“Help!” – The Beatles’ second feature film – is a comedy adventure following the exploits of the group as they attempt to escape the clutches of an evil, mysterious cult. Will The Beatles survive being eaten by tigers, being shrunk, gassed, blown up, or kidnapped?
Sounds like fun! And why not? I have it on good authority that the fun was due largely to the fact that the guys were stoned to some degree throughout the entire filming of the movie.
The 1965 film was directed by Dick Lester and combines the Beatles’ own sense of humor with antics from a leading cast of actors. The movie has been regarded by many as a parody of contemporary James Bond films, complete with power crazy despots, mad inventors, and capers through exotic locations including the Bahamas and the snowy mountains of Austria. The film has also been credited as being the forerunner to contemporary rock musicals and pop videos.
So many classic tracks are on the Help! album, hits such as “Ticket To Ride”, “Yesterday”, “I’ve Just Seen a Face”, “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” and, of course, “Help!”
From 1965, here are The Beatles performing the titular song from their second movie.
There aren’t too many really good live videos of The Beatles so I was happy to find one for today’s post. John could never resist joking with the audience and cutting up on stage.
I had a great time today At The Movies; I hope you enjoyed this one as well. Please join me again next week.
Nick is up next Breaking Boundaries; I hope you stick around for that.
Time for me to hit the road.
See you on the flip side.
Iām The Sicilian Storyteller
NAR Ā© 2023
The Elephant's Trunk 
It’s totally bonkers, and all the better for it! Who but The Beatles could have had a cinematic hit with this?
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You’re absolutely right, Keith, and your answer is “no one”. As Dorothy and I were discussing, if anyone other than The Beatles made A Hard Day’s Night, it would have been left on the cutting room floor!
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Amazing song. Perhaps the best Beatles song I have listened. Thanks for posting
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There’s plenty more where that came from, Sanjeet!
You just made my day. āŗļø
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Oh, Nancy. You and your Beatles! Every single movie they made was rubbish!
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Iām not that staunch, Pete! Iāll be the first to admit the movies are pretty bad! As teenagers, we were caught up in the whole āBeatllemaniaā thing. They were a very l-o-n-g way from being actors; itās all about the music, as you know. Even The Beatles knew that and didnāt take this āacting thingā seriously.
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They were certainly innovative, they were essentially pop videos long before their time, But acting, they were not.
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Exactly as I said in my blurb: “The film has also been credited as being the forerunner to contemporary rock musicals and pop videos.”
We didn’t care back then. Even the critics loved them. I doubt I’d be able to sit through one of their movies now. Good thing this is not a movie blog; it’s all about the tunes.
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I had to laugh at this. I was watching A Hard Day’s Night not long ago, and I only got about a third of the way through..
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I hear ya, D! If anyone other than The Beatles had made Hard Day’s Night, it would have been universally panned. A sign of the times.
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Totally agree! I remember when I saw this in the theater, all the girls were screaming which I thought, even at my tender young age, was absolutely ludicrous!
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I was one of those screaming idiots! Now I’m just an idiot! Hehehe!!
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LOL!
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What M said!š
Passing the Rainy Day Woman!
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Morning, Nick!
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It wasn’t until decades later that I learned that phrase means a marijuana cigarette.
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Me neither… read an interview once where Dylan denied any association but by that time… people have already established the term in 60s slang.
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I didn’t know it either. Dylan said every “junkie” knows the meaning behind that phrase.
There’s your answer.
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Iām not surprised to learn they were stoned during the filming. I remember thinking it was like a manic episode.
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It was all fun and games for them, like kids on a class field trip. I always thought it was like every Monkees episode on a big screen.
At least The Beatles’ music made up for their silly movies.
Morning, Misky!
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Morning, sis.
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