On the exact day, August 11, 1964, the legendary British musical comedy “A Hard Day’s Night” was released in cinemas. The Beatles starred in their first feature film.
Released at the height of Beatlemania and the British Invasion, A Hard Day’s Night is widely considered a classic, according to Britannica.com.
In 2024 it will celebrate its 60th anniversary.
“The musical presents a fictionalized account of 36 hours in the lives of the Beatles, portraying themselves as they travel to London and attempt to record a television appearance while avoiding fanatical teenage admirers,” the same source noted.
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The rock’n’roll musical features catchy and classic Beatles songs, including “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Should Have Known Better,” and the eponymous “A Hard Day’s Night.”
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John Lennon wrote the song “A Hard Day’s Night”; it is attributed to Lennon-McCartney and released in 1964 on the film soundtrack of the same name, according to the Beatles’ official website.
Both the American and British singles from “A Hard Day’s Night” and the American and British album of the same name stayed at the top of their respective charts for several weeks in August 1964 – the first time an artist had achieved this, according to the same source.
United Artists came up with the idea for the film in October 1963, reported The New Republic.
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The Beatles signed the contract but were “nervous” about the film, the same source reported.
United Artists hired Walter Shenson as producer and Richard Lester as director. According to The New Republic, Alun Owen was hired to write the screenplay.
The plot of “A Hard Day’s Night” revolves around the Beatles being persecuted by their eager teenage fans.
The Beatles – Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – board a train in Liverpool to London to appear on a television show. They are accompanied by their manager Norm, his assistant Shake and Paul’s grandfather, Turner Classic Movies reported.
Along the way, the Beatles must rescue Paul’s unconventional grandfather from various mishaps, while drummer Ringo disappears just before the crucial concert, Film Affinity said.
Time magazine called the film “one of the gentlest, most refreshing and funniest exploitation films ever made,” and film critic Roger Ebert described the film as “one of the great life-affirming milestones in film history.”
Ebert added it to his list of best films.
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The film won two Oscars at the 37th Academy Awards (1965), which honored films made in 1964.
“A Hard Day’s Night” won an Oscar for best original screenplay (Alun Owen) and best original score (George Martin).
In addition, the film won the 1965 BAFTA (British Academy Film Award) for films shot in 1964.
According to the Beatles Bible website, an exhausted Ringo Starr coined the phrase “A Hard Day’s Night” after a filming session on March 19, 1964.
“We went to work, we had worked all day and coincidentally all night too. When I woke up I think I still thought it was day and I said, ‘That was a hard day…’ and I looked around and saw it was dark so I said, ‘Night!’ That’s how we got ‘A Hard Day’s Night,'” the same source said.
In addition, although the saying was adopted for the film, it is not a new expression, says the Beatles Bible.
“It appeared in John Lennon’s book ‘In His Own Write,’ published on March 23, 1964, although Lennon always attributed it to his colleague,” the same source noted.
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The film has both a musical and cinematic legacy in pop culture, with MTV crediting the film with inventing the music video, Vulture said.
“In 1984, ‘Hard Day’s Night’ director Richard Lester received an award from MTV declaring him the ‘Father of the Music Video,'” the same source pointed out.
“‘Hard Day’s Night’ featured the Beatles in concert, but also their songs played during the film’s action,” Vulture also said.
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In the spring of 1970, the Beatles officially disbanded and in the following years all four members produced solo albums.
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Lennon released a number of songs with his wife Yoko Ono and McCartney formed a new band called Wings, which “released a number of commercially successful recordings in the 1970s,” Britannica said.
Harrison and Starr were also successful as solo artists.
McCartney and Starr still perform today.
Source of the original article: On this day in history, August 11, 1964, the legendary Beatles film “A Hard Day’s Night” was released in cinemas.
