Help! (1965)

(On DVD, September 2019) History suggests that The Beatles were high during a substantial portion of Help!’s production, which may explain why the film seems to stumble during its execution, circling its concept without reliably hitting its marks. It also serves to explain the bizarre sense of humour, a blend of non sequiturs and deadpan—history tells us the script is from The Goon Show alumni, but to modern viewers it will feel a lot like pre-weaponized Monty Python. The plot (and there’s one) has to do with murderous cultists pursuing Ringo Starr for the ring that’s stuck on his finger, but never mind that: This being from The Beatles, the highlights are musical interludes that feel like pre-MTV music videos, with the group goofing around as hard as they can. My favourite part of the film is probably the on-screen text adding contextual information and added jokes—the intermission alone is also very funny. Compared to A Hard Day’s Night, Help! feels very different: Not quite about the people’s idea of The Beatles and more about themselves. The budget is clearly higher and the script considerably less coherent—although that kind of anything-goes humour can have its charm as well. (The scene in which the Beatles record a song in the middle of a field, protected by a ring of tanks, is special.)  In keeping with the times, there’s quite a bit of Bond parody made even funnier by Bond saying that he didn’t like The Beatles in the previous year’s Goldfinger. The editing can be lighting-fast at times, helping the film stay remarkably interesting while still being dated in its references to the mid-1960s. It’s all goofy fun, but it’s clear why A Hard Day’s Night holds up better and is more often shown these days.