Help!

The Beatles: Help

Help! is dedicated to Elias Howe, "...who in 1846 invented the sewing machine..."

It's 1965, and The Beatles are being vampirised of their abundant energy by the beast called Beatlemania. Their last album, the ironically titled (and sub-standard) Beatles For Sale had needed the help of old standards that they'd been playing LIVE for years in order to get the album long enough and meet their two-albums-a-year schedule.

Another reason for the diminished song-writing output was that the boys had discovered weed...and much of the frenetic Tin Pan Alley energy was being dissipated. In fact, it's obvious from photos that Lennon had one prolonged case of the munchies and was beefing up at an alarming rate.

However, their contract with United Artists was for three films and so there was another film to make. The Beatles reunited with A Hard Day's Night director, Richard Lester to create this James Bond (then a brand new sensation) spoof .

What differs A Hard Day's Night from Help is that the latter's got:

• a big-budget (well, it's shot in color, this time)
• foreign locations (The Bahamas, Bavarian ski slopes) &
• a happy, almost mellow soundtrack (wonder why that was?)...with the obvious exception of the title track, Lennon's first great adult song, Help.  

The plot itself is silly in extremis. Poor Ringo puts a ring on and can't get it off. Unfortunately the ring belongs to a mysterious Indian cult which thinks nothing of killing our drumming moptop to get it back...and the plot thickens when a mad scientist (Victor Spinetti) believes he could rule the world with the same ring...and he, too, will stop at nothing to get hold of it. 

What results is silly mayhem as our boys try to elude one loony after another while singing songs, making jokes...and carrying on with a joie de vivre that must have been a wonderful balm to those who saw the times were-a-changin'.

Help! DVD

"...It's 43 years since the release of this film and you almost wouldn't know it. The music is still magnificent, the plot is still hilarious, and the extras make it all the more worthwhile, even if your kids are astonished to discover that Paul McCartney was in another band before Wings..." Amazon reviewer S.R. Rund

"...This was a gift for my 10 year old daughter for Christmas. We have watched HELP! so many times already and laugh and sing loudly every time. It is funny, sweet; no sex, drugs or violence, good clean enjoyable film! And it goes without saying the best music EVER....Buy it and watch it soon! The reproduction is amazing!..." Amazon reviewer Judith A. Brodnicki

"...1965, It was the Beatles and James Bond, both competing for the pop culture dollar...So how did the Liverpool Lads counter?...Brilliantly of course. First you take a half-baked sort of spy-like, espionge story-line. You incorporate some silly slapstick routines and you round it out with an outstanding selection of orginal songs...and....Voila!!!!! What have you got?...Why a pop cultue phenomenon that has outlasted the Hoola Hoop, The Nehru Suit...(and)...The Love In..." Amazon reviewer Shell-Zee

"...Oh! What a transfer. I first saw Help! in its original, 1997 DVD release, and comparing the two pictures is like the reddest apples versus the orangest of oranges. This is a beautiful, anamorphic 1.75:1 transfer, ever so slightly windowboxed and clearly the product of a lot of hard restoration work. Colors are bright and vivid, veering slightly toward blue tones, with a pleasing amount of detail: take a look at John's green corduroy coat and hat during the I Need You/The Night Before sequence, or Paul's disguise at the airport.

There are occasional flutters on the left-hand side of the image - probably damage that could not be further corrected - and a definite softness to long shots that is almost certainly indicative of the original film stock. (This is all pretty much in keeping with British films of the 1960s and early '70s; see, for instance, From Russia with Love or The Italian Job.) Overall, this is a very fine, film-like presentation. Couldn't fault it if I tried..." Sarah Hadley popsyndicate.com

Help! DVD + missing scene (?) + doco

"...Help! is presented as a lush 2-disc DVD set by Capitol Records and the Beatles’ own Apple Corps. This is such a lovely set...with both discs housed on one side...(and)...with the other holding a 16-page booklet containing:

• an introduction by (director) Richard Lester
• an appreciation by Martin Scorsese and
• film & DVD production credits, all illustrated with publicity photographs

At a point when most distributors are foregoing even the most basic insert, this is great packaging, and will only whet your appetite for the film. Sarah Hadley popsyndicate.com

