From Amazon.com
After the worldwide success of
A Hard Day's Night, the Beatles and director Richard Lester reunited for a follow-up film,
Eight Arms to Hold You. Well, that wasn't the final title; a pleading Lennon-McCartney tune provided the catchier handle:
Help! A loose semispoof of the globe-trotting James Bond pictures,
Help! has always been considered a somewhat disorganized comedown from its predecessor; but it presents "the famous Beatles" even more clearly as the English cousins of the Marx Brothers. The plot has an Eastern religious cult declaring that the new ring on Ringo's finger is the key element in a human sacrifice; they will stop at nothing to obtain it. Meanwhile, a mad scientist (crazed Victor Spinetti, who also appeared in
A Hard Day's Night and
Magical Mystery Tour) believes that if he has the ring, he could--dare we say it?--rule the world. The songs, including "Ticket to Ride" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," are filmed with gleeful ingenuity, in locations such as the Bahamas, an Austrian ski resort, and the Salisbury Plain. The relentless nonsense becomes nearly the equivalent of a swinging-'60s
Alice in Wonderland: for instance, Paul shrinks to the size of a gum wrapper, John fishes a season ticket out of his soup, George wears a top hat on the ski slopes, the lads sing the "Ode to Joy" to a lion. Oh, and the film is dedicated to Elias Howe, "who in 1846 invented the sewing machine." Brilliant.
--Robert Horton
Review
Help! offered one outwardly noticeable difference from 1964's A Hard Day's Night: it was in color. If it seemed less fresh, that was because it built on the techniques of the earlier film. As with A Hard Day's Night, the acting abilities of the Fab Four, along with a bizarre and thin plot, made way for the performance of a number of songs. In a way, Help!, with its emphasis on new songs, campy performances by pop stars, and lots of action to fill up the screen, is a forerunner to music videos. Compared to earlier music films starring Elvis or Frank Sinatra, Help!'s pacing and approach are much more frenzied. Lester seemed to find the right tone for Help!, creating an enjoyable portrait of the Beatles and never allowing the film to take itself too seriously. His style would later be co-opted by Bob Rafaelson for the Monkees' television series in the '60s and has continued to influence rock musicals like Spice World in 1998. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Movie Guide