It's 6 July 1964, evening time, and you're outside the London Pavilion in Shaftesbury Avenue - you and countless others lining the streets. You are crying, waiting, hoping to see the Beatles, for tonight is the premiere of their first film, A Hard Day's Night. Next week, you'll help the title track get to No 1 in the singles chart; next month you'll have saved enough for the album. All you get now is jostled and pushed as lines of policemen link arms to keep the roads clear.
A limousine pulls up and the boys get out, all smiles, dinner jackets and bow ties. They walk up the red carpet, speak to the reporters and wave to the fans. Some sing "happy birthday" to Ringo, who will turn 24 tomorrow. All-too-soon they disappear into the theatre, their place taken by their hosts, the glamourous Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon. Not you among the lucky few who see the film tonight. But you will see it. Later this week and then again many times throughout your life. Not that you could know that today, of course.
Inside, the royal couple meet the Beatles and some of the other people involved with the film, but soon everyone repairs to the auditorium. After a short travelogue about New Zealand, that famous chord crashes and the scene opens on John, George and Ringo running towards a railway station. George trips over, Ringo trips over George, and John nearly falls over laughing at them both. It's a wonderfully spontaneous moment that captures the feel of the film, with its hand-held camerawork and witty oneliners. Once on the train, it is Lennon who delivers the first of them: "Hey, pardon me for asking, but who's that little old man?"
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Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Best of British.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Forties Post – Plastic Fantastic – Andrew Wilson shines the spotlight on a pioneering plastic surgeon
A hero in many people's books and even a war hero to others - John was recognised in his lifetime by his contemporaries, his patients and in letters that made their way into the local newspaper, the Staffordshire Sentinel. Over time that gradually fell away, to the point where, if asked, few people would ever have heard of John Grocott - apart from his former patients, for whom the universal question appears to have been: "How do you say thank you to someone who has made my life worth living?"
POSTCARD FROM HERTFORDSHIRE
Bob Barton makes plenty of connections to the film world as he returns to the county of his birth but still finds time for a vintage bus ride
Still Walking the Streets of London
Peter Robertson chats to Ralph McTell 50 years after his classic single became a hit
The Tears of a Clown
Chris Hallam remembers Bob Grant, a troubled star of On the Buses
David Wilkie
Peter Robertson pays tribute to one of Britain's most successful athletes
A Century of Smiles, Ceremonies and Celebrations
Claire Saul visits a new exhibition at Buckingham Palace's King's Gallery that reveals life on both sides of the lens of royal photography
A HARD DAY NIGHT
Greg Morse celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Beatles' first film
Terrific Tucktonia
Susan Brewer remembers the UK mainland's first theme park
A Chip Off the Old Block
Colin Allan looks back on the tennis career of Stanley Matthews Jr
The Bucolic Frolic
Martin Claytor celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Knebworth Festival
