Help!
Short description
Help! is a British adventure comedy from 1965 built around the Beatles, who play versions of themselves. Ringo Starr ends up wearing a ceremonial ring that a follower sent him, and it will not come off. The ring is wanted by members of an Eastern religious cult who need it for a sacrifice, and they set out after him. Their pursuit drives Ringo and his bandmates John, Paul and George from London to the Austrian Alps and on to the Bahamas, while a pair of eccentric scientists, Scotland Yard officers and a stone-faced assassin pursue their own agendas involving the group.
Richard Lester directed, working from a screenplay by Marc Behm and Charles Wood, with Walter Shenson producing. It was the second of Lester's thirteen films in chronological order and followed A Hard Day's Night the previous year; Petulia came later. The credited cast runs to 59 people, with Leo McKern as Clang and Eleanor Bron as Ahme among the principals.
Made for about two million dollars, the film leans on songs and jokes in the manner of its predecessor. Audience scores are moderate but positive, at 7.1 on IMDb from roughly 22,000 votes and 6.9 on TMDB from a much smaller sample of 359. The critics' rating of 7.4 from 28 reviews is higher than either audience figure.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film features a melody from the song A Hard Day's Night, not performed in the film by The Beatles themselves. It is performed by an Indian orchestra and a military bugle.
- Mel Evans (1935-1976), The Beatles' road manager, appeared as the swimmer in the film.
- According to Paul McCartney, the script for the film took into account the band members' desire to travel to the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas, places they had never been before.
- According to the members of The Beatles, they were all indulging in marijuana at the time of filming. This explains why they often make mistakes in their lines or utter nonsense.
- Initially, The Beatles planned to film a Western. The action was to take place in Texas, and they would compete for the love of a cattle rancher’s daughter. Photographs of the members of The Beatles on horseback in cowboy attire have even been preserved. The Western was never made, and instead, they began filming this film.
- During the filming of the bicycle scene, an Indian man approached the band with a book about reincarnation, which sparked George Harrison's (1943-2001) fascination with Hinduism, a passion he carried throughout his life.
- According to George Harrison, during the filming of the scene with the horse and the window, the members of The Beatles laughed so much that filming that one scene took almost the entire day.
- The film was already in post-production while filming was still ongoing. Director Richard Lester shot during the day and edited the footage at night.
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