1) The film title;
When shooting was completed, The film still didn't have a name. It was originally going to be titled "Beatlemania" but producer Walter Shenson wanted the title of the film to coincide with one of the newly recorded songs for the film soundtrack, But according to Shenson, none of them seemed to fit. During a conversation between Walter and John about Ringo's misuse of the English language, John mentioned a time when The Beatles had been recording all day and all night, when Ringo said "It's been a hard day....'s night", That was when Walter picked that as the film title because "it was unique and didn't make sense". He then asked John and Paul to write a song called "A Hard Day's Night" and the songwriting duo had a song completed by the next day.
2) That time when Ringo had a hangover on set...
Ringo Starr later admitted that his "acting" in his iconic solo scene when he goes ‘parading’ by the river was a result of his huge hangover. "Getting up early in the morning wasn’t our best talent and there’s an example of that in one scene: the one for which I got really good credit, walking by the river with a camera – the ‘lonely guy’ piece. I had come directly to work from a nightclub (very unprofessional) and was a little hungover, to say the least. Dick Lester had all his people there, and the kid that I was supposed to be doing the scene with, but I had no brain. I’d gone. We tried it several ways. They tried it with the kid doing his lines and someone off camera shouting mine. Then they had me doing the lines of the kid and the kid going ‘blah blah blah’. Or me saying, ‘And another thing, little guy…’ I was so out of it, they said, ‘Well’ let’s do anything.’ I said, ‘Let me just walk around and you film me,’ and that’s what we did. And why I look so cold and dejected is because I felt like shit. There’s no acting going on; I felt that bad."
3) I'm happy just to dance with you;
George performing 'I'm Happy Just To Dance With You' was the first time that he ever performed for the media whilst singing lead, it has been rumoured that he was “absolutely terrified” about the ordeal, but conquering it gave him the confidence to want to write and sing more.
4) Orgasmic?
On 'You can’t do that - The Making Of AHDN', Film critic Roger Ebert said that A Hard Day's Night is 1/5 of the greatest musicals he’s ever seen, and that it is “right up there with 'Singing In The Rain” - he even went as far to call the film orgasmic! Script writer Alun Owen said that out of all of the films he has taken part in, A Hard Day's Night has been the only one he has had 'freedom' in, Norman Rossington (who played Norm) said that actors didn’t have to stick to the script as they wanted it to be as “real as possible”.
5) Phil Collins was an extra;
Genesis member turned solo artist Phil Collins cites himself as an 'actor' as his first proper job - He was at the Scala Theatre in London in 1964, “screaming his head off for the Beatles who were on stage in the flesh singing their new songs for the fans and the cameras”.
6) You can't add that...
'You Can't Do That' was originally supposed to be one of the songs included in the second to last scene of the film, when the band were performing - The songs that made it on to the final version were 'Tell Me Why', 'If I Fell' 'I Should Have Known Better' and 'She Loves You' - It was apparently left out because there was already enough songs. Rare footage of this performance was first shown on 'The Making Of....'
7) Unintentional Injuries;
During the opening credits when George, John, Ringo and Paul are running away from their screaming fans whilst 'A Hard Day's Night' is playing, George actually trips and falls down, He scraped his hand and ripped his suit in the process.
8) What a clean old man...
The long running “clean old man” joke wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Wilfrid Brambell portraying John McCartney, Paul's grandfather. Brambell formerly played the role of Steptoe in TV show Steptoe and Son where his son would refer to him as a "dirty old man".
* TRIVIA TIME !!! *
1) When The Beatles enter a car in their first scene away from the train, they are all seen wearing suits and ties. But when they are filmed inside whilst fans are outside screaming for them, John is seen wearing a turtle neck - Paul’s grandfather is seen sitting on the far left of the car seats but in the next scene he isn’t there.
2) During “If I fell” - Shake brings an amp on to the set, George then leans on it and unintentionally knocks it over.
3) During both scenes where the band are singing 'I should have known better', both Paul and John mime “I never realised what a kiss could be” instead of “I should have known better with a girl like you”
4) In the hotel room scene, Paul’s piano playing is not in sync with the over dub track that we hear whilst watching the film.
5) When Ringo goes 'parading', he talks to a girl in a black jacket who says “get out of it, shortie.” But when you read her lips, she says something completely different.
... and that was a few facts on 'A Hard Day's Night'! Did I miss anything ??? Let me know in the comments. Don't forget to remember these ( and look out for the trivia) facts the next time you watch it!
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