Fun Little Movie

Rating: 10/10 (16 August 2013)

"A Hard Day's Night" is a pseudo-documentary of a day (or two) in the life of the Beatles.
John, Paul, George and Ringo play four Liverpudlian musicians named . . . well, John, Paul, George and Ringo. But even though they go by their own names and have "The Beatles" on their drum (the band's name is not referenced elsewhere in the movie) the story is a clever comedy fiction.
Some things are obviously based directly on the Beatles' lives. The screaming teenage fans (what do those girls of 1964 think when they look back at themselves in later middle age?), the constant hustle from one concert venue to the next, etc. Luckily, the Beatles, collectively, had a cheeky sense of humor about it all, and a strangely natural way of presenting their fictionalized selves before the camera.
Screenwriter Alun Owen (whatever it feels like, the movie was scripted) stereotyped the boys' real characters and gave them distinctive voices (despite their all talking in Scouce accents)retelling the Beatles' story as a surrealist comedy about four ordinary blokes who lucked out and are enjoying fame, despite the hardships (such as being unable to get anything to eat). From the script,(then)avant-garde director Richard Lester, working at a feverish pace to reach the studio deadline, produced a minor masterpiece that defies category. Is it a docu-drama? A ninety-minute music video? A musical comedy? To heighten the comedic side, Lester surrounds the boys with fictional players. The band's quarrelsome managing crew are portrayed by the familiar faces -- in Britain -- of Norman Rossington and John Junkin (the tall one).
The plot, such as it is, concerns the band (again, "The Beatles" is never used in the dialogue) arriving to perform a televised concert burdened with Paul's mischievous, trouble-making grandfather (played with delicious maliciousness by William Brambell). Brambell's character is the catalyst for the band's difficulties, for instance when he provokes Ringo to go for a jaunt around town shortly before air time. Filming the movie in black and white heightens its sense of realism, while no doubt also lowering the stakes in the gamble of whether a real band could pay off in a movie.
When it was first produced, "A Hard Day's Night" was probably seen by some of the audience, as well as the film makers, as a long promo to sell records. At the time, they also probably wondered whether the Beatles had any staying power. These days, the Beatles' first movie is a delightful romp best viewed outside the context of their contentious legacy. It's great fun.