WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:01.480 This is the book I feel I have it in 2 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:03.600 me to write. And there's so much documented that's never 3 00:00:03.640 --> 00:00:05.759 been pulled together, which is not just the making of 4 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:07.480 the film, but the influence of the film. Why the 5 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:10.359 film looks so unusual, Why it's an art house film 6 00:00:10.439 --> 00:00:12.480 that was made to cash in on a band before 7 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:14.560 they split up, and actually it was the beginning of 8 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:16.039 something rather than the end of something. 9 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:19.320 We're totally rock and roll. 10 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:21.000 I mean, I'll leave you. 11 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:23.960 You're reading little Hands this, It's time to rock and roll, 12 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.039 rocking up, I totally booked. 13 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:33.079 Welcome back to book do on Rock, the podcast for 14 00:00:33.079 --> 00:00:35.960 those about to read and rock Americ Sanitch. If you'd 15 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.240 like to support the podcast, get episodes commercial free. Sign 16 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:41.880 up for the backstage Pass from Patreon. It's just five 17 00:00:41.880 --> 00:00:44.320 dollars a month the link in the show notes, or 18 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:47.039 you can go to book down rock dot com now. 19 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:50.560 Our guest Samira Ahmed is the author of A Hard 20 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:55.240 Day's Night, part of the British Film Institute's Film Classics series. 21 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:57.799 The book examines one of the most influential music films 22 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.520 ever made. A Hard Day's Night, released in July of 23 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:04.040 nineteen sixty four at the height of Beatlemania. The film 24 00:01:04.120 --> 00:01:07.319 was directed by Richard Lester and followed John, Paul, George 25 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:10.359 and Ringo through a fictionalized thirty six hours in their 26 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:13.280 lives as they traveled to London for a television appearance. 27 00:01:13.879 --> 00:01:16.760 What could have been a simple pop star vehicle became 28 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:20.760 a groundbreaking film that helped redefine music movies, influence the 29 00:01:20.840 --> 00:01:24.359 modern music video, and captured a rapidly changing Britain in 30 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:28.040 the mid nineteen sixties. Samira's book explores not only how 31 00:01:28.040 --> 00:01:31.000 the film was made, but Wyatt's reputation has continued to 32 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:35.040 grow more than sixty years later. Samira, Welcome to the podcast. 33 00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:37.760 Thank you, Thank you for such a beautiful description of 34 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:39.280 what I was trying to do in that book. So 35 00:01:39.400 --> 00:01:42.079 thank you sounds like maybe I pulled it off. 36 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:45.200 Oh you did a fascinating read. A fascinating read, and 37 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:48.200 for you is there's so much that we can get 38 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:51.680 into from your aspect here. You've watched A Hard Day's 39 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:55.920 Night as an eleven year old discovering the Beatles, as 40 00:01:55.920 --> 00:01:59.200 a broadcaster, as a film critic, and as someone fighting 41 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:01.959 a landmark equal pay case. So talk about this film's 42 00:02:01.959 --> 00:02:05.120 importance to you and what convinced you that you had 43 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:06.799 something new to say about this film. 44 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:09.360 Well, like you hinted, I mean I first discovered the 45 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:12.479 film as an eleven year old. The BBC broadcast all 46 00:02:12.560 --> 00:02:15.000 six of the Beatles films, the feature films, and the 47 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:17.479 Shay Stadium documentary and the Less It Be film, all 48 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:20.800 of those at Christmas nineteen seventy nine. And my family 49 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:23.599 were early adopters, and we had a Betamax video recorder 50 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:26.000 and my elder brother taped all the films off TV, 51 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:29.360 and I discovered the Beatles through those films, particularly A 52 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:31.360 Hard Day's Night and Help I Think and to some extent, 53 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:33.719 Yellow Submarine. And I used to come home from school 54 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:35.479 every day I used to put one of these films on. 55 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:37.680 So I probably watched A Hard Day's Night once a 56 00:02:37.719 --> 00:02:41.319 week for a really long time, so it's possible I 57 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:43.960 may have watched it more than most people on the planet. 