August 11, 1964: "A Hard Day's Night" Premieres

Left to right: Paul McCartney, George Harrison,

Ringo Starr and John Lennon

August 11, 1964: The film A Hard Day's Night premieres, directed by Richard Lester. It is the 1st feature film featuring The Beatles, who have become not just the world's most popular music group, but the biggest phenomenon in popular culture on planet Earth.

All 4 Beatles -- rhythm guitarist John Lennon, bass guitarist Paul McCartney, lead guitarist George Harrison, and drummer Ringo Starr -- play fictionalized versions of themselves. There's not much of a plot: The bandmembers escape from their adoring fans, and catch a train -- apparently from one side of London to the other.

They are accompanied by a fictionalized version of Paul's grandfather, John McCartney (Wilfrid Bramble); Norm (Norman Rossington), standing in for real-life manager Brian Epstein; and Shake (John Junkin), standing in for real-life road manager Mal Evans. Everybody says that John McCartney is "a very clean man," but Paul calls him "a bit of a mixer."

Feeling the strain of their fame-induced confinement -- the film's title comes from a line that Ringo'd flung off, "It was a hard day's night, that was" -- the Beatles sneak out of their hotel and dance at a nightclub, then have to go to a nearby casino to retrieve "Lord John McCartney" (as he identifies himself to the casino's management).

John and Paul were the main songwriters, so they got the most attention, both in real life and in the film. So the others both get individual scenes: George is lured into a trendmonger's office to audition for a print advertisement with a popular model, and turns it down; while Ringo chaperones the grandfather, who talks him into running away, given that he's the least popular member, goes to a pub, accidentally knocks a woman into a muddy hole, gets arrested, and has to be bailed out by the other three. Just in time, they get to the auditorium where their concert was meant to take place, and they perform.

The opening sequence, showing the band members trying to escape from their adoring fans to catch a train, was filmed at Marylebone Station in Central London. The train sequence was filmed on a train going from there to Minehead, in Somerset, in England's West Country. The pub scene was at the Turk's Head in Twickenham, South-West London. The nightclub and casino scenes were at the Les Ambassadeurs Club in Mayfair, in London's West End (that city's theater district). The "Can't Buy Me Love" scene was at Thornbury Playing Fields in Isleworth, West London. The concert scene was at the Scala Theatre in Central London, demolished in 1969. And the closing helicopter scene was at West Ealing, West London.

Prior to the concert scene, the film includes these songs: The title track, "I Should've Known Better," "I Wanna Be Your Man" (on which Ringo sings lead), "Don't Bother Me" (the 1st song George ever wrote, the rest of the songs written by John and Paul), "All My Loving," "If I Fell," "Can't Buy Me Love," "And I Love Her," "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You" (on which George sings lead), and an instrumental version of "This Boy" (which becomes known as "Ringo's Theme," even though John sings lead).

The concert scene shows the band performing "Can't Buy Me Love," "Tell Me Why," "If I Fell," "I Should Have Known Better," and "She Loves You," the last song briefly interrupted by one last bit of havoc wrote by Paul's grandfather.

The soundtrack album had been released on July 10. Side One: "A Hard Day's Night," "I Should Have Known Better," "If I Fell," "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You," "And I Love Her," "Tell Me Why" and "Can't Buy Me Love." Side Two: "Any Time at All," "I'll Cry Instead," "Things We Said Today, "When I Get Home," "You Can't Do That," and "I'll Be Back."

"She Loves You" and "Can't Buy Me Love" had already hit Number 1 in America. "A Hard Day's Night" was Number 1 in America when the film premiered.

The Beatles would appear in the film "Help!" in 1965, in the TV-movie "Magical Mystery Tour" in 1967, in animated form in "Yellow Submarine" in 1968, and in the documentary "Let It Be" in 1970.

*

August 11, 1964 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees were swept in a doubleheader by the Chicago White Sox, 6-4 and 8-2 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle went 3-for-8 with a home run.

* The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The game was stopped due to rain after 8 innings. Larry Elliot hit a home run for the Mets. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Frank Robinson went 3-for-4 with a home run. Pete Rose went 1-for-4.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 13-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks went 2-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Houston Astros, 9-6 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron hit 2 home runs and had 5 RBIs.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-2 with a walk. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-3 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda hit home runs.

* The Washington Senators beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* And the Cleveland Indians beat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels were groundsharing with the Dodgers until their stadium in suburban Anaheim could open. Luis Tiant pitches a 4-hit shutout, outpitching Bo Belinsky. Tiant was a 23-year-old rookie, and it was his 5th career win. There would be 224 more. Belinsky was 27, and in his 3rd major league season. He had 21 major league wins to that point. There would only be 7 more.