A Day In Their Lives

Rating: 7/10 (23 July 2014)

Just passed its 50th anniversary now, "A Hard Day's Night" remains a fresh and exuberant film capturing the energy and spirit of the young Beatles as they get through a typical day of travelling, press-conferences and musical appearances. Interspersed are several of the group's numbers, some are from past singles and albums while most are from the newly- minted soundtrack album and containing such new classics as the title track and smash single "Can't Buy Me Love", "And I Love Her" and "If I Fell".
The movie is slightly fleshed out by the ten minute concert at the end but before that the boys are given ample acting opportunity at which they acquit themselves surprisingly well given it's their collective debut. Yes, there's a touch of stereotyping in their respective personae, the rebellious Lennon, romantic Paul, deadpan George and sullen Ringo, but it's also possible to detect some likely improvisation by them, which only adds to the overall spontaneity. Writer Alun Owen has a good ear for the Liverpool vernacular and inserts some neat jokes although I could have done with less of Wilfred Brambell's meddlesome role as Paul's grandfather. The running joke about him being very clean wouldn't have been lost on British viewers who knew Brambell better as the "dirty old man" Steptoe Senior character from TV's "Steptoe and Son".
Director Richard Lester does his task with invention and vigour, his camera rarely standing still and employing several tricks to play up the gags and boost the story. Even unintentional goofs, like George falling over in the initial scene which has the group escaping their Beatlemaniac fans and later backing into his amplifier on a later song only add to the fun. Quite what John Lennon's wife of the time made of his woman-chasing screen-demeanour is anyone's guess however.
What's good for me as a fan though is to see the Beatles as near as possible in their natural environment, obviously enjoying their success and each other's company at the same time. The group harmony wouldn't last but it did long enough for them to ultimately ditch both the outlets of cinema and live performances in pursuit of musical excellence, the right choice of course as things panned out.