♪ She loves you ♪ Yeah yeah yeah ♪ She loves you ♪ Yeah yeah yeah ♪ She loves you ♪ Yeah yeah yeah - In 1963, The Beatles were unstoppable in the UK, chart topping, headline grabbing and redefining the sound of popular music.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney were being held as the best songwriting team since Rogers and Hammerstein, soon with the release of I Wanna Hold Your Hand in late 1963 and their electrifying debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, they would conquer America and become a global phenomenon.

But even before their US breakthrough, plans were already in motion to capitalize on the band's soaring popularity by putting them in a feature film, a low budget black and white musical designed to cash in on Beatlemania before the bubble burst.

No one could have predicted that the film would spark a revolution in movie musicals.

It didn't just ride the wave of Beatlemania, it helped define it.

And its soundtrack, two number one singles, multiple chart topping albums and songs that not only broke new ground for The Beatles, but became timeless classics.

Welcome to Deconstructing A Hard Day's Night.

(upbeat music) Hi, I'm Scott Freiman.

I have been fascinated by The Beatles since I was a child, and for the past 20 years, I've been exploring the stories of the band and their music.

As Beatlemania swept across Europe, film offers for The Beatles began rolling in, but The Beatles had no interest in appearing in the kind of low budget jukebox musicals that a typified early rock and roll cinema.

Thin plots built around teenage rebellion or clumsy romances with musical performances shoehorned in and largely disconnected from the story.

While the band loved watching their idols on screen, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Little Richard, Fats Domino and so many others, they had no desire to appear in one of these films themselves.

If they were going to be in a movie, it had to be done on their own terms.

United Artists wanted to cash in on this Beatlemania phenomena.

Their goal wasn't just to make a movie, it was to secure the American rights to the songs The Beatles would perform in that movie.

The band hadn't yet made their US breakthrough, so those rights were still available.

United Artists began discussions with Brian Epstein, the band's manager, and Dick James, their music publisher, and they secured a director for the film, Dick Lester.

Lester was a friend of The Goons, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe and it helped bring their surreal humor to television.

Sellers also asked Lester to make a short film with him.

Over two weekends, Lester, Sellers, Milligan and friends created an 11 minute silent comedy called "The Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film".

It earned an Academy Award nomination and became a favorite of The Beatles who would watch it on a loop at the Tatler Cinema after lunchtime gigs at the Cavern Club.

in Lester's first film, 1962's "It's Trad Dad", Lester had transformed the jukebox musical by breaking the fourth wall, adding visual gags, and revolutionizing how music was filmed using deep focus, closeups of instruments and fast editing.

These innovations would later shape the look and feel of "A Hard Day's Night" and inspire generations of music films and videos.

As discussions around the film Intensified, The Beatles located a screenwriter, Alun Owen.

Owen was a former writing partner of Lester's who had become a successful writer, known for capturing life in Liverpool with authentic dialogue and local flavor.

He was from Liverpool.

Lester knew him, and The Beatles liked him.

He was the perfect choice to write the screenplay.

Owen came on board.

Owen joined The Beatles on tour in late 1963 and early 1964, absorbing their personalities, stories and humor.

His script aimed to reflect their bond while exaggerating their distinct traits.

John became the witty one, Paul, the charming one, George, the quiet one, and Ringo, the melancholy clown and lovable everyman.

The character portraits Owen created in the film became lasting stereotypes shaping how many fans saw each of The Beatles for years to come.

Of course, the movie needed songs.

Remarkably, Lennon and McCartney would compose all the songs for the film.

One of the first songs they wrote for the film was, "I Should Have Known Better", written During The Beatles' first visit to the US in February 1964.

For this song, Lennon sang lead and played acoustic rhythm guitar and harmonica.

The song was recorded with Lennon's guitar on track one along with McCartney and Starr's simple bass and drum parts.

Harrison added a bright chiming 12 string Rickenbacker on track three.

Lennon's vocal was recorded on track two and again on track four, along with his harmonica.

Here's a taste of "I Should Have Known Better".

We'll start with John's harmonica and then bring in the rhythm track.

♪ I should have known better ♪ With a girl like you ♪ That I would love everything that you do ♪ ♪ And I do ♪ Hey hey hey ♪ And I do - [Scott] Now let's isolate John's vocal.