The "it's all too much" edition

Help! + Magical Mystery Tour + The making of A Hard Day's Night + Beatles in the USA

The Help soundtrack songs are another matter altogether. The "feel" is often very acoustic, with lots of strumming and very little recognisable rock'n'roll other than the title track. There are obvious Dylan influences on Lennon tracks such as:

You've Got To Hide Your Love Away

"...That's me in my Dylan period again. I am like a chameleon... influenced by whatever is going on. If Elvis can do it, I can do it. If the Everly Brothers can do it, me and Paul can. Same with Dylan..." John Lennon 1980 (see Beatles quotes about Help!, below)

You're Going To Lose that Girl &

Ticket To Ride

"...That was one of the earliest heavy-metal records made. Paul's contribution was the way Ringo played the drums..." John Lennon 1980 (see Beatles quotes about Help!, below)

...but that's more in the sound rather than the words, which are strictly in the Tin Pan Alley mould, though, admittedly, the title track, Help, is a different matter altogether. Now one of the most admired songs of modern pop music, Lennon's delivers his scream of pain with admirable restraint, helped immeasurably by Ringo's ker-plunkety-plunk beat. Funnily enough, it would be years before the song was properly respected critically and I have to admit that I have actually derived a perverse thrill from watching various "artists" butcher it with saccharine MOR over the years!

On the other hand, McCartney, who's pretty quiet for much of the album, pops in with Yesterday, which isn't in the film. The song was instantly considered genius and adult at the time (George Martin scored a pretty string quartet arrangement), though it's now perhaps viewed a little less favorably...and it certainly gave the album a kudos it perhaps didn't deserve. According to The Guinness Book Of Records, Yesterday has had more cover versions than any other song (3,000) and has been performed over 7 million times in the 20th century.

"...I tumbled out of bed and put my hands on the piano keys and I had a tune in my head. It was just all there, a complete thing..." Paul McCartney 1980

"...I couldn't think of any words to it, so originally it was just...called Scrambled Egg...for a couple of months, until I thought of Yesterday..." Paul McCartney 1968 (see Beatles quotes about Help!, below)

The rest of the album (including the remaining soundtrack songs) are pleasant singalongs...often bordering on country:

• Act Naturally
• You Like Me Too Much
• Tell Me What You See

...while I've Just Seen A Face is McCartney's frenetic take on Dylan.

 Hilariously, it's followed by the album closer, the raucous Lennon knees-up of Dizzy Missy Lizzy, an old stage favorite, which he nails beautifully...though it really does seem dreadfully out of place on this strumming, weed-inspired album. 

The Beatles: Help! soundtrack

"...The Beatles were unlike any other rock band -ever. Help! is just one of many albums that proves their remarkable creativity and genius and with any luck people will continue to enjoy their music for ages to come. Thanks forever, guys!!!..." Amazon review a music fan 

"....there is no such thing as a bad Beatles album. Some are just better than others and the Help tunes on this CD are among their VERY best..." Amazon review Ronald Prybycien

"...Last week I had one of the most disturbing dreams of my life. It went like this: my sister and her husband were over at our house visiting. Suddenly my brother in-law tipped over onto his side on our sofa and was transformed before our eyes into a large brown shark. He flopped about two or three times, then bounced off the sofa onto the floor, which was now magically a deep body of water. In amazement I watched as my brother in-law swam across the surface of our floor, then leaped into the air and snatched my copy of The Beatles Help! album out of our CD rack. For a terrifying second he hung suspended in the air, swallowed the CD whole, winked at me, then plunged down into our watery floor, dissappearing....

...In the days that followed, that dream haunted me. Whenever at home, I kept going to check that my copy of Help! was still there. What if the dream was some sort of prophecy and my treasured CD really was in some sort of jeopardy? Finally, I...ordered another copy, which I ended up taking to the bank and storing in my safe deposit box. These days, while still feeling the trauma of that nightmare, I am a bit more secure knowing I have that second copy of this album locked safely away..." Amazon review fluffy, the human being

For more info, see:

• wikipedia Help
• transcription of radio interview recorded on the set of Help! with all four Beatles, mostly just promoting the movie
• The Beatles, quotes over the years about Help!