Hard Day’s Night, A, is a popular motion-picture musical comedy that starred the Beatles. The 1964 movie produced many hit songs for the rock group and showed them to be talented, likable comic actors. The film’s documentary look, startling camera angles, and quick cutting (switching from scene to scene) influenced many similar films of the 1960’s as well as later music videos.
The Beatles—Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr—portrayed themselves. The story followed the group as they traveled by train from Liverpool to London to perform on a television show. The major supporting roles were played by Wilfred Brambell as McCartney’s grandfather, Victor Spinetti as the TV director, Norman Rossington as the group’s manager, and John Junkin as the manager’s assistant.
The film’s wit and high spirits as well as director Richard Lester’s flashy cinematic style contributed to the film’s popularity among audiences beyond the Beatles’ normal fan base. The score included many Beatles hits, including the title song as well as “Tell Me Why,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You,” “She Loves You,” “If I Fell,” “And I Love Her,” “This Boy,” and “Can’t Buy Me Love.”
See also Beatles ; Harrison, George ; Lennon, John ; McCartney, Paul ; Starr, Ringo .