58 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.400 And as I grew older, I'd always loved the Beatles, 59 00:02:47.400 --> 00:02:49.639 and about three years ago I discovered the earliest complete 60 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:51.840 concert recording they've made in the UK, the so called 61 00:02:51.879 --> 00:02:54.599 Stow tape, where they played a boy's private school and 62 00:02:54.639 --> 00:02:57.159 a student recorded the whole concert. So it's in really 63 00:02:57.159 --> 00:02:59.560 good quality, there's not screaming all over it. And he 64 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:01.560 shared the tape with me three years ago and that 65 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:03.439 story went around the world, and it was about the 66 00:03:03.479 --> 00:03:05.919 social history. It wasn't just about the music being brilliant 67 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:08.280 or the band. It was about why did the Beatles 68 00:03:08.319 --> 00:03:10.159 resonate what was going on in Britain at that time, 69 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:12.800 And people got in touch to say, even though they 70 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:15.680 didn't particularly regard themselves the Beatles' fans, they really connected 71 00:03:15.719 --> 00:03:18.360 with that story. So I thought, I thought a lot 72 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:20.479 about A Hard Day's Night. And I had been on 73 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:22.520 there's a great podcast called I'm the Egg pod here, 74 00:03:22.759 --> 00:03:25.000 which I had been on talking about the album and 75 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:28.360 the film, and I realized I had more to say. 76 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:31.719 When I've discovered the BFI series hadn't covered this book 77 00:03:32.039 --> 00:03:34.280 because iont. I was surprised, but I was also relieved 78 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:36.159 because I thought, this is the book I feel I 79 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:38.520 have it in me to write. And I actually pitched 80 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:41.080 it and wrote it really quickly because I did lots 81 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:43.520 of research. But there's so much documented that's never been 82 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:45.879 pulled together, which is not just what you know the 83 00:03:45.879 --> 00:03:48.199 making of the film, but as you say, the influence 84 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:50.759 of the film why the film looks so unusual, why 85 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:53.159 it's an art house film that was made to cash 86 00:03:53.199 --> 00:03:55.439 in on a band before they split up, and actually 87 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:57.919 was the beginning of something rather than the end of something. 88 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:00.439 So all that's gone into it, And I've had lovely 89 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:02.560 feedback from a lot of people who knew the Beatles 90 00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:05.039 in the sixties actually and said that they felt they'd 91 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:06.879 learned stuff from it, which is all you could ask for, 92 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:07.199 isn't it. 93 00:04:07.319 --> 00:04:10.319 Oh? Sure, yeah. You describe A Hard Day's Night as 94 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:13.520 a snapshot of Britain in nineteen sixty four. What aspects 95 00:04:13.560 --> 00:04:16.480 of British society does it capture better than most history books. 96 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:18.639 Well, for the first thing, I think it just gives 97 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:22.839 you a sense of how weird it was with Beatlemania. 98 00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:25.680 There had been you know, like Sinatra in America. There 99 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:27.759 had been pop stars that had fanatic followings in the 100 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:30.439 UK before, but there was something but beatle The Beatles 101 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:32.879 and the way they connected with all generations. There wasn't 102 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:35.120 a lot of pop music television, so they weren't on 103 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:38.319 mainstream light entertainment variety shows like more common wise with 104 00:04:38.360 --> 00:04:41.079 comedians and things. It's equipment to them going on on 105 00:04:41.079 --> 00:04:44.319 the ed Sullivan Show, and the hysteria just continued to 106 00:04:44.360 --> 00:04:46.439 grow around them. So what you see in this film 107 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.160 is it captures the way that they couldn't go anywhere 108 00:04:49.279 --> 00:04:53.480 without screaming fans just appearing from anywhere. It captures that 109 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:57.519 sense of them on television as a medium which kind 110 00:04:57.560 --> 00:04:59.560 of transmitted them to the world. I mean, the cover 111 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:01.879 of the book is a spoof of the it's a 112 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:04.120 play on the film posters that have been contact sheet. 