THE BEATLES Help! MOVIE REVIEW | #339

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Welcome back to Pop Goes the 60s. I'm your host Matt Williamson and today I have another Beatles review for you.

[00:00:05]This time it's not an album but a film and it's the film Help released on July 29th, 1965 in the UK but almost two weeks later in the US and there was a huge premiere in London at the London Pavilion Theater where Princess Margaret and Lord Snowden were in attendance as 10,000 people packed Piccadilly Circus for the premiere. Arriving in a black limo was John and Cynthia, Paul and Jane, and Ringo and Moren. Uh George arrived in a separate car. The pandemonium that was experienced at London for the premiere of Help was pretty common for Beetle events. They couldn't really go anywhere without some kind of craziness. And 1965 was getting out of hand. You know, they're going to do a world tour. The stadium tours were about to start. It looks like they're trying to do a film every year as part of their yearly output to the fans and help happen to be it. The problem was is they had so much to live up to because Aard Days Night was not only a critical and commercial success but also an artistic success.

[00:01:08]Let's talk first about the early part of making the film and titling the film.

[00:01:13]Now, it was it had a working title of Beatles 2, obviously their second film.

[00:01:18]And the title they came up with uh as it's told in the history books is often said, well, Eight Arms to Hold You was going to be the title. And that was actually talked about in press releases.

[00:01:29]And it even was shown on the label of the single Ticket to Ride is coming from their fourthcoming film. In fact, the B-side also said that that was going to be from the forthcoming film, though.

[00:01:39]Yes, it is. Is not in the film or on the US soundtrack or on the UK album. So, things were kind of haphazard here trying to get this thing together. The problem is is that this idea that 8 to Hold You Was the original title is not true. The original title to this film was help. And Dick Lester talked about this. And Lester said that the problem with the title help is it was copyrighted. We couldn't use it. That's when Ringo suggested Eight Arms to Hold You. And Eight Arms to Hold You came from one of the statues used in the film. So sure enough, this is the title they were going with and it was mentioned all over the place. The problem was is that Lennon McCartney could not write a song really for that title. It was they couldn't do it and probably didn't want to do it because it's kind of a mouthful. Now, other titles were bandied about. Star said, I think jokingly, "We want to you stop the world. We want to get on." But I believe Brando's doing that. That was his his quip. George Harrison suggested, "Who's Been Sleeping in My Porridge?" Lennon threw in high heeled knickers. And Walter Shenen, the art United artist producer, came up with The Day the Clowns Collapsed. Have you heard of worst title ever? And apparently Paul McCartney didn't offer any title. So that's what they had to work with when somebody in the who was working on the film said, "Hey, there's a way around this. You can name name it help, but it's got to be with an exclamation point." So they said, "Okay, let's do it." So that's how they got around the copyright for the title help. Once the title of the movie was safely secured, they announced it publicly, which was probably a month after they announced Eight Arms to Hold You was going to be the title. So, it got announced and it was at this point when the song got written for the title track. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the plot, but for those of you who don't know, this is basically shot in the style of a spy spoof, like a spy espionage film that was all the rage in 1965.

[00:03:44]And the plot is a an eastern cult is sacrificing a woman in some ceremony and she doesn't have the sacrificial ring on. Guess who's wearing the ring? The nose. Ringall. So, throw in seven Beatles songs and let the wacky high jinks begin. As anticipated and as wide reaching as this film was, this is probably the group's biggest step backward in the recording career. Now, this budget of the film was very much bigger than Aard Days Night. They had a $1.5 million budget and it made 12 million at the box office. So, it was hugely successful. Although they had huge commercial success, the reviews were mixed and they were mixed generally because the Beatles as four individuals could not carry this film on their own.

[00:04:29]They were surrounded by a very poor script and it looked like a bandwagon jump to these kind of spy spoofs that were very popular at the time. And it's really hard to look at this movie as anything but a sellout compared to the artistic statement they made with a hard day's night. You'll notice that when the Beatles are asked about the upcoming film, Help, they don't have much to say about it at all. Partly because they didn't know what it was really about.

