Today we’ll spotlight songs from the fabulous soundtrack for its golden anniversary, where each and every song is golden (and about love). “If I Fell,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “This Boy,” “I’m Happy Just to Dance With You”…
A Hard Day’s Night was the first of the Beatles five films and considered one of the best and most influential musical films of all time.
A Hard Days Night Movie Poster
There’s endless trivia about the movie. Here’s a small sampling:
1. A Hard Day’s Night was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Screenplay, Alun Owen, and Best Adapted Score, George Martin, though the Beatles didn’t receive any nominations for their original songs.
2. Model and artist Pattie Boyd appears in several scenes in the movie. She met George Harrison on the set and they were married 18 months later.
3. In the “I’m Just Happy to Dance With You” scene, there’s a backdrop of beetles behind the dancers.
4. You never hear the words “The Beatles” in the movie, but you see it on Ringo’s drumhead and on the helicopter in the final scene.
5. A teenage Phil Collins appears in the audience during a scene set to “You Can’t Do That,” but it was cut from the film.
6. The tailor in the film is The Beatles’ real tailor.
7. United Artists expected to lose money on the film and were mainly interested in the lucrative soundtrack. With a final cost of about $500,000 and a box office take of about $8,000,000 in the first week, “A Hard Day’s Night” is among the most profitable films, percentage-wise, of all time.
8. The movie’s premiere in England took place on the 7th anniversary of John Lennon and Paul McCartney meeting for the first time after a performance by John’s first band, The Quarrymen.
9. When shooting began, The Beatles had not yet joined the British actor’s union. They were hastily inducted on the set.
10. The resulting album of the same name is the only one The Beatles released with every song written and composed exclusively by Lennon-McCartney. It was also the first Beatles album not to contain any covers of other artists’ songs.
11. Paul is the only Beatle not addressed by his full name in the movie. George’s name is spoken by John on the train: “George Harrison, a scouse of distinction” (a scouse being a native of Liverpool). Ringo’s birth name, Richard Starkey, is mentioned on his casino invitation. John’s name is said at the end of the movie, “I have one thing to say to you, John Lennon.”
12. Both John and Paul’s mothers are mentioned in the film, implied alive. However, Paul’s mother, Mary, died he was fourteen, and John’s mother, Julia, died when he was seventeen.
13. The movie’s working title initially was “The Beatles”, then “Beatlemania.” Ringo famously coined the phrase ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ after a long day in the studio.
14. Once Ringo’s line “A Hard Day’s Night” was confirmed as the movie’s title, it was put to music by John & Paul. All four played it for the producer the next morning in their dressing room.
15. The movie was called Yeah Yeah Yeah in Germany, Tutti Per Uno (All for One) in Italy, Quatre Garçons Dans Le Vent (Four Boys in the Wind) in France, Yeah! Yeah! Tässä tulemme! (Yeah! Yeah! Here We Come!) in Finland, and Os Reis do Iê-Iê-Iê (The Kings of Yeah-Yeah-Yeah) in Brazil.
A Hard Days Night Album Cover