113 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:07.560 It's the Beatles split into four TV sets and I 114 00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:10.879 like their there are kind of contagion being transmitted to 115 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:13.240 the world. So the world of television and how powerful 116 00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:15.279 a force it was in people's lives were captured in 117 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:18.839 this film. And of course the changing social picture of 118 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.720 Britain we had, although it's you know, you glimpse it 119 00:05:21.800 --> 00:05:23.879 rather than it's made a big point of it's a 120 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:26.680 multi racial audience. There are teenage girls of color and 121 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:29.079 teenage boys of color in that audience. Because the so 122 00:05:29.160 --> 00:05:32.759 called Windrush generation of Commonwealth immigrants like my parents came 123 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.920 to Britain in nineteen sixty from Indian Pakistan. They were, 124 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:39.399 you know, very much changing the picture of Britain. And 125 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:42.600 the other thing about Britain at the time is the 126 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:45.319 changing economic picture of work. So there are a lot 127 00:05:45.319 --> 00:05:47.600 of interesting career women in this film, and I know 128 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:50.439 a lot of women who became makeup artists. In the sixties, television, 129 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:53.319 the screen world is a big growing place and women 130 00:05:53.399 --> 00:05:55.399 were starting to make their impact in all kinds of ways. 131 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.319 So all of that is captured incidentally in the background 132 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:01.279 to a film which looks document entry style. Even though 133 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:04.120 it's a scripted film, there is a mixture of I've 134 00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:05.920 described it as a fantasy documentary. 135 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:06.199 Eric. 136 00:06:07.319 --> 00:06:09.439 There are moments that are real. There's fans screaming on 137 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:11.519 the street. Some of them were paid to turn up, 138 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:12.879 but a lot of them turned up just because they 139 00:06:12.920 --> 00:06:15.959 heard the Beatles were filming. So everything feels you're not 140 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:19.519 quite sure where the reality stops and the surreality of 141 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:21.439 Richard Lester's comedy style begins. 142 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:23.839 You know Richard Less and let's talk about him, because 143 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:26.639 he's often described as a film secret weapon. What did 144 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:29.160 he bring to the project that maybe another director might 145 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:29.560 not have. 146 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:32.639 Well, it start with he's kind of an outsider. He's 147 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:35.079 an American who had made his head in Britain and 148 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:37.879 loved British humor and he had a very strong anti 149 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:40.360 deaferential sense. So when the sewers crisis happened, he's one 150 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:42.000 of those people who thought, who are these idiots who 151 00:06:42.040 --> 00:06:44.040 are ruling us? He goes on to make a film 152 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:46.759 like How I Won the War, which is scathingly anti 153 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.680 war and anti the kind of political forces that send 154 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:52.680 young men to die. And his sense of humor just 155 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:54.879 gelled with the Beatles, who watched a lot of television, 156 00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:57.480 knew the comedy of particular couple of actors, Piece of 157 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.160 Cellars who's known very much in America, Spike Millier, and 158 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:01.680 he's less well known. The two of them were in 159 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:04.439 a comedy troupe called The Goons, which began on radio. 160 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:06.680 People like King Charles grew up a huge fan of it. 161 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:09.720 The Beatles used to listen to that, and it transposed television. 162 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:12.199 Some of these actors wrote TV series and films, and 163 00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:13.759 which Leicester had worked with them on a lot of 164 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:16.360 these projects. So they had a shared sense of humor, 165 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:19.519 I think, and he bought that surreality. And also it 166 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:22.360 wasn't that he knew the Beatles, but he had a 167 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:24.600 strong sense. I read some lovely interviews with Richard Leicester 168 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:27.480 of his heart being in sync with a young audience. 