A Hard Day's Night (United Artists) (1964)

opening at the EL Sierepes se ser 6 Seer 25 ce searu way s INight,’’ Theatre, through United Artists release. Here’s what they look like in repose—when not singing and stomping the SIX new songs written by them for the comedy. Left to right are Ringo Starr (with one of his rare smiles), George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Four Individual Guys Who Add Up To—The Beatles Although The Beatles, now starring in “A Hard Day’s Night,” opening at the Theatre, through United Artists release, are often regarded as fourof-a-kind, they are actually highly individualistic, according to those who work closely with them. John Lennon is a sort of unofficial leader. He’s the furthest-out of the four, the most rebellious, with an unconventional sense of humor. He and Ringo Starr are the oldest of the boys—each 23. Ringo is less apparent, however. He is the poker-faced humorist of the group, often compared to Harpo. Marx. He’s probably the most popular with the girls, for since they found out about his fondness for wearing rings, they’ve been gifting him with 200 or more a month. Paul McCartney, who writes all the songs with John, has been kidded by some disc jockeys about having a baby-face, but is probably The Beatles’ Lot Is Not An Easy One Although teen-age idolators may regard the status of The Beatles as the pinnacle of carefree mortal attainment, it’s not exclusively champagne and Rolls-Royces. Far from it. Veterans now of their first feature film, “A Hard Day’s Night,” opening at the Theatre, through United Artists release. The Beatles find that there are many things they cannot do. “For instance,” sighs Beatle George Harrison, “we can’t even go out to dinner at the places we like. We have to have all our meals sent in. We’d be mobbed in a_ public place!” eoececvne AL LMG eeeececcece “We can’t even go out to a movie,” says Beatle Paul McCartney. “We’ve had to rent 16 mm projection equipment and we watch the pictures here in our flat.” Prisoners of their popularity, The Beatles now maintain a_ private bodyguard to assist in getting them through the perils of each day. The London house which the three unmarried boys share is likely to be ringed with adolescent admirers when the first faint streaks of dawn scuttle over the skyline. The day’s harassments begin over 7 a.m. coffee when they try to figure out how to get out of the house! At his own flat, John and his wife look out of the window in the morning to face a similar relentless cordon of fans. Getting inside the studio involves a further running of the gauntlet, sometimes with the tearing or loss of clothing! They have tried disguises many times, ranging from grey wigs and heavy dark glasses to beards—but rarely have any such devices fooled their alert followers. So, although the still exuberant Beatles are earning more money than anyone else in Britain, they haven’t yet found a way to spend much of it. the most mature. With his happygo-lucky attitude, he is certainly the easiest to do an interview with, and is most at home off-the-cuff. George Harrison, who looks rather like John and is sometimes mistaken for him, has the strongest sense of responsibility. He’ll never settle for anything less than an absolutely best effort. Music critics sometimes overlook the fact that it’s his precision with the lead guitar which is the real key to the unified effect of all the Beatles’ performances. In “A Hard Day’s Night,” each of The Beatles has ample opportunity for displaying his individual histrionic talents. Although Alun Owen’s script revolves around the exploits of the troupe on a whirlwind trip to London, and the comedy complications that beset them, every member of the group has one or more key scenes in which he’s performing without his team-mates. Quayle Featured Anna Quayle, who won Broadways Antoinette Perry Award— the Tony— is featured in The Beatles’ first film, “A Hard Day’s Night,” opening ..... at these: Theatre, through United Artists release. Anna, who received her Tony for a four-part role opposite Anthony Newley in “Stop The World, I Want To Get Off,” is probably the most envied girl in the world—at least in the Beatle world. And after all, that’s the only one that seems to make any sense right now. Actors, All! Not only did The Beatles turn out to have natural acting ability—their fans did also. During filming of “A Hard Day’s Night,”? opening atthe... 