communal house)
The seven main songs formed the first side of the British release of the Help! album. The second side consisted of other new Beatles songs recorded at the same time or shortly afterwards. The US album, released by Capitol Records, includes the seven film tracks along with instrumental soundtrack songs orchestrated by Ken Thorne. In addition, the US Help! opens with a hidden track stylised as a satirical "James Bond Theme" before the title track. Early pressings of the US version of the album 1962–1966 include this hidden track banded as "Help!", and later pressings, when the UK catalogue was made the official and only catalogue of Beatles albums, omit it. The end credits are played over Rossini's "The Barber of Seville".
Critical response
Upon its release, reviews for Help! were mixed. The Daily Express's reviewer found Lester's direction "a joy to watch" and called the Beatles "the closest thing to the Marx Brothers since the Marx Brothers". By contrast, the Daily Mirror, Britain's best-selling newspaper at the time, said Help! relied too heavily on "the likeable vacant grin of John Lennon, the smooth charm of Paul, the long-haired good looks of George, and the darkly villainous looks of the Long-Nosed One [Ringo Starr]", and that these qualities were insufficient to carry a film.[23] In his contemporary review in The New York Times, film critic Bosley Crowther stated: "It's a fiasco of farcical whimseys that are thrown together in this film – a clutter of mechanical gimmicks and madcap chases... Funny? Exciting? Different? Well, there's nothing in "Help!" to compare with that wild ballet of the Beatles racing across a playground in "A Hard Day's Night", nothing as wistful as the ramble of Ringo around London all alone... The boys themselves are exuberant and uninhibited in their own genial way. They just become awfully redundant and – dare I say it? – dull."[28]
In a retrospective review, Leslie Halliwell describes the film as an "[e]xhausting attempt to outdo A Hard Day's Night in lunatic frenzy, which goes to show that some talents work best on low budgets. The humour is a frantic cross between Hellzapoppin', The Goons, Goofy, Mr. Magoo and the shade of Monty Python to come. It looks good but becomes too tiresome to entertain."[29]
Help!'s pop art style influenced the Batman TV series and the direction of the contemporary advertising industry. Although Lester's depiction of Indian culture was largely negative and stereotypical, the film's focus on Kali and other Hindu themes anticipated the counterculture's fascination with Indian philosophy and music.[30] In his book 1965: The Year Modern Britain Was Born, cultural commentator Christopher Bray views Help! as "one of the central surrealist texts" of the 1960s, and the film that best captures the "magical weirdness" of London before the commercialisation that accompanied its international recognition as the world's "Swinging City".[31]
Ronnie D. Lankford of AllMovie describes Help! as a "forerunner to music videos", adding: "Lester seemed to find the right tone for Help!, creating an enjoyable portrait of the Beatles and never allowing the film to take itself too seriously. His style would later be co-opted by Bob Rafelson for the Monkees' television series in the '60s and has continued to influence rock musicals like 1998's Spice World.[32][clarification needed]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Help! finds the Fab Four displaying their infectious charm and humor in an enjoyably madcap adventure."[33] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 58 out of 100, based on eight critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[34]
Novelisation
A novelisation entitled The Beatles in Help! was written by Al Hine and published by Dell in 1965.
A sequence featuring Frankie Howerd and Wendy Richard was filmed but left out of final editing owing to its length. However, the sequence was left in the film novelisation.
Release history
Like A Hard Day's Night, Help! was originally distributed theatrically by United Artists – the company handled distribution from 1965 to the end of 1980. In January 1981, rights to the film reverted from UA to producer Walter Shenson, and the film was withdrawn from circulation.
Help! was released several times in different video formats by MPI Home Video and The Criterion Collection. A version was released in February 1987 in VHS and Beta through MPI, along with a reissue of A Hard Day's Night the very same day, and was followed by a special-edition release on 31 October 1995. MPI also issued a CLV laserdisc in 1995 and two releases on DVD, the first as a single DVD release on 12 November 1997 and the second as part of The Beatles DVD Collector's Set on 8 August 2000.
LaserDisc releases include a Criterion CAV laserdisc and a Voyager CLV laserdisc in 1987, each of which had three pressings. The first pressings had no UPC on the gatefold covers while the other two had the UPC either as a sticker or printed directly on the jacket.
The film's transfer on the CAV laserdiscs was done correctly so that no blending of frames occurs and thus movements are not blurry. The supplemental section, which, with few exceptions, has never been available on any other home video release, contains the following:
original theatrical trailer (which includes deleted scenes)
silent home film footage of the film set and of the world premiere
still photos, some of which are introduced by text describing the production history of the film
posters
sheet music
record jackets
radio ads (on audio during the silent footage)
an open interview, originally designed for disc jockeys. By reading prompts on the screen, one can pretend to talk to the Beatles.
In June 2007, a version of Help!, sub-titled in Korean, became available on Amazon.com. However, by July 2007, all home video versions of the film were pulled from the market because of rights issues involving Apple Corps – now the full rights holders to the film. The rights issues were eventually resolved and Apple Corps/EMI/Capitol released a new double DVD version with a fully restored image and newly remixed in 2.0 stereo and 5.1surround sound of the film. This came in standard 2xDVD packaging and 2xDVD deluxe edition box set on 30 October 2007 in the UK and 6 November 2007 in America.[35] This latest release contains new featurettes, three trailers (one of which is in Spanish), and the aforementioned radio ads carried over from the Criterion LaserDisc issue. The film was released on Blu-ray format in June 2013 by Universal Music, now the owners of EMI/Capitol Records, using the 2007 restoration.[36]
Sir Richard Starkey, known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, usually for one song on each album, including "Yellow Submarine" and "With a Little Help from My Friends". He also wrote and sang the Beatles songs "Don't Pass Me By" and "Octopus's Garden", and is credited as a co-writer of four others.