169 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:29.279 He was about ten years older than them, but he 170 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:31.560 kind of came up with lots of creative ideas about 171 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:33.639 how to film them, how to capture them, how to 172 00:07:33.639 --> 00:07:36.319 turn the surreality of some of those crazy press conferences, 173 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:38.199 like the one at JFK when they first arrived in 174 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:40.759 the US, when they're being asked about their haircuts and stuff, 175 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:43.839 and they just bat back these inane questions from journalists, 176 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:46.319 and he found a way of turning that into surreal 177 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:49.040 moments where if you watch the press conference scene in 178 00:07:49.040 --> 00:07:52.519 a hard day's night, they're giving answers that don't quite 179 00:07:52.519 --> 00:07:53.920 make sense because he kind of mixes. 180 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:54.839 Up the answers and the questions. 181 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:57.680 At one point, Paul's being asked, you know, how how 182 00:07:57.720 --> 00:07:59.240 do you feel about your father? And he goes, oh, 183 00:07:59.279 --> 00:08:01.639 not really, We're just good friends, which makes no sense 184 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:06.439 at all. Yeah. He he films things that could have 185 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:08.759 just been done dead straight as a kind of pop 186 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:12.920 art collage, and that sense of a comedy surrealism, which 187 00:08:12.959 --> 00:08:17.759 isn't about big laughs, but it's about playfulness. That's what 188 00:08:17.800 --> 00:08:19.079 really makes this film stand out. 189 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.040 I think Richard Lesser had other writers in mind, including 190 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:26.480 some of Britain's biggest sitcom talents. What did Alan Owen 191 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:28.480 bring that those writers might not have. 192 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:29.879 It's a great question. 193 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:32.519 So Richard lest did know a lot of the comedy 194 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:35.080 writers at the time, and Alan Owen, well, he was 195 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:38.559 from Liverpool. He's originally Welsh, but you know, Liverpool was 196 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:40.320 his home. And I think one of the things this 197 00:08:40.399 --> 00:08:42.799 film captures very well is the sense of the way 198 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:46.799 that Liverpudlians talk. They have their own code, they have 199 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:49.279 They're very, very witty, and it's something George Harrison has 200 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:51.559 gone on to say that, you know, everyone in Liverpool 201 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:53.360 is very well I mean, in his view, is very 202 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:57.159 sharp tongued and sharp witted. And so if you watch 203 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:00.120 that film, even I as an English speaking person and 204 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:02.240 get all the lines and all the jokes because it 205 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:04.799 moves so fast and they're speaking in their own idiom. 206 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:07.919 But alan On makes it feel authentic as a result, 207 00:09:07.960 --> 00:09:12.120 and he's writing dialogue for them that's obviously not necessarily 208 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:14.720 what they would have said, but he kind of plays 209 00:09:14.759 --> 00:09:16.639 with what the real persona I were like. So John 210 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:19.120 Lennon is the kind of you know, sharp mouthed, kind 211 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:22.200 of quip quip stuff you know, Ringo's a bit more laconic, 212 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:24.240 you know, Paul is a bit more eager to please. 213 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:27.799 And while subsequently the Beatles in real life might have 214 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.480 felt that they were slightly stereotyped by the version of 215 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:32.600 themselves in this film, I like their there being a 216 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:35.159 version of the Beatles that's a fictional version of themselves. 217 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:37.039 And Alan know and did a great job at capturing that. 218 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:39.159 Some of the situations he puts them in, you know, 219 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:42.120 I just thought were really like the press conference scene 220 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:44.519 he wrote. He wrote scenes during the filming, so they 221 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:47.120 they saw how the Beatles responded, So the film was shot 222 00:09:47.080 --> 00:09:48.840 more or less in ordin. As they've gained in confidence, 223 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:51.360 they realized George was actually a really good acting at 224 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:53.399 a real presence. He was very laid back, and they 225 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:55.360 wrote that extra scene for him in the ad agency. 226 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:58.639 They wrote the scene for him where he's giving their 227 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:02.360 roadie a shave in the using the mirror in the bathroom, 228 00:10:02.679 --> 00:10:04.639 you know, just little moments like that. So there's a 229 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:06.919 sense of the film is responding in real time to 230 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:09.000 what the Beatles are offering up as they go along. 