by Paul Majendie
LONDON (Reuters) – Beatlemania returned to
Britain on Friday with the re-release of the 1964 rock 'n' roll
classic “A Hard Day's Night.”
The grainy black and white film, marking the Fab Four's
debut on the silver screen, followed a day in the life of John,
Paul, George and Ringo and how they coped with screaming fans
and intrusive reporters.
The film cost just 175,000 pounds to make in 11 weeks but
it ended up with two Oscar nominations and was hailed by
critics and fans alike as a resounding hit.
The film, released Friday, was given its re-launch premiere
last week in Liverpool, birthplace of the Beatles. A
whole new generation of music fans has a chance to discover the
music of the world's most famous group.
Beatle biographer Patrick Humphries told Sky Television on
Friday: “I think this is probably the best ever pop film. It is
the epicenter of Beatlemania … There is something in the
group and their music that will just not go away.”
Director Richard Lester is eternally grateful to the “Fab
Four.”
“The Beatles gave me a film career,” he told the Mirror
tabloid. “I was able to trade on that for 40 years. So in terms
of gratitude I owe them a lot more than they owe me.
Lester thought George Harrison was the best Beatle actor in
the film and he felt Paul McCartney's performance suffered
because he tried too hard. He loved Ringo Starr because he
looked so lugubrious.
He said of Lennon: “John is one of the three or four most
interesting people I've ever met…John was unique in that he
suffered fools very badly, and he was quick-witted and cynical.
He hated pomposity and hated people in authority who treated
them as hired servants.”
Beatlemania certainly shows no signs of fading 30 years
after they broke up.
The Beatles set yet another world pop record when a
compilation album of their number one hits topped hit parades
late last year in 34 countries from Colombia to Poland.
Beatle Fans Furious Over Stage Sell-Off
LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) – A Liverpool clergyman has
been sent hate mail because he plans to sell off the church
hall stage where John Lennon and Paul McCartney first met.
Canon John Roberts is selling the stage at St. Peter's
Church to fund renovation work.
The site is a shrine for Beatle fans because McCartney was
introduced to Lennon in 1957 at the hall where Lennon's band
The Quarrymen were playing.
“I have received hate mail,” Roberts told Britain's
Independent newspaper. “These people are just ignorant. I have
gone out of my way over the years to welcome fans.”
“If the conversion goes ahead, the famous stage will be
sold off with the most likely destination an overseas buyer,”
he added.
Liverpool Beatles Fan Club secretary Jean Catharell was
outraged. “To rip it out takes away its whole reason for being
there,” she said.
© Reuters 2001. All rights reserved.
