A Hard Day's Night
by Lester, Richard
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Deryck Guyler, George Harrison, Kenneth Haigh, Lionel Blair, Wilfrid BrambellDirector: Lester, Richard
Brand: BUENA VISTA HOME VIDEO
Primary Contributor: George Harrison
Primary Contributor: John Lennon
Primary Contributor: McCartney, Paul
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-24
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Miramax Entertainment
Movie Reviews of A Hard Day's Night
Movie Review: Zany fun
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't expect linear storytelling or a documentary, per se. This film offers a little of both. There's a loose plot in which the Beatles, who have become prisoners of their fame, try to break free and have a bit of fun, much to their manager's vexation. (Each of the Beatles gets at least one delightful little scene in which to shine except, curiously, for Paul McCartney; his "mixer" of a grandfather, played memorably by Wilfrid Brambell, is his surrogate in mischief.) There's all kinds of droll merriment along the way, with some of the Beatles' hits incorporated cleverly, but the real payoff is an extended concert scene at the end. Just a note -- some of the accents, most notably George Harrison's, can be challenging; try watching with the subtitles on.
Summary of A Hard Day's Night
In 1964, the Beatles had just recently exploded onto the American scene with their debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show." The group's first feature, the Academy Award-nominated "A Hard Day's Night," offered fans their first peek into a day in the life of the Beatles and served to establish the Fab Four on the silver screen, as well as to inspire the music video format. Songs: I'll Cry Instead, A Hard Day's Night, I Should've Known Better, Can't Buy Me Love, If I Fell, And I Love Her, I'm Happy Just to Dance with You, Ringo's Theme (This Boy), Tell Me Why, Don't Bother Me, I Wanna Be Your Man, All My Lovin', She Loves You.The Fab Four from Liverpool--John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr--in their first movie. Nobody expected A Hard Day's Night to be much more than a quick exploitation of a passing musical fad, but when the film opened it immediately seduced the world--even the stuffiest critics fell over themselves in praise (highbrow Dwight Macdonald called it "not only a gay, spontaneous, inventive comedy but it is also as good cinema as I have seen for a long time"). Wisely, screenwriter Alun Owen based his script on the Beatles' actual celebrity at the time, catching them in the delirious early rush of Beatlemania: eluding rampaging fans, killing time on trains and in hotels, appearing on a TV broadcast. American director Richard Lester, influenced by the freestyle French New Wave and British Goon Show humor, whips up a delightfully upbeat circus of perpetual motion. From the opening scene of the mop tops rushing through a train station mobbed by fans, the movie rarely stops for air. Some of the songs are straightforwardly presented, but others ("Can't Buy Me Love," set to the foursome gamboling around an empty field) soar with ingenuity. Above all, the Beatles express their irresistible personalities: droll, deadpan, infectiously cheeky. Better examples of pure cinematic joy are few and far between. --Robert Horton
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