231 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:13.279 One of the great Beatles stories Ringo accidentally inventing the 232 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:16.519 phrase A Hard Day's Night. The film's producer, Walter Shenson, 233 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:19.960 needed a title song almost overnight, and by the next morning, 234 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:23.240 John and Paul had delivered A Hard Day's Night. And 235 00:10:23.320 --> 00:10:25.559 the detail that the lyrics were written on a birthday 236 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:28.200 card for Julian Lennon. That's another great one. Did you 237 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:32.000 uncover any other small human moments like that which made 238 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:36.039 these larger than my figures feel more relatable? Yeah? 239 00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:38.399 Well, I mean, that is such a great one, isn't it. 240 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:41.279 Because I one of the things I felt quite moved 241 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:44.000 by was the fact that the real life that John 242 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:45.759 was married, that he had a one year old son. 243 00:10:46.360 --> 00:10:48.679 These facts were of kind of kept out of the script, 244 00:10:48.679 --> 00:10:51.159 even though it wasn't an official secret that he was married. 245 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:53.360 I thought it was a shame that the reality of 246 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:57.480 the women's lives around the Beatles was sort of kept 247 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:59.919 out of it. One of the stories that I, I mean, 248 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:01.960 I didn't realize, but it was out there if you 249 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:04.639 went looking for it, was that John Lennon's real father 250 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:07.879 had turned up during the shooting of this film. This 251 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:09.960 is the father who had abandoned the family, disappeared off 252 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.919 to America, and suddenly it turns up after years at 253 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:15.639 the theater where they're filming, you know, the concert sequences 254 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:17.559 and there's crowds of people trying to get in, and 255 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:19.120 if you remember the film, of course, there's a scene 256 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.759 in which the grandfather is trying to get back into 257 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:24.279 the theater and tried to send you know, I'm Paul's grandfather, 258 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:27.399 and the real guy who say I'm John's dad turns 259 00:11:27.480 --> 00:11:30.240 up and you know, the message got through to John 260 00:11:30.279 --> 00:11:32.679 that your father's turned up, and he said, you know, 261 00:11:32.879 --> 00:11:36.840 in no polite terms, to get lost. They did subsequently 262 00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:38.480 arrange for him to have a meeting with him. But 263 00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:41.279 I just just what a strange and just you know, 264 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:43.679 upsetting things to happen in the middle of all that chaos. 265 00:11:43.720 --> 00:11:45.639 I thought there were moments like that, and then things 266 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:47.679 like some of the people who were just on the 267 00:11:47.679 --> 00:11:49.960 periphery of this. So there's a photographer called David Hern 268 00:11:50.320 --> 00:11:53.279 who had covered the Hungarian uprising. It'd been in places 269 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:55.720 a real danger, and he said he was freaked out 270 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:58.480 by the hysteria that the fans created around the Beatles. 271 00:11:58.519 --> 00:12:01.080 He'd never seen anything like it. Needs to ply monopoly 272 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:03.480 with them on the train while they were filming, I 273 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:07.639 was fascinated by even a war photographer was deeply disturbed 274 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:08.960 about the scale of Beetle Banya. 275 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:10.080 I thought that was quite interesting. 276 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:13.840 Yeah, I've heard some Beatle experts talk about that PTSD 277 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:16.039 that all four members must have had in the years 278 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:18.919 following the breakup or the end of the Beatles, because 279 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:22.519 it was it took a while for them to get 280 00:12:22.519 --> 00:12:25.559 out of that phase and be comfortable in their own 281 00:12:25.559 --> 00:12:28.279 skin and in their own careers. That Can't Buy Me 282 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:31.440 Love sequence is classic. It's such a great representation of 283 00:12:31.519 --> 00:12:35.840 youth breaking free from authority and tradition. It's still there 284 00:12:35.879 --> 00:12:38.519 when you watch it, probably the most iconic of all 285 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:40.440 the scenes from the film. You call it the most 286 00:12:40.440 --> 00:12:42.559 complex in the entire film. What makes it so much 287 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:44.519 more sophisticated than it first appears. 