25 Theatre, through United Artists release, the studio switchboard was constantly aglow with calls from the mothers, sisters, girl-friends and other people supposedly close to the mop-tops. Closely questioned, however, the callers usually broke into giggles betraying their true identities: fans! Crew-Cut Jokes and jibes about the hair style worn by The Beatles are legion, and the mop-tops are immune to most of them. Now the boys usually joke back, as was the case when John Lennon was asked why he didn’t get a crew-cut. “This is a crew-cut,” he said. “You should have been here last month when it was long-” The Beatles are currently starring in their first feature film, “A Hard Day’s Night,” opening.... at the Theatre, through United Artists release. a a ey Brief Bios IN WINSTON LENNON was born on October 9, in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton. He attended Dovedale Primary huarrybank Grammar school before becoming a student at Liverpool ze of Art. He sings and plays rhythm guitar plus harmonica and Jes the remarkable falsetto yoice effects with the group. Likes steak, , painting, modern jazz, The Shirelles and bright blondes. Dislikes ional jazz and thick-heads. * x NGO STARR was born Richard Starkey on July 7, 1940. »sident of Dingle, he was educated at St. Silas’ School, Dingle 2 Secondary Modern and Riversdale Technical College. Has a sak of naturally grey hair. Plays drums and (occasionally) zs. Seldom smiles. Likes cars, Ray Charles, Brigitte Bardot, 2k suits, “anyone who likes me,” small and well-built blondes. likes onions, Chinese food, motor bikes and Donald Duck. * * % * .M ES PAUL McCARTNEY was born on June 18, 1942. His home is in Allerton area of Liverpool and he was one grade ahead of George Harrison at Liverpool Institute—majored in English Literature. Speaks Spanish and German. Sings and plays bass guitar. Likes cheese slices, steak, chips, all types of music, television, Sophia Loren and all girls who can talk intelligently. Dislikes shaving and all types of dishonesty. GEORGE HARRISON was born on February 25, 1943. This youngest Beatle comes from Speke, Liverpool, and attended the same junior school as John Lennon before following his grammar school studies at the Institute. Formerly he was an apprentice electrician. Sings and plays lead guitar. Likes smallish blondes, driving, sleeping, television, Segovia and Chet Atkins guitar recordings. Dislikes having his dark brown hair cut. Beatles Played Near Mersey River, Hence: Mersey Beat’ (Music Feature) What we call the Beatles Sound is what others call The Mersey Beat —and it’s now on a movie soundtrack. The Beatles’ first feature film, a comedy with music (Merseymusic, of course) is called “A Hard Day’s Night’ and it opens...... at thee sca. Theatre, through United Artists release. All four of the boys are from Liverpool and once played with the myriad rock and skiffle groups in the proximity of the Mersey River— from which the music took its name. Although their style has changed, the name remains. John Lennon and Paul McCartney are the two Beatles who write the music, and getting it on film was no small feat—since neither of them reads or writes music! “One of us gets an idea going through his head,” says John, “and we just take it from there.” George Martin, the film’s musical director, had difficulty taking it from there. “They knew what they wanted, but we had to work with ‘THE BEATLES’ FEATURE FILM OPENS HERE (General Advance) Yeah, yeah, yeah — the Beatles have completed their first fulllength motion picture, “A Hard Day’s Night.” The feature film, a comedy with music (of course) opens at the Theatre, through United Artists release. Filmed in and around London, “A Hard Day’s Night” is a fictional account of 36 eventful hours in the lives of the fabulous mop-topped Liverpool quartet — Paul McCart _ney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Beatles Paul and John have written six new songs for the film, which are issued in a new album by United Artists Records. The slice-of-life movie was written by Alun Owen, directed by Richard Lester and produced by Walter Shenson. Shenson, Lester and Owen previously were teamed on the comedy hit, “The Mouse on the Moon.” Wilfrid Brambell, comedy star of Britain's top TV show, “Steptoe and Son,’ is also starred in “A Hard Day’s Night,” playing Paul's crusty grandfather. Anna Quayle, honored with a “Tony” award on Broadway for “Stop The World, 1 W ant to Get Off,” also is featured. what we call a head arrangement, and that isn’t easy. They’re all good musicians and they usually got their ideas on tape, then I listened to them and we just tossed it around between us. We worked for eighteen hours each day, getting the basic vocal tracks for the film. In three days we recorded nine sides successfully.” Drumming Beatle Ringo Starr, who is known as “the Beatle Who Doesn’t Talk,” talked plenty about the musical score for the film, which United Artists Records has released. “It’s gear,” he said. “We do eight numbers, a couple slow, but there’s one really fast big beat number. They’re all different sounds but they’re all Beatle music.” One music critic has explained the Mersey sound as “Submediant switches from C Major to A flat Major, and, to