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By PAUL BRENNER
There's a lot of running and jumping but no standing still in Richard Lester's energetic,
breathless rock 'n' roll musical classic starring the Fab Four, finally making it to DVD in an immaculate two-disc
collector's edition from Miramax Home Video. Part Godard, part Truffaut, part Goon Show, Lester achieves a fractured,
semi-documentary realism as John, Paul, George and Ringo work like dogs through a 36-hour spree, running from frenzied
fans and preparing in Marx Brothers fashion for a television appearance. On hand for Beatles backup are shtick artists
Wilfrid Brambell as Paul's "clean old man" grandfather and Victor Spinetti as a frazzled TV show director. At one point
in the proceedings, a newsman asks Ringo, "Are you a Mod or a Rocker?" Ringo replies deadpan, "I'm a mocker" and ushers
in the virgin birth of the '60s antiestablishment attitude of insouciance -- all fresh-faced and gleaming. And in spite
being made as a low budget quickie in 1964, this beaming moment of cultural joy and happiness hasn't aged one bit.
With the film restored to its distinctive Plus X splendor and with a vibrant Dolby Mono soundtrack, even the most jaded
of cynics will be screaming out the name of his favorite Beatle with tears running down his or her face. In 1964, the
dream was not yet over, and George Harrison proves it from the opening sounds of his 12-string guitar strum. A Hard
Day's Night was, and still is, the jubilant crowning moment of Beatlemania and one of the best bets on DVD.
The extension special features include a promotional documentary, interviews with the filmmakers (director Richard
Lester, musical director Sir George Martin, associate producer Denis O'Dell, executive producer David Picker), the
supporting cast (John Junkin, Lionel Blair, Kenneth Haigh, David Janson, Anna Quayle, Jeremy Lloyd, Terry Hooper), the
production crew (cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, camera operator Paul Wilson, hairdresser Betty Glasow, 2nd assistant
director Bernie Melrose, and the post-production crew (assistant editors Pam Tamling and Roy Benson, sound editors
Gordon Daniels and Jim Roddan). George Martin also comments of each of the sounds from the film. Also included are
recollections of Lester and the writers of Steptoe and Son of Wilfrid Brambell. The interviews then get more desperate
with Isla Blair recalling a scene she had with Paul McCartney that was cut from the film, film photographer Robert
Freeman, tailor George Millings, publicist Tony Barrow, friend of The Beatles and fellow musician Klaus Voorman, and
U.S. tour promoter Sid Bernstein.
The DVD-ROM features include the first draft of the original screenplay, a memorabilia collection, a roundtable
discussion with the production and post-production crew, and weblinks. The only glaring omission is any comments by the
surviving Beatles. If a digital camera could also have been trained on Paul or Ringo, then the special features would
have been really special. Yeah-yeah-yeah. |
