Help!

Although not as critically acclaimed as The Beatles' previous movie "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!" is equally as entertaining. In my opinion, the plot is much more interesting because it takes The Beatles to different locations around the world instead of just movie sets and hotel rooms. The first movie was to show how The Beatles lived everyday life and "Help!" was a fresh departure from this. I believe that this film is much more fun because John, Paul, George, and Ringo are having fun and so will you.

After the success of the low budget A Hard Day's Night with its classic soundtrack that after over 40 years is still a best selling item, the more expensive Help was made for the Beatles. The Fab Four even got to do a little location shooting in the Bahamas and in Salzburg, Austria for the skiing sequence.

Ringo Starr so named for his well known passion for rings has got himself quite the ruby bauble. It's been noticed by some Eastern cult headed by Leo McKern and these guys ain't kidding about what it takes to get it. The one who wears the ring has to be a human sacrifice.

So when all kinds of strange people start going after our page boy teen idols, it's one merry anarchistic chase all over the United Kingdom and other parts of the globe.

Leo McKern and such other British character actors like Alfie Bass, Victor Spinetti, and Patrick Cargill get it on the fun. Eleanor Bron plays a fifth columnist in McKern's camp looks to help the Beatles because she's one of several million fans they have across the globe and she really does like the drummer with the honker.

Like it's predecessor Help's soundtrack is still selling in the gazillions because it has several John Lennon-Paul McCartney songs still popular like A Ticket To Ride, You're Gonna Lose That Girl, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and the title song.

Also like it's predecessor it paved the way for the venue of the music video which today's musical artist seem to prefer more than records on which you can hear them. It boggles the mind when you think of who could have been captured performing if that technology had been available for more than 100 years more.

So if your ticket to ride is punched, relax and enjoy.

"Help" is a nice companion movie to "A Hard Days Night". It is filmed in color, and while it doesn't have the classic look of black and white "Hard Days Night", the script is better, and the Beatles appear more relaxed acting. The music is very good. Ringo, often in the background during in concerts and on recordings, proves he is the best actor of the Fab Four. Paul, John and George come across the screen as genuine and charismatic. "Help!" is filmed in different locations as well, which add to the film's quality. To me, the Beatles are the greatest rock group in history. Before there was MTV, there was "A Hard Days Night" and "Help!". Nothing in music can top that.

This film, suck in the shadow of the criticaly lauded (rightfully so) "A Hard Day's Night", is arguably just as good and maybe more important. Richard Lester's

stuck deep in Buster Keaton mode (the Beatles Digs seem an homage to "the

Electric House") and he never made his modernized version of Buster work

better. Though it lacks "Hard Day's Nights" quicksilver verbal wit; there are

excellent visual jokes to pick up the slack, and the Beatles acting, FAR from being bad, hits just the right tone of throwaway sillyness. The supporting cast are perfect. Of the seven Beatles songs, I would say three( "Help" "The NIght Before" and "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away") are A plus Beatles, setting the bar very high indeed. This style of comedy, as I suggested, had one foot in silent comedy and one in hip detachment; and if that works for you, "Help!" should prove timeless.

What a goofy, silly, wonderful movie! I used to watch this one all the time as a kid, so it may be the nostalgia talking, but it still holds up well. I was smiling almost the entire time. It was a bit slower than I remember, and my kids may not have enjoyed it as much as I did, but this is probably my favorite Beatles movie.