Wednesday, September 08, 2021

Movie review - "Help!" (1965) ***

 The colour photography is wonderful, some splendid locations such as the Austrian snowfields and the Bahams and the songs of course are sublime. But this second Beatles film lacks something.

It's got more of a story but the story is tired and racist - a cult tries to retrieve a ring off Ringo's finger. The spoofs of war films and spy movies may have seemed fresh then but haven't aged well. The Beatles don't have individual personalities - John looks bored, Paul grins, Ringo gets more screen time. They don't have particularly funny gags.

Eleanor Bron is the girl, as she often was in the sixties. Leo McKern gets a lot of screen time as the baddie. Lester seems far more interested in him, Bron, Roy Kinnear and Patrick Cargill than the Beatles. In terms of story you could cut three of the Beatles out you only need Ringo.

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