Help! (1965) Rating: 4.0 stars out of 5.0 stars
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Cast: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron, Victor Spinetti, Roy Kinnear Written by: Marc Behm and Charles Wood Directed by: Richard Lester Running Time: 90 minutes
"Hey, someone's got a hold of me finger." --- Beatles drummer Ringo Starr after getting his hand stuck in a vending machine... the first line spoken by any of The Beatles, in Help!.
Help!, the Beatles' second film, is charmingly goofy fun. The plot (which is completely insignificant by the way) is best described by the back of the box for the film: Help! follows the Fab Four on a worldwide jaunt around the globe. When a fan sends Ringo an ancient sacrificial ring that becomes stuck on his finger, he becomes targeted by a group of hilariously obsessed oriental mystics, as well as an ambitious scientist who has his own plans for the ring. On the run, the Beatles are chased from London to the Swiss Alps to the Bahamas, outwitting their pursuers, singing great songs and having a ball.
All four band members are given their own individual "bits" of comedy. Ringo of course is the bearer of the ring and is constantly on the run, Paul gets shrunk to microscopic size at one point, George has an action sequence where he's hanging onto a moving car (Harrison actually does the stunts too, amazingly), and John... well John basically behaves like a ten year old tormenting everyone, especially those in a position of authority. Best joke of the film though comes at the beginning... the house the Fab Four lives in and what they do when they come home is hilarious!
In interviews I've seen (from The Beatles Anthology I believe), the band members talk about Help! saying it was basically an excuse for them to visit places in the world they hadn't been yet. You can definitely tell that's the case. There's no reason for The Beatles to suddenly show up in the Swiss Alps for a wacky skiing montage, but it's fun nonetheless. The gags and the music are the reason to see this film, not the plot.
Despite the fact that The Beatles are my favorite band of all time, I had avoided watching this film up until this point (when I had to review this DVD release). The Beatles are the greatest rock band in history, but I was worried that their films would be a disappointment, since their expertise is in music of course... not movies. And while they rarely take any of the events going on around them seriously, they do a fine job of being themselves. That's all that's being asked of them.
Help! is available on DVD from MPI Home Video as part of The Beatles DVD Collection (as well as being available separately). The film is presented in its original fullframe aspect ratio. Extras are plentiful on the disc, as it includes: a 1960s interview with director Richard Lester, Lester's short film The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film, alternate audio tracks in Spanish and French (as well as subtitles in Spanish and French), bios for the filmmakers and the supporting cast members, the original theatrical trailer (and trailers for A Hard Day's Night, Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles: The First US Visit, and "You Can't Do That": The Making of A Hard Day's Night), two Beatles newsreels, and behind the scenes footage from the production and the film's premiere (accompanied by radio spots promoting the film),
Also on the disc are detailed notes about the restoration process done to the original print of the film (along with A Hard Day's Night). Despite the laborious work put into the restoration of Help!, there still needs to be more. Lots of scratches and artifacts are present throughout... I would have hated to see this print before work began on its restoration!
The disc (and movie for that matter) really excels whenever a Beatles song starts up, and the audio, which is adequate during the film itself, then kicks into high gear. You'll hear Beatles favorites like Help!, You're Gonna Lose That Girl, You've Got To Love Your Love Away, Ticket To Ride, I Need You, The Night Before, and Another Girl (as well as a dramatic score rendition of A Hard Day's Night during the finale).
Beatles fans should definitely add this this DVD to their collection. It's the best transfer of the film available and the extras make it all the more valuable.
Reviewed by Chuck Dowling - chuckd21@fdn.com AOL Instant Messenger: FilmJax The Jacksonville Film Journal - http://www.jaxfilmjournal.com/ -- Chuck Dowling Editor - The Jacksonville Film Journal http://www.jaxfilmjournal.com/
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