A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 by Parlophone, with side one containing songs from the soundtrack to their film of the same name. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing that included selections from George Martin's film score. In contrast to the Beatles' first two albums, all 13 tracks on A Hard Day's Night were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, showcasing the development of their songwriting partnership.
Help! is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles "Help!" and "Ticket to Ride", appeared in the film and take up the first side of the vinyl album. The second side includes "Yesterday", the most-covered song ever written. The album was met with favourable critical reviews and topped the Australian, German, British and American charts.
A Hard Day's Night is a 1964 musical comedy film starring the English rock band the Beatles – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – during the height of Beatlemania. Directed by Richard Lester, it was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists. The film portrays 36 hours in the lives of the group as they prepare for a television performance.
"A Hard Day's Night" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was primarily written by John Lennon, with some minor collaboration from Paul McCartney. It was released on the soundtrack album A Hard Day's Night in 1964. It was also released as a single in the UK, and in the US
Ringo is the third studio album by English musician Ringo Starr, released in 1973 on Apple Records. It peaked at No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the RIAA. In Canada, it reached No. 1 on the RPM national albums chart.
"This Boy" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon–McCartney). It was released in November 1963 as the B-side of the band's Parlophone single "I Want to Hold Your Hand". In the United States, it was issued in January 1964 on Meet the Beatles! which was Capitol Records' reconfigured version of the With the Beatles album. The Beatles performed the song live on 16 February 1964 for their second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. An instrumental easy listening arrangement by George Martin, re-titled "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)", was featured in the film A Hard Day's Night and the United Artists soundtrack album. This version was also issued as a single, reaching number 53 in the US and number one in Canada.
"You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written and sung by John Lennon and released on the album Help! in August 1965.
"The Night Before" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 film Help! and soundtrack album of the same name. It was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Described as a pop rock or rock and roll song, its lyrics reflect on the singer's last night with his lover before being abandoned.
"I Need You" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1965 album Help! It was written by George Harrison, the group's lead guitarist, and was the second composition of his to be released by the Beatles. The track appears in their film Help!, in a scene filmed on Salisbury Plain where the group were under military protection from a murderous cult.
"I Should Have Known Better" is a song by English rock band the Beatles composed by John Lennon and originally issued on A Hard Day's Night, their soundtrack for the film of the same name released on 10 July 1964. "I Should Have Known Better" was also issued as the B-side of the US single "A Hard Day's Night" released on 13 July.
"And I Love Her" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. It is the fifth track of their third UK album A Hard Day's Night and was released 20 July 1964, along with "If I Fell", as a single release by Capitol Records in the United States, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"I'll Cry Instead" is a song written by John Lennon, and recorded by the English rock band the Beatles for their third studio album, A Hard Day's Night (1964), a part-studio and part-soundtrack album to their film of the same name (1964). In the United States, the song originally appeared in the US version of A Hard Day's Night before it was released as a single backed with "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" along with the US album Something New.
Maureen Starkey Tigrett, also known as Mo Starkey, was a hairdresser from Liverpool, England, best known as the first wife of Ringo Starr, the Beatles' drummer. When she was a trainee hairdresser in Liverpool, she met him at the Cavern Club, where the Beatles were playing. Starr proposed marriage at the Ad Lib Club in London on 20 January 1965. They married at the Caxton Hall Register Office, London, in 1965, and divorced in 1975.
"I'm the Greatest" is a song written by English musician John Lennon that was released as the opening track of the 1973 album Ringo by Ringo Starr. With Starr, Lennon and George Harrison appearing on the track, it marks the only time that three former Beatles recorded together between the band's break-up in 1970 and Lennon's death in 1980. Lennon wrote the song in December 1970 as a wry comment on his rise to fame, and later tailored the lyrics for Starr to sing. Named after one of Muhammad Ali's catchphrases, the song partly evokes the stage-show concept of the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. With a line-up comprising John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they are commonly regarded as the most influential band of all time. Between 1964 and 1970, they appeared in five major motion pictures, beginning with A Hard Day's Night (1964) and ending with Let It Be (1970). From late 1965 to 1969, the group also appeared in several promotional films for their singles, which have been credited with anticipating music videos and the rise of MTV in the 1980s.
The Beatles Anthology is a documentary television series on the career of the Beatles. It was broadcast on UK television in six parts on ITV between 26 November and 31 December 1995, while in the United States it was seen as three feature-length episodes on ABC between 19 and 23 November 1995. It was released in greatly expanded form as an eight-volume VHS set and an eight-disc LaserDisc set on 5 September 1996. The series was re-released on DVD in 2003, with an 81-minute special-features disc.
"Eight Days a Week" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon based on McCartney's original idea. It was released in December 1964 on the album Beatles for Sale, except in the United States and Canada, where it was first issued as a single A-side in February 1965 before appearing on the album Beatles VI. The song was the band's seventh number 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, a run of US chart success achieved in just over a year. The single was also number 1 in Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Extracts from the Album A Hard Day's Night is the Beatles seventh official EP, released in December 1964. This EP contains four tracks from the album that were not featured in the film. Its catalogue number is Parlophone GEP 8924. It was also released in France.
Everyday Chemistry is a remix album that was made available as a free digital download on 9 September 2009. The album was released along with a story of anonymous authorship. It mashes up various songs from the Beatles' individual solo careers, including tracks from 27 albums. The album portrays itself as being taken from an alternative universe in which the Beatles had not broken up.
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