♪ I never realized what a kiss could be ♪ ♪ This could only happen to me - [Scott] And here is Harrison's chimey Rickenbacker.

♪ That when I tell you that I love you ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ You're gonna say you love me too ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ And I when I ask you to be mine ♪ ♪ You're gonna say you love me too ♪ - It's hard to sit still when that song is playing.

In fact, Dick Lester had to repeatedly stop filming the sequence because his crew was rocking the set in time with the music.

On March 13th, The Beatles began shooting one of the film's most iconic scenes set to their song "Can't Buy Me Love".

The song was primarily written by Paul, but it was producer George Martin who suggested that they begin the song with its catchy chorus.

"Can't Buy Me Love" was first recorded on January 29th, 1964 at EMI's Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris during The Beatles residency at the Olympia Theater.

Early versions included backing vocals by Lennon and Harrison.

Here is take two of "Can't Buy Me Love".

♪ I give you all I got to give ♪ Baby say you love me too ♪ May not have a lot to give ♪ But what I got I'll give to you ♪ ♪ I don't care too much for money ♪ ♪ Money can't buy me love ♪ Can't buy me love ♪ Everybody said it's so ♪ Can't buy me love ♪ No no no ♪ No - Shortly after this take was recorded, The Beatles decided to dispense with those backing vocals, leaving Paul as the sole vocalist.

The first time this occurred on a Beatles' single.

"Can't Buy Me Love" features in a pivotal scene in "A Hard Day's Night", one that typifies some of the groundbreaking techniques Lester used in the film.

For the first third of the movie, The Beatles have been in a train and a room, a car and a room, and a room in a room as one of the characters says.

But suddenly they burst into the open, leaping and running through a park captured with energetic closeups and a 26-second helicopter shot.

The Goons' influence and echoes of the running, jumping and standing still film are unmistakable.

♪ Makes you feel all right ♪ I'll get you anything my friend ♪ ♪ If it makes you feel all right ♪ ♪ I don't care too much for money ♪ ♪ Money can't buy me love - [Crew] Music.

- On March 23rd, The Beatles kicked off four days of filming at the Scala Theater in Central London.

One of the key performances captured during this stretch was, and I love her, a gentle all acoustic ballad, largely penned by McCartney.

Lennon once described it as Paul's first Yesterday, and it's easy to see why, it marked a leap in McCartney's songwriting maturity.

♪ I love her - And I Love Her has a classical music feel, not just because of George Harrison's classical Ramirez guitar, but because of the way it creates ambiguity between major and minor keys.

It feels very medieval, modal, like something Schumann might have composed.

At the same time, it also has a Latin jazz undercurrent.

Listen to the rhythm track comprised of Starr's bongos and Harrison's claves, wooden sticks that are clicked together.

(bright music) The song begins with these jazzy chords, an F sharp minor seventh, and an E major sixth.

(bright music) It almost feels like we're sitting in the cocktail lounge.

Harrison came up with the guitar riff that floats over top.

(bright music) all together, it sounds like this.

(bright music) The song's melody is beautifully constructed, beginning over moody minor chords, but resolving to E major.

Let me play it for you.

♪ I give up all my love ♪ That's all I do ♪ And if you saw my love ♪ You'd love her too ♪ I love her - At the very end of the song, McCartney pulls a move straight out of classical tradition.

The Picardy third, that's when you lift the third note of a minor chord to turn it into a major chord.

Here's how that sounds at the end of "And I Love Her".

(bright music) Absolutely beautiful.

"And I Love Her" is a great example of McCartney's growing ability to write emotionally rich melodies over sophisticated harmonies.

And I Love Her isn't just a high point in "A Hard Day's Night".

It's a defining moment in Paul's entire songwriting career.

During their Easter break, The Beatles were honored with wax figures at Madame Tussauds becoming the first band to receive the tribute.

Then on March 31st, they returned to the Scala to film the grand concert finale, playing to an audience of 350 fans.

One of those in the crowd was a 13-year-old child actor who would later become a global superstar, Phil Collins.

Unfortunately, Phil ended up on the cutting room floor.

Four of the songs The Beatles performed that day did make it to the final film.

One of them was "Tell Me Why".

"Tell me Why" begins with the sound of George Martin pounding out accents on the piano.

