The Beatles: Help!
This 30 minute documentary turns the camera toward the making of the Beatles feature film Help!, assembling rare on-set footage, interviews and commentary to show how the movie came together. Rather than summarizing the plot of the 1965 picture, it concentrates on production moments: rehearsals,... Read more
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About The Beatles: Help!
This 30 minute documentary turns the camera toward the making of the Beatles feature film Help!, assembling rare on-set footage, interviews and commentary to show how the movie came together. Rather than summarizing the plot of the 1965 picture, it concentrates on production moments: rehearsals, location shoots, costume fittings and the playful interactions among John, Paul, George and Ringo. Viewers get short scenes of the band working with director Richard Lester, crew members explaining technical choices, and archival clips that capture the atmosphere of a hectic, music-driven film set. The piece stays focused on process, offering context and anecdotes without revealing surprises from the original movie.
Released in 2007, the documentary was directed by Claire Ferguson and relies heavily on archive material. It features the Beatles through historical footage and includes appearances by Richard Lester, providing firsthand perspective on the original production and its creative decisions.
As a half hour program the film had a limited theatrical life and was mainly circulated through festivals, home video and television. There are no widely reported box office totals, which fits its role as a niche documentary aimed at collectors and Beatles enthusiasts rather than mainstream commercial audiences.
Although brief, the documentary has been useful to fans and music historians who want clearer pictures of mid 1960s film production and pop culture crossover. Its behind-the-scenes scenes and technical details have been cited in retrospectives about Help! and serve as a compact archival resource for understanding how a pop band worked on a major movie set.
Critical response is modest, with a user vote average around 6.5 out of 10 reflecting limited but appreciative interest. Reviewers and viewers note that the short runtime constrains depth, yet praise the archival glimpses and candid moments that highlight filmmaking craft, the band's chemistry, and the collision of pop music with cinema during the 1960s.
Details
- Release Date
- October 27, 2007
- Runtime
- 30m
- User Ratings
- 18 votes
- Type
- Movie
- Genres
- Documentary
- Country
- United Kingdom
- External Links
- View on IMDB
Cast
John Lennon
Self (archive footage)
Paul McCartney
Self (archive footage)
George Harrison
Self (archive footage)
Ringo Starr
Self (archive footage)
Richard Lester
Self
Neil Aspinall
Self
Steve Barron
Self
Eleanor Bron
Self
Peter Cheevers
Self
Chris Diggins
Self
Director: Claire Ferguson