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| A Hard Day's Night |
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(United Artists' plot synopsis) |
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The basic story of the film, as outlined in a synopsis by United Artists at the time of the release, is as follows: |
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| 'Once upon a time there were four happy Liverpool lads called Paul, John, George and Ringo and they played their music all over the country. Now, when they'd finished in one place they'd run to the nearest railway station and go on to a new place to play some more of their music, usually pursued by hundreds of young ladies. |
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| 'On the day of our story, John, George and Ringo get to to station and fight their way into the railway compartment where they meet up with Paul, who has a little old man with him, a very dear little old man. Anyway, who is he? The little old man is "mixing" John McCartney, Paul's grandfather (Wilfred Brambell). Grandfather is dedicated to the principle of of divide and conquer. The mere sight of a nice friendly group of clean-cut lads like the Beatles brings him out in a rash of counterplots. |
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| 'Norm (Norman Rossington), the boys road manager, who is conducting a war of nerves with John, the group's happy anarchist, collects Grandfather and together with Shake (John Junkin), the general dogsbody, he retreats to the restaurant for coffee, leaving the boys to settle in for their journey to London and a live television show. However, a well-established first-class ticket holder (Richard Vernon) drives the boys out of their carriage by being pompously officious, so they go and join Norm, Shake and Grandfather in the restaurant car. |
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| 'By this time Grandfather has managed to get Norm and Shake at each other's throats and Paul warns the others that this could be only the beginning. Sure enough, Grandfather has started a campaign of dissension that leads to frightening schoolgirls, a proposal of marriage to a chance acquaintance and general chaos culminating with Grandfather being locked in the luggage van where he and the boys complete their journey making music. |
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| 'When the boys arrive in London, they go to their hotel where Norm leaves them to sort out their fan mail. However, Grandfather has noticed that a certain amount of good-humoured banter is directed at Ringo. Here, thinks Grandfather, is the weak link in the chain. Instead of staying in the hotel the four boys sneak out to enjoy themselves at a twist club and Grandfather, trading his clothes for a waiter's suit, heads straight for a gambling club, passing himself off as Lord John McCartney. |
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| 'Again the boys have to rescue him, much to the old man's indignation. |
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| 'The following day sees the boys plunged into the bustle of the television world. Press conferences, rehearsals, make-up, running from place to place, being shepherded by the harassed Norm and got at by the television show's neurotic director (Victor Spinetti), and always in the background is Grandfather, interfering, disrupting, and needling Ringo. |
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| 'Only for a moment are the boys free. They can enjoy themselves playing in a large, open field, but even that doesn't last, John however, does make the most of every second; he is always fore the here and now. Paul tries keeping things on an even keel and George has a blind doggedness that sees him through. But the strain begins to tell on Ringo. |
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| 'Grandfather, of course, plays on this, pointing out the barrenness of Ringo's life and finally goading him into walking out into the world, outside of the group. |
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| 'The other three boys go out searching for Ringo, leaving Norm to fume and the director to worry himself to near collapse at the possibility of no show. |
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| 'Meanwhile, Ringo has found the world outside not too friendly, and through a series of encounters and misunderstandings, he gets himself arrested. He is taken to the station, where he meets up with Grandfather who has been taken into protective custody. Grandfather storms at teh Police Sergeant (Deryck Guyler) and manages to escape, leaving Ringo behind in the police station. |
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| 'He gets back to the television theatre and tells the boys, who, pursued again, but this time by the police, go and rescue Ringo. |
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| 'Finally they are able to do their show in front of a live audience. |
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| 'The show does well but as soon as it is finished, again it is the mad dash on to the next plane for the next show. The past thirty-six hours have been a hard day's night. The next thirty-six hours will be the same.' |
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Cast and songs |
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