Hi Col,
Col_de_la_Bonette: "The script seems like a first draft."
In some instances is was a first draft. In fact some of the scenes were written the same day they were filmed - even as they were being filmed.
Col_de_la_Bonette: "In fact, the whole movie seems to have been hurriedly written and filmed, obviously because of competing schedules, using non-actors in the main parts (who may have been averse to repeated takes) and lastly, fear of the Beatles popularity waning before the film was released."
The film was indeed hurried. This was a low budget film which was financed by United Artists almost solely for the purpose of securing the rights to a soundtrack album. United Artists really didn't care how the film turned out, they just wanted to put out a sound track album - as you said - in a hurry because they thought the Beatles phenomenon might disappear at any moment. The only way they could legally put out a Beatle album was to make a movie and this gave them the right to put out an album.
So they gave Walter Shenson a small amount of money and a very short period of time to produce a film. Under the circumstances, I think he and Richard Lester did a brilliant job.
Col_de_la_Bonette: "This film could have been so much better if they had taken another 6 months to properly prepare and film it."
I don't agree with this. I think this film would have lost much of its charm had some other director taken it down a traditional path. It was never in the cards for this film anyway. The financing wasn't available for that and the Beatles' schedule would never have permitted it - and as you mentioned, The Beatles were not trained actors. Lester and Owen actually did a great job managing this situation by making sure that none of the Beatles were put into situations where they had long - drawn out episodes of extended dialog. In it's final form, this film had an incredibly enormous impact on large numbers of the people who viewed it. This film changed the culture of Western world and changed the direction of the rest of the 1960's and beyond.
Col_de_la_Bonette: "Much of the film is just repetitive and redundant."
I don't see where that comes from. The use of "Can't Buy Me Love" twice is the only instance of repetition that I see in the film.
Col_de_la_Bonette: "Using 'Can't buy me love' twice in two different scenes exposed the soundtrack to the law of diminishing returns"
When I see a statement like that, it indicates to me that you were not around in 1964. The could have put the track in there ten times and it wouldn't have mattered to Beatle fans. And of course they were who this film was made for. It's like Phil Collins said, listening to new Beatles songs was like opening presents on Christmas morning. This was a brand new song for most fans, likely the first time many of the movie goers had ever heard the song. It took me several years and multiple viewings before I ever even noticed that it was in there twice.
Spyders
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[email protected]
14 years ago
Interesting point about it being thrown together in a hurry and on the cheap with the backers not caring about the end result. Can you imagine if they threw a bunch of money behind it and got the guys who made movie stars out of Elvis or Cliff Richard? The idea creeps me out no end...they'd have to prove to the grownups that they were really good and sing a song to a little orphan girl and rescue a puppy from a burning building. And probably have voice coaching to lose the accents.
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johnston.scot
14 years ago
Exactly. And for God's sake, get a real arranger to put some proper instruments on those songs: they need strings and a horn section! And after Janet Leigh does her big dance number, she and Paul get married.
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ridge-m-1
11 years ago
Studio execs never care about art, only turning a profit. This viewer can state with assurance that Richard Lester and the entire cast and crew cared and cared very deeply. That fact is obvious from viewing the film. This film literally changed our culture.
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spookyrat1
10 years ago
IMO there weren't too many Richard Lester films that didn't at least have some amusing moments. He has always struck me as the type of character who'd always see the funny side of things. I'm sure he and John Lennon got on well.š
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Dominik528
12 years ago
Col_de_la_Bonette: "Much of the film is just repetitive and redundant."
I don't see where that comes from. The use of "Can't Buy Me Love" twice is the only instance of repetition that I see in the film.
Don't forget "I Should Have Known Better," "If I Fell," and "A Hard Day's Night."
"In all my years as a barber, that is the weirdest kid I have ever met."
- Doctor Barber
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