"HELP!" CULT FAVORITE

          In their second film (and their first in color), Beatles John, Paul, and George must protect Ringo from a cult trying to sacrifice him.
          But it isn't all just laughs. There's great music, too, including the title song, "Ticket to Ride," "You're Gonna Lose That Girl," and many more.
          Directed by Richard Lester, who directed the Beatles in A Hard Day's Night (1964), Help! (1965) is 92 minutes of the lads from Liverpool larking cartoonishly about. It's not as good as A Hard Day's Night, but it's the next best thing.
          We never find out exactly where the cult comes from. We can see that the leader is a middle-aged Anglo who talks like he wants people to think he's from India, but that's about all we get. Stranger still, no reason is ever given why or how Ringo got the cult's sacrificial ring in the first place.
          That's because it's a totally nonsensical story, which is exactly the way the Beatles truly lived, always being chased around and doing silly things.
          Using the fantastic wealth and influence at their disposal as a result of their amazing rock n' roll success, the Fab Four get scientists to try to help them remove the ring from Ringo's finger. In this process, Paul is accidentally shrunk down small enough to stand inside an ashtray.
          Two years later, Magical Mystery Tour (1967) pushed the psychedelic envelope for the Beatles, but it makes a much better album than it does a film.
          Yellow Submarine (1968) would at first seem to take the progression of lighthearted surrealism in Beatles films to the next level by making them literally a cartoon. But the actors providing the voices in that movie aren't the Beatles (who appear only for a moment at the very end), so that's a major letdown.
          Richard Lester went on to direct two of the greatest swashbucklers: The Three Musketeers (1973) and The Four Musketeers (1974). Look for character actor Roy Kinnear in both of Lester's Beatle movies, plus both of the Musketeers.
          Filmed in the sun-drenched beaches of the Bahamas, the snowy slopes of Austria, and additional fine locations, Help! isn't just the best comedy-adventure-musical starring the Beatles to ever be released in 1965, it's also the only one!
          Freely available online.


HELP!
Starring John Lennon,
Paul McCartney,
George Harrison,
Ringo Starr,
Leo McKern,
Eleanor Bron,
Victor Spinetti,
Roy Kinnear
Directed by Richard Lester
Written by Marc Behm, Charles Wood
Runtime 92 minutes


Stewart Kirby writes for
THE INDEPENDENT
and
TWO RIVERS TRIBUNE