[00:04:53]And the only thing they could really say, well, it's in color. So Harrison always said, "Oh, that that was due to a bigger budget." And indeed, they had a bigger budget, but it wasn't spent on writing a story that was really worthy of the Beatles. A Hard Day's Night was very much them. It was the story of their lives, so they were acting as themselves. in this movie and help they're kind of shoehorned into this exotic thriller that they just don't fit into. Unlike a Hard Day's Night, which was shot just in England, this was shot in a couple exotic locations. London for one, but also in Austria and in the Bahamas. Now, Austria was chosen mainly because the stars wouldn't be as recognized there and they it'd be easier for them to shoot. So, that was one reason Austria was chosen. The Bahamas was more the Beatles idea. They loved to go to warm places, but unfortunately they were shooting in the wintertime in the Bahamas. So, it wasn't that warm and and tropical there at the time. And the Bahamas was also somewhat used as a tax dodge to shoot some of the film there.

[00:05:59]And they were already thinking of business and not the actual movie. So, that's these the reasons these areas were chosen did not really serve the film. The Beatles as actors doesn't get brought up too much in these first couple films. I think in the first one because it's shot as a pseudo documentary. It's almost they're playing themselves to a tea, unlike in Help. And their acting isn't bad in Help. It's just not good. As I mentioned, the plot was a little bit thin. You had a very good cast around them. Leo Mccern as Clang, the evil high priest, Eleanor Braun, Victor Spinetti, and Roy Conir, two solid character actors, helped carry the film. Despite the plot and the acting, it still a fun romp because the Beatles are still in Beetle Mania and they're running around. They're singing songs and it still is a joy to watch them. It's just if you compare it to A Hard Day's Night, there's really very little comparison on an artistic level.

[00:06:57]Let's go over some of the reviews. As I mentioned, reviews were mixed. Some of the contemporary reviews were thus Lester's direction is a joy to watch and they call the Beatles the closest things to the Marx Brothers since the Marx brothers. I think we heard that same comparison in a Hard Day's night. New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther stated, "It's a fiasco of farical whimsy that are thrown together in this film. A clutter of mechanical gimmicks and mad cap chases. Funny, exciting, different.

[00:07:27]Well, there's nothing in help to compare with that wild ballet of the Beatles racing across the playground in a hard day's night. Nothing as wisful as the ramble of Ringo around London all alone.

[00:07:38]The boys themselves are exuberant and an uninhibited in their own genial way.

[00:07:43]They just become awfully redundant and dare I say dull.

[00:07:48]So that was one contemporary review and that's basically commentary I think on not only the story but their their acting chops as well. The retrospective reviews on all things Beatles are generally overly kind and generally glowing but not as not as much with this film. Randall Coburn of Consequence described the depiction of the cult as racist and cartoony. Well, of course you'd say that today. and opine that their garish outsized presence threatens to eclipse the dry wit that made the beetle so appealing in a hard day's night. That's a good comment right there.

[00:08:27]I would add that the racist stereotypes pale in comparison to making light of human sacrifice. If you've been paying attention to what's really going on today, which has been going on since the beginning of time, this stuff does go on and this that just makes this film that much more dated.