288 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:47.080 Well, I love that it's actually shot in three different 289 00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:50.000 locations weeks apart, because you know, you just assume that 290 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:52.320 it's just all in the editing. But the scene where 291 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:54.240 they come out on the far escape and they go 292 00:12:54.279 --> 00:12:57.120 we're out, that's one location. That's the Hammersmith Odie in 293 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:00.320 the West London as it was in ald Cinema, and 294 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:02.360 then they run down that fire escape and then when 295 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:05.639 they're running across the field. That was shot in Eiseleworth 296 00:13:05.679 --> 00:13:08.559 near he Through Airport. In fact, a community group got 297 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:10.080 in touch with it and they did a screening of the 298 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:12.879 film in those same playing fields just the other weekend 299 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:15.519 to mark, you know, Paul McCartney's birthday, which was lovely 300 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:17.600 because the playing field is still a place you can visit. 301 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:22.120 I've been there. But the other location is Gatwick Airport, Britain, 302 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:25.320 London second airport and they basically had a helicopter and 303 00:13:25.320 --> 00:13:28.279 if you think about it, when they first seemed to 304 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:30.799 run into the field, the suddenly you're very aware that 305 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:33.360 it's a judgery shot. It's the helicopter going up and 306 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:35.279 that's where they were shot from a distance, running around 307 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:38.080 larking in the field. And what's interesting is that that 308 00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:40.519 was in a way the first part of the sequence 309 00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:44.159 that was shot. But the cameraman was an experienced ex 310 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:47.519 military cameraman had shot a lot of planes, had shot 311 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:50.519 to air raids over Germany and stuff for Winston Churchill 312 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:53.679 and they footage ascent to number ten Downing Street for 313 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:55.559 him to monitor what was going on. So he'd gone 314 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:57.039 up with a helicopter and when he got up, he 315 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:58.360 realized that the battery in the. 316 00:13:58.279 --> 00:14:00.799 Camera was run down. The footage was. 317 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:04.080 Running through at low speeds. When he played it back 318 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.639 a normal speed, it had that speeded up silent movie 319 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:09.399 slapstick effect. So they shot the rest of the stuff 320 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:11.639 kind of to match it. So Richard Lester was very 321 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:14.440 good at responding to an accident and saying, well, let's 322 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:16.679 make this a feature, because he loved Buster Keaton. There's 323 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:20.039 a whole sequencer chase sequence later with the Policeman, which 324 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:22.279 is based on Cops nineteen twenty two. Bus to keep 325 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:25.720 the film, so they shoot the stuff in the playing 326 00:14:25.720 --> 00:14:28.159 field later, and they mock up a version of the 327 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:30.759 helipad so it looks like it's the same location and 328 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:32.919 they speed up the footage, but those are three different 329 00:14:32.919 --> 00:14:36.279 locations shot weeks apart, and at one point John Lennon 330 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:39.240 isn't even there because they used to film, despite the 331 00:14:39.240 --> 00:14:41.039 fact that they all had other commitments and John Lennon 332 00:14:41.120 --> 00:14:43.639 went off to a literary luncheon for his first book, 333 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:45.799 And so there's moments when they seem to be doing 334 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:49.039 like a dosey dough on the helipad and the camera 335 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:50.840 is being held, but what you assume is John and 336 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:52.399 he points the camera down at his feet and his 337 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:57.240 beetle boots. That's Richard Lester, you know. So sometimes they substitute. 