The Story: In the press conference sequence of "A Hard Day's Night," it is scripted that Ringo is asked: "Are you a "mod" or a "rocker?" And his reply is "I'm more of a mocker.." Truer words...
That was part of the charm of The Beatles (in order of joining: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr) they mocked everything. Oh, they took the music seriously, and their jobs. But, everything else was material for lampooning. The questions from the Press, the Press itself, the fan's reactions, their hair, their life-styles, their "talent"—they made more fun of themselves (and each other) than anything. And, as a consequence, they became more fun to watch, too, apart from their songs.
"A Hard Day's Night" has them as themselves, in their London, in their circumstances, dealing with their notoriety and all the complications that entails, from logistics, to travel, to exploitation, to loneliness, to "cabin fever." It examines the price of fame and the cost of living in a Beatle bubble.
But, contrarily, it's hysterical. I was at the premiere when it opened in Seattle (thanks for getting the tickets, Dad, and for being amused at Beatlemania), and it was a mob scene—you couldn't hear half the dialogue over the screams in the audience.* But, I always remembered this scene, and have memories of actually seeing it and being amazed by it. It zapped my head when I was 9 years old.
I loved comedy as a child, and always pestered adults with jokes to test "what was funny." But, this was different. This was absurd. Abstract. This was play. This was a discussion that centered around nothing, that kept building and building to the perfect punch-line (dubbed in later).
We assume the discussion centers around whether John Lennon resembles John of The Beatles, but it's never stated outright, and, in point of fact, it is never even mentioned, and avoided. Who Millie mistakes him for could be Winston Churchill, for all we know. That's the comedy aspect, like the drunk who asks the celebrity: "Do you know who you are?" ** They both know who they're talking about (or...do they?), and that absurd void is danced around, like Charlie Chaplin roller-skating around a man-hole, and comes to a conclusion without any resolution. And that all stems from the mutual Beatles/Richard Lester/Beatles producer George Martin association with The Goons (Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, et al.), the British comedy troupe much beloved for their embrace of the absurd and the bizarre, part and parcel of the strange jitterbug in "A Hard Day's Night," that catalogues two Days in the Life of The Beatles.
The Set-Up: The Beatles have just had a momentary burst of freedom, playing in a field before being summarily kicked off of it. Now, they must return to the dungeon-like studio where they await another rehearsal, another show. But, even there, The Beatles can't escape attention, and the weird price of Fame.
Action!
Ad-Libbed sections are in YELLOW
48A. INTERIOR CORRIDOR AS BOYS PASS THRU ON WAY TO DRESSING ROOM
JOHN No, not me.
MILLIE (insistently) Oh you are, I know you are.
MILLIE Well, you look like him.
JOHN My eyes are lighter.
JOHN: All right, noddy...
MILLIE Well, yes your nose is. Very.
JOHN Aye, but you know him well.
MILLIE touches his arm then walks away. After a moment she turns.
"A Hard Day's Night"
Words by Alun Owen
Pictures by Gilbert Taylor and Richard Lester
"A Hard Day's Night" is available on DVD from Miramax Home Video.
* Yes, the "youngsters" were screaming at the Beatles' image on the movie screen. As George Harrison has pithily remarked, "We gave them an excuse to go insane."
** I've actually seen this happen in real life. All you can do is be amazed. Celebrity turns a lot of us to babbling goo.
2 comments:
Hell yes! This is one of my all-time favorite scenes in a film that I think is becoming sorely underappreciated by our generation. As for that press conference, I always get a giggle at:
"How did you find America?"
"We turned left at Greenland"
"What do you call that hairstyle?"
"Arthur.."
And the best:
Reporter to John: "Do you have any hobbies?"
He takes her pad, writes something down, gives it back to her, she reads.
And reacts with shock and disgust.
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