A Hard Day’s Night was released at the height of Beatlemania in 1964 and fans flocked to theaters to see John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr in their first film. Directed by Richard Lester, who would also do their 1965 follow-up Help!, the comedy would go on to influence British television and cinema. Now it’s available in 4K as one of this month’s The Criterion Collection offerings.
If you’re a diehard fan of the Beatles then this set is a no-brainer purchase. The 4K digital restoration looks great and the classic tunes that play throughout sound great in the 5.1 surround mix. The film was shot in black and white, which gives it an interesting documentary feel, but it’s incredible seeing the fresh-faced “Fab Four” in high definition. It’s a wonderful time capsule of British culture that winds up being entertaining no matter if you adore the band or not. (Notice: the full film below is in the normal version, for the 4K movie get the link at the bottm page)
New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Richard Lester, with three audio options—a monaural soundtrack as well as stereo and 5.1 surround mixes supervised by sound producer Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios—presented in uncompressed monaural, uncompressed stereo, and DTS-HD Master Audio on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray
In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
Audio commentary featuring cast and crew (dual-format and 4K UHD only)
In Their Own Voices, a program featuring 1964 interviews with the Beatles with behind-the-scenes footage and photos and more. To get the full extras list and 4K DVD click here
"We weren't really apprehensive abut going back to Liverpool, for the other premiere. We'd heard one or two little rumours that people felt we'd betrayed them by leaving, and shouldn't have gone to live in London. But there were always those detractors.
Paul McCartney"
Anthology
Souvenir programme from the northern (Liverpool) premiere of The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night, 10 July 1964
The Beatles flew to the city from London, and were greeted upon their arrival at Speke Airport by 3,000 fans. They gave a press conference and a series of interviews for the assembled press and film crews.
We landed at the airport and found there were crowds everywhere, like a royal do. It was incredible, because people were lining the streets that we'd known as children, that we'd taken the bus down, or walked down. We'd been to the cinema with girls down these streets. And here we were now with thousands of people – for us. There was a lot of, 'Hello, how are you? All right?' It was strange because they were our own people, but it was brilliant.
The Beatles were driven to Liverpool Town Hall in a police cavalcade, with an estimated 200,000 people – roughly a quarter of the city's population – lining the route. Hundreds of police officers attempted to restrain the crowds, but several times the cordons were breached by screaming fans.
We couldn't say it, but we didn't really like going back to Liverpool. Being local heroes made us nervous. When we did shows there, they were always full of people we knew. We felt embarrassed in our suits and being very clean. We were worried that friends might think we'd sold out – which we had, in a way.
Before 9pm they left in an Austin Princess limousine and travelled to the Odeon Cinema for the charity première of A Hard Day's Night. The Liverpool City Police Band performed the theme from Z-Cars and a medley of Beatles hits. Upon their arrival The Beatles were introduced by compère David Jacobs to screams from the audience members.
After the screening the group returned to Speke Airport, from where they flew back to London.
