The Beatles Movies

A Hard Days Night (DVD) 6 July 1964 (United Artists)

5 Star Rating *****

The Beatles first movie wonderfully captures the madness of Beatlemania in a fresh, witty and intelligent way. A Hard Days Night is rightly seen as a landmark film of the 60s.

Directed by Richard Lester

Produced by Walter Shenson

Written by Alun Owen

Starring

John Lennon 

Paul McCartney 

George Harrison 

Ringo Starr 

Wilfrid Brambell as John McCartney, Paul's grandfather

Norman Rossington as Norm, The Beatles' manager

John Junkin as Shake, The Beatles' road manager

Victor Spinetti as the TV director

Richard Vernon as Johnson, the gentleman on the train

Anna Quayle as Millie

Alison Seebohm as Dolly, Simon Marshall's secretary

Kenneth Haigh as Simon Marshall

Julian Holloway as Adrian, Simon's assistant

Robin Ray as the TV floor manager

Lionel Blair as the TV choreographer

David Janson as Charley, a young boy Ringo encounters

John Bluthal as a car thief

Edward Malin as the hotel waiter

Deryck Guyler as a police sergeant

Michael Trubshawe (uncredited) as the casino manager

Margaret Nolan (uncredited) as a girl at the casino

Pattie Boyd (uncredited) as Jean, a blonde schoolgirl on the train

Music by George Martin (score) John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison (songs)

Cinematography Gilbert Taylor

Edited by John Jympson

Production company - Proscenium Films, Walter Shenson Films, Maljack Productions

Distributed by United Artists

Release dates 6 July 1964 (UK)

Running time 87 minutes

Budget £189,000

Box office $12,299,668

Songs

1. "A Hard Day's Night"
2. "I Should Have Known Better"
3. "I Wanna Be Your Man" (sample)
4. "Don't Bother Me" (Harrison) (sample)
5. "All My Loving" (sample)
6. "If I Fell"
7. "Can't Buy Me Love"
8. "And I Love Her"
9. "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You"
10. "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)" Instrumental
11. "A Hard Day's Night"  Instrumental
12. "Tell Me Why"
13. "She Loves You"

Help! (DVD) 29 July 1965

5 Star Rating ***

Help!, was the first colour film starring The Beatles, sadly, even with its crazy plot, great music and exotic locations, it failed to recapture the magic of A Hard Days Night!

Directed by Richard Lester

Produced by Walter Shenson

Written by Charles Wood, Marc Behm

Story by Marc Behm

 Starring

John Lennon

Paul McCartney

George Harrison

Ringo Starr

Leo McKern

Eleanor Bron

John Bluthal

Patrick Cargill

Victor Spinetti

Roy Kinnear

Mal Evans

   Music

The Beatles

Ken Thorne

George Martin

Cinematography - David Watkin

Edited by John Victor Smith

Production Company - Walter Shenson Films, Subafilms

Distributed by United Artists

Release date 29 July 1965

Running time 96 minutes

Box office $12,066,667

Songs

1. "Help!"
2. "You're Going to Lose That Girl"
3. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away"
4. "Ticket to Ride"
5. "I Need You"
6. "The Night Before"
7. "Another Girl"
8. "She's a Woman" (heard in the background, on a tape machine, and underground in the Salisbury Plain scene)
9. "A Hard Day's Night" (played by Indian band and as an instrumental)
10. "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" (played by a band during the bike-riding scene)
11. "You Can't Do That" (played as an instrumental during the Austrian Alps sequence)

Magical Mystery Tour (DVD) 26 December 1967

5 Star Rating **

With the death of manager, Brian Epstein, The Beatles blindly tried to control their own affairs, and this film was one of the worst idea's. It was mainly McCartney's project, and even today it still looks pretty awful!

Written by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr

Directed by The Beatles, Bernard Knowles (uncredited)

Starring

John Lennon

Paul McCartney

George Harrison

Ringo Starr

Jessie Robins

Vivian Stanshall

Mal Evans

Ivor Cutler

Derek Royle

Victor Spinetti

Miranda Forbes

Narrated by John Lennon

Music by The Beatles, The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, Shirley Evans (accordionist), George Martin

Producer - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Gavrik Losey, Dennis O'Dell

Editor Roy Benson

Cinematography - Daniel Lacambre, Richard Starkey M.B.E.

