1964: Allarme a N.Y. arrivano i Beatles!

The most remarkable thing about this movie for me is the fact that it made me feel nostalgic for an era I was never even part of. I'm a classic rock fan so the Beetles aren't anything new to me although I'm far from a Beetlemaniac, yet I some how missed the '60's while watching this.

It also made me nostalgic for a forgotten era of comedy. This movie is not hysterical...but it's a fun story involving several intertwining characters and plots that you care enough about to stay interested. All in all it's a very entertaining film. We don't seem to get too many of these anymore. I'm a huge fan of Apatow films and others of the like, those movies have far more laughs per minute than "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" but will they still be entertaining 30 years from now? Who knows? Only time will tell...but this one's been time tested and I was pleasantly surprised by it.

I never saw this until just today--I was afraid it would turn out to be a dumb film like "Beatlemania!" was--but it turned out to be one of the innocently charming films I've ever seen.

I am a big Beatles admirer, but I wasn't around for this particular time period (I grew up with them during the 70s instead). But this film was sure a fun treat to watch! Delightful slapstick, lots of times completely unbelieveable, but who cares? The fun is in watching these very likeable characters (except that annoying nerd who was goofy and funny but not likeakle, and the Beatle-hater who tries to axe the show... LITERALLY) go through their exciting and silly adventure in their attempts to get tickets.

I was really laughing HARD while watching this one, and highly recommend it!

Out of all the characters, the one whom I fell in love with the most was the one young girl who wanted more than anything else in the world to see her beloved Paul McCartney. Long dark hair, just *slightly* chubby, having cute puppy dog eyes and wearing a sweet little pink bow in her hair, I felt so sorry for her. She wanted SO much to see Paul, and it was both funny and terribly heartbreaking at the same time to watch her rush into a phone booth to call the radio station with the correct answer for a Beatles trivia contest and be so anxious with her handful of dimes that she practically *THROWS* them at the phone.

My favorite lines declaring the Beatles one of life's happiest pleasures come at a scene when the bride-to-be is driving with her future husband (who gives the impression with his short onscreen time that he'd be a real CREEP to her!). Check this scene out and listen to her lines, they're priceless to Beatle fans everywhere.

I'm afraid I'm not a good judge concerning whether or not non-Beatle admirers will react so favourably to this one... but if they dig slapstick and watching people go berzerk over such ridiculous things as the everyday napkins celebrities use, they just might. I mean hey, I love the Beatles, but I would NEVER go for the nonsense that goes on here! So for both Beatle fans and non-fans, I think it's safe for me to say that this movie works as both a fun piece of nostalgia and a satirical look of human nature gone wild and how crazy some will go when it comes to beloved icons.

Oh, and I'm sure Paul finds it VERY flattering as well! Hee hee...

JFK had been assassinated a couple of months earlier and the country was still in a somewhat depressed mood. However a new rock & roll group from England was gaining interest. Then on one memorable weekend in Feb of 64 they arrived in the states to appear where else? On the Ed Sullivan Show. After that week-end the country perked up and began to smile a bit more. This film while essentially intended to be zany does pretty fairly capture the mood of what went on. The Beatles played two sets that night on Sullivan and this film showed the program ending after they came on and did their thing which wasn't totally accurate but so what. One interesting feature is that the Beatles faces are never seen except with actual footage of the original February 9th broadcast and even then it's on the screen of the television cameras as they captured them on the stage.

When you think about the 60's, what do you remember from that decade? The Beatles of course! And this movie tells about the 60's and the Beatles. And there are these American teenagers who just have to see this British group called the Beatles. And what would be a better way to see them than go to Ed Sullivan show, where the Beatles perform.And believe me, it's not going to be that easy. I Wanna hold your Hand is a great movie with great actors. Although this movie was made in the 70's, it shows you what the 60's was all about.

I'd never thought I'd see this film again.

I first saw this film on what used to be the old "Movie of the Week" program on ABC. I'd never heard of the film, but a Beatles' "revival" of sorts was sweeping the nation; courtesy the Stars on 45 remixes, that were being broadcast all over radio at the time. "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" was shown in that spirit.

Why this film failed at the box office I'll never understand. Even with a low marketing budget one would think that word of mouth would've helped boost this film's profits. Myself, I laughed when I saw the cleaned up version aired on television, circa 1979 or 1980. I caught sections of a rebroadcast some years later on another station, but had never managed to see it in its entirety again until now.

Now I own a copy on DVD, and laughed all over again at the adventures and misadventures of an eclectic group of young people trying to see the fab-four. The humor is witty, physical and intelligent, and the general overall feel of the film catches the period that was the early-mid 1960's when the Beatles shot to stardom, and then onto legendary icons. And the portrayal of the fans is spot on. Seeing the throngs of screaming teenage girls brings back memories.

Overall the film is very good, but again, as per my previous comments on other films, this film was made in a time when movies were made for everyone, and the audience was more adult not just in age but in attitude. This being so there're a couple of off color remarks made by the characters, but nothing with the fervor nor frequency of today's excessive use of same abusive language.

Do yourself a favor and help give this fantastic movie new life by renting or buying it. Relive the 1960's and Beatlemania! You won't regret it :-)