50th Anniversary Release of “The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Night”
New 4K Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
New 5.1 Surround Mix Produced by Giles Martin
Opening in theaters on July 4, 2014 in almost 100 cities. (Scroll to the end of the article for the locations and theaters).
This is a Cheeky, Raucous, Irreverent film that will make most warm-blooded mammals laugh from the first scene, until the last! Brilliant for a summer night out!
If you are a film or music fan, you most likely have already seen “A Hard Day’s Night” before, however, make a summertime date with the famous Fab Four, and see it again on the big screen, with the new restoration, at an art house cinema, and you really can’t go wrong.
It is necessary to give accolades to the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, because, “if it weren’t for Elvis, there would never have been any Beatles.” John Lennon had admitted, that from the moment he first learned about Elvis and saw all the attention that he was receiving, he wanted to be just like him.
So although, there is no denying that the Beatles changed music forever, it was really ELVIS who was the King their inspiration.
For those who have not seen “A Hard Day’s Night” before, the Beatles had already been a popular recording act, with several Top 20 hits in the U.K., when they arrived in NYC to perform on the Ed Sullivan show on February 7, 1964. A record breaking 73 million viewers tuned in, and the British invasion began.
One month later, across the pond, the film was in the works. The music lover and film producer, Walter Shenson, was brought on by United Artists. Shenson, who had previously worked with Director, Richard Lester, on “The Mouse on the Moon,” mentioned the gist of the project, and Richard jumped at the opportunity.
However, to receive the final green light, the film had to be true to the way the Beatles actually lived, and scriptwriter, Alun Owen, who wrote the television play, “No Trams to Lime Street,” which depicted Liverpool, was chosen.
The film begins with the song “A Hard Day’s Night” playing while the Fab Four are running through town trying to make it to the train station on time before their train departs. Once on board, they start a conversation with an older gentleman, who Paul comments, is his grandfather. John is cheekily trying to snort a Coke (Coca-Cola) bottle up his nose in the background, and a business man wants the train car his way demanding that the windows be closed shut. The laughs just continue from there on out, when the boys are flirting with girls, and the grandfather cunningly tells the young women that the boys are really prisoners. An acoustic version of “I Should Have Known Better” is being played on the train.
Film director, Richard Lester, “relied on improvisation rather than rehearsal, creating a freshness that was clear on-screen.” “Before we started, we knew that it would be unlikely that they could (a) learn, (b) remember, or (c) deliver with any accuracy a long speech. So the structure of the script had to be a series of one-liners,” Lester later stated, “This enabled me, in many of the scenes, to turn a camera on them and say a line to them, and they would say it back to me.”
The result, the bandmates play brilliant, clever, crafty, and smart-alicky versions of themselves.
Lester’s visual style mixed techniques from narrative films, documentary, the French New Wave, and live television to create something that felt, and was, spontaneous. “I have seen directors who write down a list of scenes for the day, and then sit back in a chair while everything is filmed according to plan. I can’t do that. I know that good films can be made this way, but it’s not for me. I have to react on the spot. There was very little structure that was planned except that we knew that we had to punctuate the film with a certain number of songs.”
Recorded at EMI Studios in Abbey Road, London, they cut “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “And I Love Her,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “Tell Me Why,” “If I Fell,” and “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You,” in only three days.
Must See!
Photos of Liverpool by Sharon Abella on http://1worldcinema.com
Article by Sharon Abella
Photo of Paul, complements of Janus Films
SUMMER SCREENINGS
ALABAMA
Montgomery – Capri Theatre
ALASKA
Anchorage – Bear Tooth Cinema
ARIZONA
Tucson – The Loft Cinema
ARKANSAS
Little Rock – Colonel Glenn 18
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Vancouver – Pacific Cinematheque
CALIFORNIA
Bakersfield – Valley Plaza
Berkeley – Rialto Elmwood
Eureka – Eureka Theater