[00:08:47]So, younger generations have been kind to this film. My kids love this film, so I watch this a lot with them. They had a lot of fun uh with it, especially the the tank scenes. I don't know why they love that so much, but uh John Lennon famously said years later, Dick Lester forgot who we were. he was not happy with this film. Other retrospective comments have been that help was a major influence on the Batman TV series, The Monkeys, and MTV music videos. You know, I think these are gross overstatements and come with the passage of time. When there's some anniversary, there's always something to say about the Beatles and there's some other release of it. So, you have to say something glowing to help sell it. That's why you get these glowing and these uh gushing reviews many many years later. You know, it's uh Dick Lester even claimed that this was an exercise in pop art fantasy. And I think again this is that's completely overblown. That's trying to rewrite the legacy of what actually happened with help as an artistic statement in that it wasn't much of one. And to call it pop art fantasy is trying to kind of massage that a bit. That's what Lester is doing here. Don't buy it. So, the comedy adventure with these James Bond overtones. I mean, everybody was doing this. There's nothing original about this film at all. That's what makes this a step backwards for the Beatles because the Beatles were always always original and the first to do things. Now, music is their main thing. How could we expect them to keep doing it with film? They did it once. Lightning struck once with a Hard Day's Night, but it didn't strike with help. is very common nowadays when we see critiques of hell by beetle fans especially there's always this propping up of the of the film there they don't really take an objective look at the actual film and we see this happening with magical mystery tour as well which was you know a very poorly done project uh completely self-indulgent you can't say that about help the Beatles didn't have a lot to do with the origin of help it was assigned to them essentially they didn't really have any input as Lenin had also said later on. So, I don't blame the Beatles too much, but it's hard not to view this in light of the other movies going on at the time, which was basically very James Bondheavy. Now, in the wake of the success of all these Bond movies prior to Help, this was part of the British spy film genre. Now, three films released in 1965 were the Ipress File, Thunderball, and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. Three excellent films. Other spy spoofs from the 64-65 period would be License to Kill Dr. Goldfoot in the Bikini Machine, Carry On Spying, Masquerade, That Man in Istanbul, and Agent 38 2436 with Bridget Bardau and Anthony Perkins. Now, the Beatles didn't really enjoy filming help either. You know, they were smoking a lot of pot and really goofing off. So, that made shooting harder, I think, for the people involved. And they were not pleased with the final product. And Lennin had said that they felt like extras in their own film. He said the film was out of our control. With a hard day's night, we had a lot of input and it was semi-realistic. But with Help, Dick Lester didn't tell us what it was all about. It's always occurred to me looking back at the film Help that it really didn't get the criticism it should have gotten. And I think part of that had to do with the Beatles US tour started at the same time as released in the States. And this is when they were doing Sha Stadium, the first stadium tours. So it almost that almost overshadowed the need, I guess, to criticize the film help. I mean, it was all Beetle maniac going on. And whether it was fantasy or the real the concerts, it was just a lot going on. And the film became one of the bigger curios in the Beatles entire 60s output. and I think it left a bad taste in their mouth because they had another film scheduled for 1966 which was a talent for loving and they had rejected that film uh and they said that in late in December 1965 that they won't be doing that film. So I think that the idea of feature films was I think they were done with it. Changing gears here slightly. One of the things I've always done on this channel is provide uh the audience with some of my albums that never were. And this time I'm going to do a film that never was.

[00:13:12]Because when I see help, I see it as a very big missed opportunity. The Beatles could have done something very special.

[00:13:18]And true, it's difficult to build on the success of A Hard Day's Night. But as I mentioned, I think it was a lot to ask of the Beatles to carry this this film help. and I don't think that they were talented enough as actors or really up for it. So, one thing I would have liked to have seen, and I think this could have been at least explored, is bring in another actor that was basically a star so the Beatles wouldn't have to carry all the weight of the film. And I proposed that this actor be Peter Sers and Sellers would be playing the Inspector Cluso character. So imagine for a moment the Beatles are in France or something and there's threats to kidnap Ringo. Well, who gets brought in?

[00:14:02]Cluso. Now, one of the things that makes some of this stuff make sense, I know this is fantasy, folks, but hear me out.

[00:14:10]One of the things that makes this, you know, if if Cluso was the one on the case and Ringo's maybe going to get kidnapped, well, I could see maybe they would have somebody impersonate Ringo.

[00:14:23]Who would that be? Cluso, of course.

[00:14:25]Now, I think these the script starts to write itself here. And a lot of people don't know this, but Peter Sers was actually a drummer. So, I think he could have pulled this off really well. And he that's one of his many talents uh other than acting and comedy is being a musician.

[00:14:55]Now another thing that makes this whole scenario plausible is that Dick Lester had worked with Peter Sers. Now Sers was hot off the Pink Panther which was 1963.