338 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:00.960 He substitutes himself for the missing beetle. So you wouldn't 339 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:02.720 know any of this, and literally unless you went looking 340 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.759 for the information. And I read a lot of interviews 341 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:07.279 that he had done with people at steven Soderberg Accounts, 342 00:15:07.320 --> 00:15:09.559 had given at previous screenings. Because the Richard Lester is 343 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:12.120 very much still alive, but just very frail, and he 344 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.679 still lives in England. And I think, more than anything, 345 00:15:14.679 --> 00:15:16.639 I wanted this book to be homage to him as 346 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:19.120 an American who made Britain it's his home. And together 347 00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:21.480 with the American producers of this film, I love that 348 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:24.120 it took a true of Americans to give the Beatles 349 00:15:24.120 --> 00:15:27.000 back to Britain and the world as the most exciting 350 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:28.159 new British phenomenon. 351 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:33.320 How much of Hard Day's Night, Oh, is it's magic 352 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:35.720 to accidents like you mentioned, like the sped up film 353 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:38.240 effect only because the camera batteries running low, and that 354 00:15:38.360 --> 00:15:40.559 Richard Lester was smart enough to keep I mean, how 355 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:43.879 much of the movie has those moments? 356 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:47.759 A lot has it, and I think one of the 357 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:50.200 best of those moments is that within the first two 358 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:53.559 to three seconds of the opening film, when you suddenly 359 00:15:53.559 --> 00:15:56.360 start with that cord of the opening track and you 360 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:58.840 see through the Beatles are running down that alley next 361 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:02.320 to Maribone station and George trips over and falls flat 362 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:04.799 hard on his face, Ringo lands on top of him. 363 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:07.320 They get up and they keep running, you know, And 364 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:09.639 that happens a couple of times things like that. I mean, 365 00:16:09.639 --> 00:16:11.639 in that whole sequence, there's a lot of fans falling 366 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.559 over quite badly in the crush, so you have that 367 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:18.159 sense there's real peril, there's real jeopardy. If they hadn't 368 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:20.000 got up and run again, you know, would they be 369 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:22.200 able to shoot that sequence? Everything shot as fast as 370 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:24.360 it can be because they never know when the police 371 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:26.159 are going to shut down shooting, as they sometimes did 372 00:16:26.200 --> 00:16:28.080 this if the crowds are too big, or the crowd 373 00:16:28.159 --> 00:16:31.720 might get out of control. And you know, they had 374 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:33.960 a moment after the first day of shooting on the 375 00:16:33.960 --> 00:16:37.120 train where the young technician was carrying the cans of 376 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:39.360 film looked a bit like a Beatle and he starts 377 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:41.720 to being chased by girls and he tried to outrun them, 378 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:43.440 and he dropped a load of the film and they 379 00:16:43.480 --> 00:16:45.600 had to, you know, abandon some of the tape that 380 00:16:45.639 --> 00:16:48.120 got lost, So the whole film has a sense of 381 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:51.919 urgency about it. And there's another moment when they're rehearsing 382 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:55.399 a number in the studio when George leans on his 383 00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:57.679 amp and it kind of starts to always fall off 384 00:16:57.720 --> 00:16:59.639 its stand and you actually hear the. 385 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:01.919 Thump of it. So I think all that adds to 386 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:02.440 a sense. 387 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:06.279 Of authenticity, doesn't it that he left all these accidents in. 388 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:08.640 Maybe that's why it stands up so well over time 389 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:11.680 as well, because there are those real moments. You suggest 390 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:14.160 that A Hard Day's Night helped create the modern music video. 391 00:17:14.319 --> 00:17:17.799 When people talk about the birth of MTV modern music video, 392 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:20.599 does the camp Binmen Love sequence deserve to be at 393 00:17:20.680 --> 00:17:22.920 that center of the conversation. 394 00:17:23.359 --> 00:17:24.039 I think it does. 395 00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:26.440 And in fact, even before that, the very first pop 396 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:28.799 video I'd argue is when they're on the train and 397 00:17:28.480 --> 00:17:31.240 they go into that guard's character they're playing cards and 398 00:17:31.279 --> 00:17:34.039 the music starts up of I should have known better? 399 00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:35.400 I think think it is, isn't it? 400 00:17:35.880 --> 00:17:38.880 And if you watch that sequence, it's the first time 401 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:42.880