Flashback: The Beatles Help! premier

It was 40-years-ago yesterday (July 29th) that the Beatles' second film Help! had it's world premiere at the London Pavilion at the Piccadilly Circus. The movie, which poked fun at the burgeoning British spy film genre made famous by the James Bond films, featured the far-fetched comedic plot of a group of far-eastern fundamentalists who are trying to retrieve a "sacrificial ring" that a member of their congregation had sent to Ringo Starr in a fan letter. Throughout the film, the Beatles are chased through London, the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas by both the religious cult and a pair of bumbling scientists who are convinced that possessing the ring would enable them to rule the world.

Help! not only heavily influenced The Monkees' TV show which debuted the following year, but it helped pave the way for MTV with its clever use of separate song clips throughout the movie.

John Lennon told Rolling Stone in 1970 that it was Dick Lester, who had also directed the group's first movie A Hard Day's Night, who had complete control of the film. Lennon recalled, "The movie was out of our control. With A Hard Day's Night, we had a lot of input, and it was semi-realistic. I realize now that it was a precursor to Batman's 'Pow!' Wow!' But Dick Lester never explained that to us." Lennon said in that same interview that he and the rest of the group, quote, "Felt like extras in our own film."

During the making of The Beatles' Anthology in 1992 Paul McCartney joked that, quote, "I'm not sure anyone knew the script. I think we used to learn it on the way to the set."

Ultimately Help! - which was originally titled Eight Arms To Hold You - is remembered for the clutch of classic Beatle songs featured in the film, including "Help!," "The Night Before," "Ticket To Ride," and "I Need You."

A little over two weeks after the premiere on August 15th, the Beatles kicked off their triumphant 1965 U.S. summer tour in New York City's Shea Stadium performing their biggest show yet for 55,500 screaming fans.
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