Episode #25 – ‘Help! - The Beatles’ Seminal Pop/Pot Movie’

The Fab Four’s second film, shot in vivid colour, captured a very different group demeanor to that in A Hard Day’s Night. For that first effort they’d been pumped up on pills; this time around, they were laid back on the “herbal jazz cigarettes”. And director Dick Lester, together with cinematographer David Watkin, conveyed the blissed-out vibe via stunning photography, innovative graphics and offbeat comedy. The result, at the time widely regarded as inferior to its predecessor, is now acclaimed as a pop-art gem that, very much of its time, also helped to define its era while serving as a wide-ranging source of influence and inspiration. Towering above all, of course, were those personalities and their music… * ‘Help!’ * ‘The Night Before’ * ‘You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away’ * ‘I Need You’ * ‘Another Girl’ * ‘You’re Going to Lose That Girl’ * ‘Ticket to Ride’ * Selections from Ken Thorne’s orchestral score