A HARD DAY'S NIGHT--A DAY IN THE LIFE

Midway through A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, George Harrison stumbles into the production offices of smug Simon Marshall (An uncredited Kenneth Haigh), who runs a "hip" trendsetting television program and tosses about mod phrases like "cheeky baby" and "sonny jim.". Like so much of what makes this 1964 classic so charming and funny, the scene is played deadpan, with so called arbiter of popular taste Simon having no idea who Harrison is. When George, with typical can't be bothered detachment, insults the program's young starlet, a shocked Simon has him removed. "You don't think he's a new phenomenon, do you?" he asks afterwards. "You mean an early clue to the new direction?" his secretary pricelessly counters.

The sequence is a riot because A HARD DAY'S NIGHT was released at a time when the Beatles were the biggest phenomenon in pop music, and when most adults looked down on them with the same flash in the pan prejudice as Harrison looks down on Simon's superficial program (One need only read reviews of the film at the time to recognize the obnoxious surprise with which critics greet the film and the group). The irony is the Beatles INDEED represented the new direction--the Fab Four knew it and the rabid young fans who embraced them knew it--but as the film clearly illustrates they handle their massive, out of this world fame with a good natured reserve that is almost unthinkable in today's celebrity mad universe.

Despite their enormous popularity, the Beatles retain a fresh, arrogant free charisma and a youthful appeal that is a limitless joy to watch on screen. What's more, in A HARD DAY'S NIGHT the group cement their legend as endearing Liverpool lads touched by pop genius with an extraordinary soundtrack that is unfairly overlooked when discussing the Beatles canon (The title track, "Can't Buy Me Love," "If I Fell," "And I Love Her," etc). Part of the magic of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is the cinematic providence which paired the Beatles with director Richard Lester and screenwriter Alun Owen. Instead of a quick, forgettable film to capitalize on the group's global fame, the filmmakers and the Beatles created an enduring classic that earns its place among the great cinema treasures of all time.

Which is all the more amazing when viewers consider A HARD DAY'S NIGHT essentially has no story. The film takes place over the course of two days, the bulk of which centers on a British television program the Beatles perform in. What's more, the film is told with a very episodic approach, a series of spirited comic sketches that aren't particularly uproarious nowadays but nevertheless capture the group, playing themselves, in a very charismatic light. In between there are several musical interludes--some fantastical like the "I Should Have Known Better" sequence on the train; others caught during rehearsals leading up to the ecstatic performance that ends the film. The marvellous "Can't Buy Me Love" sequence is a montage showing the Beatles cavorting on a recreational field in one of their few moments to themselves and remains a burst of pure cinematic electricity.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT works best as an illustration of the Beatles already surrendering to the price of fame. The classic opening shot features John, George and Ringo being chased by hordes of delirious fans to the strain of the title track (George collapsing on the sidewalk and John's burst of laughter is particularly memorable, and perfectly captures the spontaneous feel of most of the film). Most of the sequences are shot in tight, closed off locales, like the opening train sequences and the television studio set. The famous press conference sequence features the Beatles cordoned off by a field of journalists asking trite questions (The cheeky responses are classic--"I'm a mocker," Ringo responds when asked if he's a mod or a rocker). What's more, for a group supposedly with the world at their feet, the Beatles are bossed about by their fussy managers Norm (Norman Rossington) and Shake (John Junkin) throughout the film, ordered to stay put in their hotel room and answer fan mail when they wish to cut loose.

Besides the music and Beatles themselves, who are self effacing and fun, witty characters in their own right, the biggest treat of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT is Wilfrid Brambell as Paul's snooty grandfather. Why the Beatles are stuck playing caretakers to this comical geezer ("I'm a drummer, not a wet nurse," Ringo states at one point) is never fully explained ("He's nursing a broken heart," Paul says), but the great Brambell's grandfather gives the film some much needed narrative momentum harmlessly pitting characters against each other, and even convinces Ringo to drop the program and go "parading." The main function of Paul's grandfather, besides being the butt of several remarks ("He's very clean"), is to prove an ironic but witty juxtaposition to the Beatles. While the influential group is presented as clean cut and innocent, Brambell is a comic villain--a king mixer--who paints the older class in a authoritative, mistrustful stance.

Elsewhere, Victor Spinetti is hilarious as the much maligned director of the program the Beatles perform in. His reaction when Brambell pops up through the stage trap door during "She Loves You" is alone worth checking the film out for. Rossington and Junkin are fine also, even if the latter is saddled with rather lame lines that quite often fall flat. And look closely and Patti Boyd, Harrison's future wife, appears briefly in the train sequences.

For what could have very easily turned out a commercial trifle, Lester packs A HARD DAY'S NIGHT's tight running time with a sophisticated verve which, combined with the Beatles' electric personalities and timeless music, makes more often than not for exhilarating cinema. There are interesting visual gags (The woman who falls through a hole in the ground after a chivalrous Ringo mistakenly plops his coat there), and scenes conveying Beatlemania are captured with a unique documentary flair. And, for better or worse, Lester is often cited for spearheading the video age a generation before MTV by virtue of the brisk, jump cut editing during the film's music sequences. And even if future Beatle film efforts lacked the same creative zest (Lester would go on to helm "Help!"), it's still astonishing to believe that just three short years later they would be producing the greatest music ever recorded (2 if you count "Revolver"). A HARD DAY'S NIGHT remains a vibrant snapshot of four very young men with the world at their command enjoying life to the fullest, and inviting audiences a ticket for a wondrous cinematic ride.