By 1964, putting a music star in a feature film was certainly nothing new, the roster of musicians doing so included such luminaries as Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Ricky Nelson, Fabian, and of course, that paradigm of the low-budget (and lousy) movie musicals, Elvis Presley himself. The problem was that with few exceptions, such films were nothing more than cheap fluff and little more than an excuse to make a few quick bucks and get some songs (usually very bad ones) on the screen and perhaps (as in Elvis’ case) to release an embarrassingly mediocre soundtrack album.

Song quality notwithstanding, this was United Artists’ idea when they signed a newly popular group called the Beatles to a three-picture deal late in 1963. Their basic plan was to put out a cheapie, hack film with the red-hot pop group, then clean up on the soundtrack album. The second half of the plan actually worked, but as for the first half of the plan, the Beatles had other ideas. “We didn’t want to make another shitty pop musical”, recalled John Lennon.

The film’s title A Hard Day’s Night is usually attributed to a malapropism by Ringo. After a late night recording session, as the Beatles were leaving the studio, Ringo quipped, “It’s been a hard day’s… night.”

Read the full story here!