a lesser extent, mediant ones.” This will surely come as news to composers John and Paul! Everyone Envied Betty Glasow, Beatles’ Hairdresser An attractive’ British blonde named Betty Glasow got paid for a job millions of other girls would have paid to have. Betty took care of The Beatles’ hair during the production of their first film, “A Hard Day’s Night,” opening the Theatre, through United Artists release. ee ee ees e eee Miss Glasow is one of the top hairdressers in Britain’s motion picture industry. In her seven years at studios and on location here and overseas she has attended such stars as Capucine and Sue Lyon. About The Beatles’ hair, she reports: “Many times I have to condition actors’ hair before they can go in front of the cameras. Often I steam their hair with oil so that it shines and looks softer when it’s filmed. But this sort of thing isn’t at all necessary for The Beatles. Their hair is so healthy nm doesn’t need any conditioning. It’s alive, with excellent texture, and The Beatles keep it very well. I love doing their hair.” Betty washed each Beatle’s hair once every three days and trimmed it once a week. “A wash and trim takes a total of about 45 minutes. They were very easy customers and 1 was careful not to take much off.” Still HDN-11 .. at the ose ee ee oeeo roe we eee Mat 2A The Beatles have their mop-tops tended by four stylish stylists on the set of their first movie, “A Hard Day’s Night,” opening . Theatre, through United Artists release. The comedy, with music (of course), is about 36 eventful hours in the life of a top pop quartet—not unlike the Beatiles! Producer Shenson Tells About Working With The Beatles The question most frequently asked by friends of Walter Shenson these days is, “What are The Beatles really like?” Shenson is the energetic, imaginative American film producer who made The Beatles’ first feature film, “A Hard Day’s Night,” opening ........ at (Het eer Eas Theatre, through United Artists release. “Before I started working with The Beatles,” Shenson said, “people that I know used to give me wild stories about how hard it was going to be, that they were spoiled by success, hard to control, inexperienced before cameras, and so on. It all turned out to be nonsense. The Beatles are anything but a four-headed monster. They are four very likeable boys, full of pep and enthusiasm with a contagious sense of humor. And, don’t make a mistake about it, they’re intelligent— with a sharp sense of perception and a good balance. So far as | can tell, they are no different today than they have ever been, despite the incredible success and wealth that have come their way. “Before the cameras they took direction from Richard Lester like vets and convinced all associated with ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ that they have far more natural acting instinct than anyone would have suspected for a first appearance. | think the two secrets are freedom from tension and the feeling of fun they get out of doing what they like. I’m glad we decided to do a script in which the four boys play themselves instead of some fanciful yarn that wouldn’t fit.” Director Lester Says ‘Hard Day’s Night’ A Hard Day’s Work At 32, Dick Lester has the ability to take almost everything in his stride—no mean qualification for directing a picture starring The Beatles. “A Hard Day’s Night,” starring the mop-topped quartet, OPENS oy esk. at themes. Theatre, through United Artists release . . . and Lester often wonders how it was finished at all. “Location shooting was practically impossible,” he recalls. No matter how he tried to keep the locations secret, somehow mobs of teenage fans always found us. The police managed to keep them back most of the time, but their shrieks and squeals couldn’t be kept off the sound-track. Once, shooting down at the Thames embankment, we theught we had managed to get out of range of the kids, when a tourist launch swerved in from the river loaded with teenagers shouting “Ringo, go it Ringo!” “Working with The Beatles was said Lester. “It was the crowds that were tough. You take four intelligent people and ask them to play themselves from a script written especially for them, no trouble in that.” ” easy, Lester’s last picture, the Margaret Rutherford, Terry-Thomas starrer “The Mouse on the Moon,” was also made in England, although he is a Philadelphia born American. He has a degree in clinical psythe University of Pennsylvania which, he notes, does not include “Beatlemania” in it’s psychology curriculum! chology from Still HDN-41 Mat 2C Beatle Paul McCartney and Rosemarie Frankland (a former “Miss World” tithe winner) in a scene from “A Hard Day’s Night,” opening ........ at the Theatre, through United Artists release. Paul co-stars with brother Beatles George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon. PAGE 9