(upbeat music) The Beatles lock into a propulsive swing with McCartney's walking bass, Lennon and Harrison's choppy guitars and Starr's driving beats, the vocals alternating between Lennon's solo and group harmonies channel the energy of early girl groups like The Shirelles and The Marvelettes.

♪ But you left me sitting on my own ♪ ♪ Did you have to treat me oh so bad ♪ ♪ All I do is hang my head and moan ♪ - [Scott] Starr's drums drive the song's swinging rhythm.

♪ And why you lie to me - On April 4th, 1964, The Beatles achieved a milestone that is unlikely to ever be repeated.

They occupied the top five positions of the Billboard Hot 100 with an additional seven songs charting below and topping the list was "Can't Buy Me Love" released as a single in advance of the upcoming film.

Meanwhile, filming continued back in the UK, but there was a problem.

The film still didn't have a title.

Candidates like On the Move, Let's Go and Beatlemania had all been tossed around and tossed out.

Walter Shenson, the film's producer, was desperate to find a good title.

One day, Shenson was having lunch with Lennon and John asked him if he had ever heard Ringo misuse the English language.

Shenson asked for an example.

Well, Lennon said, sometimes if we're recording all night, he'll say the next day, "Boy, that was a hard day's night", and Shenson said that sounds like a good title for this movie.

Shenson asked Lennon to write a song with that title and with some help from Paul, he did.

While the phrase was pure Ringo, he might have subconsciously borrowed it from one of the band's heroes, Eartha Kitt.

In 1963, she released a single called "Lola, Lola".

And the B Side featured this song.

♪ Normally I would offer you a sherry ♪ ♪ Because I know you're rather fonder ♪ ♪ when you're tight ♪ Shall we sit and watch the telly you see ♪ ♪ I had a very hard day last night ♪ - The finished title track begins with one of the most iconic opening chords in rock history.

An explosion that launches the movie and its soundtrack.

In early takes, they tried drenching the chord in echo like this.

- One, two, three, four.

♪ It's been a hard day's night - Wisely, they decided to dispense with the echo.

The Beatles made several attempts to record the rhythm track and take nine was chosen as the best.

Lennon and McCartney then overdubbed their vocals onto Track two and then doubled them on track three with some additional guitar.

Their engineer, Norman Smith, was a percussionist, and he added bongos while Starr struck a cowbell.

Lastly, Harrison overdubbed his guitar solo.

For this recording, George Martin used one of his favorite techniques, what he called the windup piano.

This involved slowing the tape speed while Harrison played his part an octave lower and at half the tempo, Martin doubled Harrison's part on piano.

Here's what that sounded like during recording.

(bright music) When the tape was turned back to normal speed, this was the result.

(bright music) In three hours, The Beatles had gone from rhythm track to a complete recording, creating the song that would open the film and become their next number one single.

On July 6th, 1964, exactly seven years since Lennon and McCartney first met, the film premiered at the London Pavilion.

Four days later, it debuted in The Beatles' hometown of Liverpool.

It was their first visit home since the previous December, and they were greeted like royalty.

3000 fans mobbed them at Speke Airport and 200,000 accompanied them to Liverpool Town Hall.

The Beatles waved from the balcony as the Liverpool City Police band regaled the crowd by playing "Can't Buy Me Love".

That evening, the film screened at the Odeon Cinema, just a short walk from where The Beatles had once watched the "Running, Jumping and Standing Still Film on repeat".

Critics fell all over themselves praising the film.

The Village Voice famously called it the Citizen Kane of jukebox musicals.

Lennon and McCartney's songs appeared on the Parlophone A Hard Day's Night album in England.

In the US, they appeared on the United Artist soundtrack album and the Capital Album, "Something New".

All of these albums and the singles "A Hard Day's Night" and "Can't Buy Me Love" topped the charts.

"A Hard Day's Night" wasn't just another pop movie, it was a cultural explosion, a kinetic snapshot of a band and a world on the brink of transformation, with its sharp wit, cinema verite style and unforgettable soundtrack, the movie redefined what a music film could be and helped forge the visual language of the 60s.

And its music made it clear that Lennon and McCartney were a songwriting force light years ahead of their peers.

More than six decades later, its energy still crackles, its humor still lands, and its influence echoes through every music video and band documentary that followed.

"A Hard Day's Night" captured The Beatles not just becoming famous, but becoming immortal.

(upbeat music begins) (bright music)