Hard Day’s Night, A (UA 1964, The Beatles, Wilfred Brambell)

Comparisons to the Marx Brothers are not inappropriate — each Beatle comes off here as having his own unique, wacky personality. In a tapestry of surreal comic mayhem, the Liverpool lads take a good-natured but intelligently satirical look at the craze they themselves swept up: Beatlemania. This film is a carefully photographed musical surprise that’s socially minded, brilliantly paced, and overflowing with verbal bite. Loose plot: the Beatles take care of McCartney’s grandfather, who turns out to be a dastardly old coot and quite a handful.- The grandfather convinces Ringo that he’s too good for the group.

Wilfrid Brambell, the grandfather in A Hard Day’s Night, was then starring in classic British TV sitcom Steptoe and Son, (1962-1974) which Norman Lear later adapted into America’s Sanford and Son.

production details
USA | United Artists | 88 minutes | 1964

Director: Richard Lester
Producer: Walter Shenson
Director of Photography:Gilbert Taylor
Editor: John Jympson
Composers: John Lennon, George Martin, Paul McCartney, George Harrison
Script: Alun Owen
Art Direction: Ray Simm

cast
John Lennon as Himself
Paul McCartney as Himself
George Harrison as Himself
Ringo Starr as Himself
Norman Rossington as Norm
Edward Malin as Hotel Waiter
Richard Vernon as Man on Train
Marianne Stone as Society Journalist
Robin Ray as TV Floor Manager
John Junkin as Shake
Carol White as Minor Role
Derek Nimmo as Leslie Jackson
Wilfrid Brambell as Grandfather
Julian Holloway as Adrian
Susan Hampshire as Dancer at Disco
Neil Wilson as Doorman
Lionel Blair as TV Choreographer
Clare Kelly as Barmaid
Deryck Guyler as Police Inspector
Isla Blair as Actress
John Bluthal as Car Thief
Anna Quayle as Millie
Bruce Beeby as Casino Man
Jim O’Brady as Man in Pub
Sheila Fearn as Make-Up Girl
Margaret Nolan as Grandfather’s Girl at Casino
Kenneth Haigh as Simon Marshall
Victor Spinetti as TV Director
Alison Seebohm as Secretary
David Janson as Young Boy (as David Jaxon)
Bridget Armstrong as Lead Make-Up Girl
Roger Avon as Policeman
Pattie Boyd as Jean – Schoolgirl on Train #1
Andre Charisse as Casino Champagne Waiter
Phil Collins as Necktie wearing fan
Rosemarie Frankland as Brunette Showgirl
Bob Godfrey as Man in Pub
Victor Harrington as Man at Casino
David Langton as Actor
Al Lewis as Gambler
Jeremy Lloyd as Tall Man at Disco
Charlotte Rampling as Girl at Disco
Gordon Rollings as Man with Sandwich in Pub
Edina Ronay as Girl at Disco
Noel Trevarthen as Journalist
Michael Trubshawe as Casino Manager

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