[00:15:05]The Cluso character was so strong and so popular that they quickly started shooting another film centering around the Cluso character. That's a shot in the dark that came out in 1964. So, the timing of all this really could have worked.

[00:15:19]Now, one of the things that actually did happen during the shooting of Help was the Beatles filmed a small segment with Peter Sellers when they were receiving their Grammys. Now, I I assume this was shown on television, but Sellers was on hand to do this with the Beatles.

[00:15:34]Perhaps you'd like to perhaps take one.

[00:15:37]>> Thanks a lot. Thanks, Mr. >> Thank you.

[00:15:42]>> Thank you.

[00:15:43]>> As you can see, folks, the box is now empty.

[00:15:47]>> There are no more awards.

[00:15:49]>> It's an honor, sir, >> to say the least.

[00:15:52]>> And it's nice to have a chance, really, isn't it?

[00:16:05]You know, Peter Sers, he loved hanging out with pop stars. And though he was about uh he's like 15 years older than the Beatles, so quite a bit older, but he loved hanging with all the pop stars.

[00:16:17]So, I don't think it would have been an issue. The Beatles admired his work. So, I think for one film, it probably could have worked. And obviously they got on well enough that by the end of 1965, Sers was on the music of Lennin McCartney on that television special where he performed a hard day's night.

[00:16:37]>> It has been a hard day's night and I have been working like a dog. It's been a hard day's night. I should be sleeping like a dog. That's why I love to come home because when I get you alone, you know I feel all right.

[00:16:58]I think the union between the Beatles and Peter Sellers would have been gold and the Cluso character would have been the perfect vehicle for humor with the Beatles. The hardest thing would probably be the Beatles themselves not to laugh during the takes, but I think this would have been an incredible direction and it would have take taken the pressure off of the Beatles to have to carry such a big film. I can just imagine Peter Sers having so much fun becoming a beetle and acting it out and and exaggerating all this stuff. I think it just would have been something for the ages.

[00:17:33]One of the things that's been brought up in recent months is this whole artificial intelligence thing. While a project like this, a sellers Beatles movie will be something that might be worthwhile for AI to tackle. Don't know if it could be pulled off or not, but um you know, let me know in the comments if you if you think that would be a good thing or a bad thing. Now, let me bring up a book here that I use for the research on this. It's called Act Naturally by writer Steve Mattio. Steve was on this channel promoting this book at one point. I'm going to leave that link at the end. This book covers all the Beatles movies they did from a hard day's night through Let It Be. And Steve did a great job of research. Lots of lots of facts in here, lots of wonderful information that uh if you're looking for more on their films, this would be the book to get. I just wanted to bring out I went over to my shelf and pulled out my help box set. This is, I guess, out of print now. And this was actually, it's very nicely done. It wasn't very expensive when it came out.

[00:18:38]And it's nicely packaged. It's got a very handsome book with lobby cards in it, two discs of information, the movie, and extras. Tons of photography, mostly all in color.

[00:18:53]Mostly all in color as I show you black and whites.

[00:18:57]And then there's also the script and they have it at listed as Beatles 2 which was the working title. So you could get this this you can still pick up rather affordably even though it's out of print but I would try to get it now. I think this is worth having.

[00:19:13]Okay, what else have I got? Well, I've got this oldie here but goodie laser disc of the Beatles Help. I haven't watched this in ages. Probably won't if I've got this. I was really happy to fit this film review in in between all my album reviews. So, uh, check out the review I did. Uh, I did a I didn't actually do a review of A Hard Day's Night. What I did do is a review of a book that talks about A Hard Day's Night, which is essentially a review of the movie. So, that I'll put also at the end of this video. That was very, very fun to do as well in one of my early videos. So, check that one out. And I'll be back soon with another band history here on Pop Goes the 60s.

[00:19:52]Who did you assign to the case?

[00:19:55]Cluso.

[00:19:57]Oh my god.

[00:20:08]HUH?