A Hard Day’s Night is a movie starring the rising pop sensations of England called The Beatles. Though the movie itself was groundbreaking, the most interesting part of this movie is it began. The project seems to have been the result of calculated risk and ended up spreading Beatlemania throughout the world.

Early into research, I learned that this project was a risk of David Picker, VP of Production and Marketing at United Artist Corporation. He explains that even if the movie tanked in the box office, at least they had the rights to the film (The Beatles | A Hard Day’s Night Documentary). This film somehow caught the Beatles just before they reached their peak. When it unleashed onto the world, The Beatles changed the way people all over the world consumed popular music and culture.

My Dad has always described that first chord of “A Hard Day’s Night” as the beginning of rock and roll. So many things about this movie felt like that as well. The film wasted no time in getting to the pointless silliness. Though it seemed aimless, it was entertaining. One scene that stands out, in particular, is the “Can’t Buy Me Love” scene. They seemed carefree, joyous and without responsibility. This is one of the most recognizable scenes in the movie.

Most critics of the time thought of it as an entertaining and innovative movie as well. Bosley Crowther of the New York Times writes, ” With practically nothing substantial in the way of a story to tell — nothing more than a loosely strung fable of how the boys take under their wings the wacky old grandfather of one of them while preparing for a London television show—it discovers a nifty little satire in the paradox of the old man being more of a problem, more of “a troublemaker and a mixer,” than the boys.” The critics and the public alike found the movie’s boyish charm to be irresistible. With it’s rising success, it’s hard to believe that this was once considered a risk.

The academic paper titled “Mythology, remythology, and demythology: The Beatles on film” they also acknowledge this risk, “When Epstein negotiated their contract with United Artists for A Hard Day’s Night in October 1963, they wanted to make the film “for the express purpose of having a soundtrack album,” according to the film’s producer Walter Shenson”. However, the paper considers the marketing development of the movie as a strategic and deliberate infomercial for Beatles themed merchandise.

The article takes special care to mention that the development of the film exposed the truly unique characteristics of The Beatles. Their charm, sense of humor, and wit. These characteristics would make them the eventual success we know today. The article takes note of their limited fame before the film compared to after the film. The genius of the film, as the article points out, was the exploitation of Beatles themed memorabilia. This is what the paper describes as the intentional marketing genius behind the project.

I really enjoyed the documentary and gained the most information from it. I enjoyed the fact that it included firsthand accounts of the project. These folks really seem to have their heart in the project and still cherish it after all of these years. The purpose of this was to convey the timeline, to express what it was like to watch pop-culture change the way it did. I think there is a certain level of shock about the amount of enthusiasm that this movie received.

The movie itself was a real joy to watch and as mentioned, the charm of the group was not disappointing. The first segment of the film was shot on a train and featured imperfect framing which gave a look of realism. Though the film lacks a conventional story-telling technique its music, lighting, and cinematography are considered remarkable. Here is the best of all three in one scene.

Resources

Mythology, remythology, and demythology: The beatles on film –
https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/mythology-remythology-and-demythology-the-beatles-on-film

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-a-hard-days-night-1964