Anniversary 2: Help!
Ringo:
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The fire brigade once got my head out of some railings.
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John:
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Did you want them to?
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Ringo:
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No. I used to leave it there when I wasn’t using it for school. You can see a lot of the world from railings.
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Ok.
To complete my anniversary post day … this past week we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the world premiere of the Beatles second film, “Help!” <“Help!” premiered in London on July 29, 1965, at the London Pavilion Theatre.
I love this movie <partially because I think this is the Beatles song writing at its peak>.
Here is the thing about this movie … it is fun, delightful, often silly, not a lot of great acting and chockfull of great music.
Is it great cinema?
Nope.
It is no Room with a View <or any artsy ‘deep’ movie>.
And many people don’t think it is as good as the other big Beatles movie “A Hard Day’s Night.”
I don’t agree.
I found Hard Day’s Night a hard movie to watch morning, noon or night.
Help! I find easy to watch anytime. It is charmingly silly, the music is great and it is quirky funny. I imagine I would compare it to a musical version of the old Pink Panther movies.
I hesitate to say Help has a real plot … if it has one it is silly … but it just seems like a charmingly good fit for the Beatles themselves … and while only Ringo seems to have any acting potential they all play themselves rather well.
I am not going to do a critical review of Help … although John would smile upon me if I did … apparently John Lennon was often critical of “Help!” for an outlandish and silly script <the movie is actually about an Indian religious cult plot to kill drummer Ringo Starr because of a sacred ring anonymously sent to him and he cannot get off his finger>.
Let me say that as an MTV kid myself … it was the precursor of MTV but in a movie and with greatest hits rock block format.
Every song is great.
Every movie vignette tied to a song is fun & entertaining <of course the Help skiing vignette is the most famous> with “Another Girl,” “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” and “You’re Going to Lose That Girl” being showcased in a tough, but cinematic, music video style.
I always recommend people watching this movie.
I don’t promise deep acting skills & poignant moments … just entertainment and great music.
The Help soundtrack and the Help album <the Beatles 5th album> are different <just in case anyone is curious> but the album … which remains one of their best … has all the movie songs and more.
Take some time one night with some popcorn and rent the Help dvd.
It will be a fun night and you will be humming Beatles songs for at least a week afterwards.
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