Running time - 52 minutes

Production company(s) Apple Corps / BBC

Distributor New Line Cinema (US)

Release - Original channel  BBC1

Original release  26 December 1967

Songs

1. "Magical Mystery Tour"
2. "The Fool on the Hill"
3. "She Loves You" (played on a fairground organ as part of the general medley of background music during the impromptu race)
4. "Flying" (John Lennon / Paul McCartney / George Harrison / Richard Starkey)
5. "All My Loving" (orchestrated, as background music)
6. "I Am the Walrus"
7. "Jessie’s Dream" (instrumental piece, not released on any audio recording)
8. "Blue Jay Way" (George Harrison)
9. "Death Cab for Cutie" (Vivian Stanshall / Neil Innes) Performed by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band 
10. "Your Mother Should Know"
11. "Magical Mystery Tour" (part, once more)
12. "Hello, Goodbye" (part, finale played over end credits)

Yellow Submarine (DVD) 17 July 1968

5 Star Rating ****

Yellow Submarine is an animated feature using the plot of The Beatles being sent to Pepperland to liberate the enslaved inhabitants with music. It is a great little movie which has aged well. Its just a pity that The Beatles didn't voice the characters!

Directed by George Dunning

Live-action sequences: Dennis Abey

Produced by Al Brodax

Screenplay by Lee Minoff, Al Brodax, Jack Mendelsohn, Erich Segal, Roger McGough 

Story by Lee Minoff

Starring

John Clive – John

Geoff Hughes – Paul

Peter Batten – George

Paul Angelis – Ringo / Chief Blue Meanie / George / Narrator

Dick Emery – Jeremy / Lord Mayor / Max

Lance Percival – "Young/Old" Fred

The Beatles (live cameo at the end)

Music by The Beatles / George Martin

Edited by Brian J. Bishop

Production company  Apple Films / King Features Syndicate / TVC London / Subafilms, inc.

Distributed by United Artists

Release dates 17 July 1968

Running time 87 minutes

Budget £250,000

Songs

1. "Pepperland" (George Martin) Orchestral
2. "March of The Meanies" (George Martin) Orchestral
3. "Yellow Submarine"
4. "A Beginning" (George Martin) Orchestral
5. "Eleanor Rigby"
6. "Love You To" (George Harrison) (excerpt, played during George's entrance)
7. "A Day in the Life" (excerpt, orchestral swell, starting as the Submarine takes off)
8. "All Together Now"
9. "Sea of Time" (George Martin) Orchestral
10. "When I'm Sixty-Four"
11. "Only a Northern Song" (Harrison)
12. "Sea of Monsters" (George Martin) Orchestral
13. "Nowhere Man"
14. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
15. "Sea of Holes" (George Martin) Orchestral
16. "Sea of Green" (a short vocal excerpt when Ringo finds the green hole that leads to Pepperland)
17. "Yellow Submarine In Pepperland" (trad arr Lennon-McCartney) Orchestral
18. "Pepperland Laid Waste" (George Martin) Orchestral
19. "Think for Yourself" (Harrison) (short excerpt) 
20. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
21. "With a Little Help from My Friends" (short excerpt) 
22. "All You Need Is Love"
23. "Baby, You're a Rich Man" (excerpt) 
24. "Hey Bulldog" 
25. "It's All Too Much" (Harrison)
26. "All Together Now"

Let It Be (DVD) 20 May 1970

5 Star Rating ***

Let It Be is basically a documentary of The Beatles making music in the studio and literally falling apart in the process. The film captures the problems the band were facing at the time and it proved to be their swansong. It is quite dull to watch, but there is a major payoff in the form of the famous rooftop gig!

Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg

Produced by Neil Aspinall

 Starring

The Beatles

Billy Preston

Music by The Beatles

Cinematography Anthony B. Richmond

Edited by Tony Lenny

Production company - Apple Films

Distributed by United Artists

Release dates - 13 May 1970 (New York City) / 20 May 1970 (United Kingdom)

Running time 80 minutes

Songs

1. "Paul's Piano Intro"based on "Adagio for Strings" (Samuel Barber), and titled "Paul's Piano Piece" on Let It Be... Naked
2. "Don't Let Me Down"
3. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
4. "Two of Us"
5. "I've Got a Feeling"
6. "Oh! Darling"
7. "One After 909"
8. "Jazz Piano Song" (McCartney/Starkey)
9. "Across the Universe"
10. "Dig a Pony"
11. "Suzy Parker" (Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)
12. "I Me Mine" (Harrison)
13. "For You Blue" (Harrison)
14. "Bésame mucho" (Consuelo Velázquez/Sunny Skylar)
15. "Octopus's Garden" (Starkey)
16. "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" (Smokey Robinson)
17. "The Long and Winding Road"
18. Medley: "Rip It Up" (Robert Blackwell/John Marascalco) "Shake Rattle and Roll" (Jesse Stone, under his working name Charles E. Calhoun)
19. Medley: "Kansas City" (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller) "Miss Ann" (Richard Penniman/Enotris Johnson) "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" (Lloyd Price)
20. "Dig It"
21. "Let It Be"
22. "Get Back"