{"id":7041,"date":"2017-05-31T18:14:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T23:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefest.com\/kdstaging2\/?p=7041"},"modified":"2017-05-31T18:14:14","modified_gmt":"2017-05-31T23:14:14","slug":"act-naturally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/act-naturally\/","title":{"rendered":"Act, Naturally!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a serious confession to make: I prefer Help!<\/em> to A Hard Day\u2019s Night<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yes, yes, I know. A Hard Day\u2019s Night<\/em> won two Academy Awards. It\u2019s the artsier of the two films, capturing in black-and-white the vivid symbolism of Beatlemania\u2019s captive, life-in-a-box existence. In close-quartered scenes (a railroad car, a tiny backstage Green Room, a darkened hallway) the film emphasizes the asphyxia of Beatlemania. I get it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Help!<\/em> \u2013 that droll, clever, tongue-in-cheek James Bond spoof \u2013 has been (almost as much as Beatles music) the backdrop of my life. My husband, Rande, and I speak in Help!-<\/em>ese.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When Rande begins some involved scientific or engineering-related explanation, I peer at him and say, \u201cI believe you. Thousands wouldn\u2019t.\u201d And, when I flub something up \u2013 as I am wont to do \u2013 my husband drones, \u201cJeweler, you failed!\u201d\u00a0 I can\u2019t count the times when one or the other of us has held up a hand and murmured, \u201cSay no more.\u201d Or the happy times when in a brief moment of victory, we\u2019ve shouted, \u201cWith this I can (dare I say it?!) rule the world!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Every year since 1965 on my birthday (much harder to accomplish before the advent of Beta, VHS, and then later DVDs) I have managed somehow to watch Help!<\/em> and wolf down a Mexican TV dinner. It\u2019s a cherished teen tradition I won\u2019t let go. And every single bike ride we\u2019ve undertaken in our married life has begun with in a circular loop or two while we chanted: \u201cA man\u2019s got to do what a man\u2019s got to do\u201d and argued about whether or not we should, in fact, go to the Temple. Help!<\/em> is our thing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

However, all of this being said, I love A Hard Day\u2019s Night<\/em>, Yellow Submarine<\/em>, Magical Mystery Tour<\/em>, and Let it Be<\/em>. They have had no small airplay around our home. The Beatles\u2019 movies are endlessly watchable and quotable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brian Epstein was a marketing genius. He knew that his boys were supremely talented composers\/lyricists\/musicians. But, he also knew that they were equally adroit performers: natural comedians. The Beatles drew, in part, on the satiri-comical nature of Scousers. Liverpudlians are reared in an atmosphere they refer to as \u201cmickey-takin\u2019\u201d (smarting off to anyone and everyone at will). And to ice that pound-you cake, Scousers cut their teeth on the vaudevillian Music Hall tradition so well represented by Arthur Askey and \u201cThe Cheeky Chappie,\u201d Max Miller. They grew up with swift, witty retorts.<\/p>\n

Brian knew that the boys\u2019 penchant for repart\u00e9e would woo audiences, and screenwriter Alun Owen was Scouse enough to capture that repart\u00e9e authentically and wise enough to let the boys (especially John) improvise as often as they wanted to improvise. Therefore, The Beatles\u2019 films blossomed with brilliant banter.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Honestly, the question, \u201cWhich film is the best <\/em>Beatles\u2019 film?\u201d has no \u201cright\u201d answer. The answer is individual. Flower Children of the late 1960s adore Magical Mystery Tour<\/em>. Stark realists lean toward the all-too truthful scenes of Let It Be.<\/em> And even though they don\u2019t actually star in Yellow Submarine<\/em>, the entire nature of the film is inspired by John, Paul, George, and Ringo, so it must be included as well. Indeed, many Second Gen fans were reared on the \u201cI\u2019ve got a hole in m\u2019pocket\u201d script. The colourful cartoon was their introduction to the Fab Four. So\u2026.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Which Beatles \u201cfil-um\u201d (as Liverpudlians pronounce it) and which scene in that film is your all-time fav?<\/strong> Is it John Lennon\u2019s hallway bit in A Hard Day\u2019s Night<\/em>? (\u201cShe looks more like him than I do!\u201d) Is it the press conference clip? (\u201cNo, actually we\u2019re just good friends.\u201d) Which scene in which Beatles movie do you most cherish?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Just as you did last week, please post at the end of this blog, and let\u2019s share a conversation with one another. Let\u2019s remember the good times, inspiring moments, and memories to which we still cling. Shoot a quick comment our way, and in 2 weeks, we\u2019ll have a random drawing from all of those who posted\u2026and we\u2019ll award a Beatles-related film as the prize.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One lucky person will receive a copy of Good Ol\u2019 Freda<\/em>, the beloved story of Freda Kelly who served as the head of The Beatles Fan Club and worked in the Liverpool NEMS for 12 years with \u201cMr. Brian.\u201d It\u2019s a great, great movie \u2013 a true inspiration for the whole family. You\u2019ll adore it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remember, there are no \u201ccorrect answers\u201d to these two questions. We\u2019d just love to chat together and enjoy the discussion. In the words of British author, E. M. Forrester, \u201cONLY CONNECT.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We\u2019re waiting to hear from you.<\/p>\n

\n

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series:\u00a0www.johnlennonseries.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations —\u00a0@910PubRel<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter and\u00a0910 Public Relations<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a serious confession to make: I prefer Help! to A Hard Day\u2019s Night.   Yes, yes, I know. A Hard Day\u2019s Night won two Academy Awards. It\u2019s the artsier of the two films, capturing in black-and-white the vivid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":7042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[98,117,30],"class_list":["post-7041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baby-boomer-beatles-blog","tag-jude-southerland-kessler","tag-the-beatles","tag-the-fest-for-beatles-fans"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7043,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7041\/revisions\/7043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}