A HARD DAY NIGHT

Greg Morse celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Beatles' first film

- Greg Morse

It's 6 July 1964, evening time, and you're outside the London Pavilion in Shaftesbury Avenue - you and countless others lining the streets. You are crying, waiting, hoping to see the Beatles, for tonight is the premiere of their first film, A Hard Day's Night. Next week, you'll help the title track get to No 1 in the singles chart; next month you'll have saved enough for the album. All you get now is jostled and pushed as lines of policemen link arms to keep the roads clear.

A limousine pulls up and the boys get out, all smiles, dinner jackets and bow ties. They walk up the red carpet, speak to the reporters and wave to the fans. Some sing "happy birthday" to Ringo, who will turn 24 tomorrow. All-too-soon they disappear into the theatre, their place taken by their hosts, the glamourous Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl of Snowdon. Not you among the lucky few who see the film tonight. But you will see it. Later this week and then again many times throughout your life. Not that you could know that today, of course.

Inside, the royal couple meet the Beatles and some of the other people involved with the film, but soon everyone repairs to the auditorium. After a short travelogue about New Zealand, that famous chord crashes and the scene opens on John, George and Ringo running towards a railway station. George trips over, Ringo trips over George, and John nearly falls over laughing at them both. It's a wonderfully spontaneous moment that captures the feel of the film, with its hand-held camerawork and witty oneliners. Once on the train, it is Lennon who delivers the first of them: "Hey, pardon me for asking, but who's that little old man?"