La Mesa – Grossmont Center
Los Angeles – Cinefamily
Malibu – The Malibu Film Society
Modesto – State Theater
Monterey – Osio Cinemas
Mountain View – Century Cinemas 16
Murrieta – Reading Cinemas Cal Oaks
Oxnard – Century RiverPark
Palm Springs – Camelot Theatres
Pasadena – Laemmle Playhouse 7
Sacramento – Tower Theater
San Diego – Gaslamp
San Francisco – Castro Theatre
San Luis Obispo – Palm Theatre
San Rafael – Smith Rafael Film Center
Santa Cruz – Del Mar Theatre
COLORADO
Fort Collins – Lyric Cinema Cafe
Littleton – Alamo Drafthouse
CONNECTICUT
Hartford – Cinestudio
Milford – Connecticut Post 14
DELAWARE
Wilmington – Theatre N
FLORIDA
Coral Gables – Coral Gables Art Cinema
Jacksonville – Sun-Ray Cinema
Key West – Tropic Cinema
Maitland – Enzian Theatre
Tallahassee – Tallahassee Film Festival
GEORGIA
Athens – Ciné
Atlanta – Plaza Theater
Sandy Springs – LeFont Theaters
HAWAII
Honolulu – Kahala 8
Maui – Kaahumanu 6
ILLINOIS
Champaign – The Art Theater
Chicago – Music Box Theater
Downer’s Grove – Tivoli at Downer’s Grove
Normal – Normal Theater
Peoria – Landmark Cinemas
INDIANA
Fort Wayne – Cinema Center
IOWA
Des Moines – Fleur Cinema
Iowa City – FilmScene
KANSAS
Lawrence – Liberty Hall
KENTUCKY
Lexington – Kentucky Theater
Louisville – Baxter 8
LOUISIANA
Baton Rouge – Cinemark Perkins Rowe
New Orleans – The Prytania Theatre
MAINE
Waterville – Maine Film Festival
MARYLAND
Baltimore – The Senator
Hanover – Cinemark Egyptian 24
MASSACHUSETTS
Amherst – Amherst Cinema
Brookline – Coolidge Corner Theatre
Cape Cod – Cape Cinema
Danvers – Hollywood Hits
Gloucester – Cape Ann Community Cinema
Martha’s Vineyard – Martha’s Vineyard Film Center
Williamstown – Images Cinema
MICHIGAN
Ann Arbor – Michigan Theater
City of Detroit Outdoor Screenings
Detroit – Cinema Detroit
Kalamazoo – Alamo Drafthouse
Manistee – The Vogue Theatre
Traverse City – State Theatre
MINNESOTA
Duluth – Zinema 2
Minneapolis – St. Anthony Main Theatre
MISSOURI
Columbia – Ragtag Cinema
Kansas City – Tivoli Cinemas
Springfield – Moxie Cinema
St. Louis – Chase Park Plaza
MONTANA
Missoula – The Roxy Theater
NEBRASKA
Kearney – The World Theatre
Lincoln – Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center
Omaha – Film Streams
Wayne – The Majestic
NEVADA
Sparks – Century Sparks
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord – Red River Theatre
Wilton – Town Hall Theatre
NEW JERSEY
Asbury Park – The ShowRoom
Manville – Reading Cinemas Manville
NEW MEXICO
Albuquerque – The Guild Cinema
NEW YORK
Amherst – Screening Room Cinemas
Binghamton – The Art Mission & Theater
New York City – Film Forum
Pelham – The Picture House
Pleasantville – Jacob Burns Film Center
Rochester – George Eastman House
Rosendale – Rosendale Theatre
West Hampton – Performing Arts Center
NORTH CAROLINA
Asheville – Carolina Cinemas
Cornelius – Studio C Cinema
Raleigh – Raleigh Grande
Winston-Salem – A/perture Cinema
OHIO
Akron – The Nightlight Cinema
Cleveland – Cleveland Museum of Art
Columbus – Wexner Center for the Arts
Dayton – The Neon
Toledo – Franklin Park 16
OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City – Museum of Art
Tulsa – Circle Cinema
ONTARIO
Kingston – The Screening Room
Toronto – Cineplex Cinemas Yonge & Dundas
Waterloo – Princess Cinemas
OREGON
Portland – Hollywood Theater
PENNSYLVANIA
Bethlehem – ArtsQuest
Bryn Mawr – Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Erie – Film at the Erie Art Museum
Lewisburg – Campus Theatre
Milford – Black Bear Film Festival
Philadelphia – International House
Phoenixville – The Colonial Theatre
Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh Filmmakers
QUEBEC
Montreal – Cinema Cineplex Forum
RHODE ISLAND
Newport – Jane Pickens
Providence – Cable Car Cinema
SOUTH CAROLINA
Charleston – Terrace Theater
SOUTH DAKOTA
Sioux Falls – Century East at Dawley Farm
TENNESSEE
Memphis – indieMemphis
Nashville – Belcourt Theatre
TEXAS
Austin – Alamo Drafthouse
Dallas – Angelika Film Center
El Paso – Plaza Classic Film Festival
Fort Worth – Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Houston – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
New Braunfels – Alamo Marketplace
Plano – Angelika Plano
San Antonio – Alamo Westlake
UTAH
Salt Lake City – Tower Cinema
VIRGINIA
Ashburn – Alamo One Loudoun
Fairfax – Angelika Mosaic
Norfolk – Naro Cinema
Williamsburg – Kimball Theatre
Winchester – Alamo Drafthouse
WASHINGTON
Bellevue – Lincoln Square Cinemas
Bellingham – Pickford Film Center
Camas – Liberty Theater
Langley – The Clyde Theatre
Olympia – Capitol Theater
Port Townsend – Rose Theatre
Seattle – SIFF Cinema
Tacoma – Grand Cinema
Spokane – Bing Crosby Cinema>
Vancouver – Kiggins Theatre
WASHINGTON, D.C.
West End Cinema