Au secours !

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.

This is an entertaining movie that serves its sole purpose very well---to showcase a bunch of terrific Beatles songs. Everyone knows the plot---a religious cult needs to retrieve a sacrificial ring which Ringo cannot get off his finger, consequently he has to be sacrificed. The lads go through various adventures in London, Switzerland and the Bahamas before it is all over.

It is easy to imagine this movie being an inspiration for Monty Python later on and it isn't surprising to learn that George Harrison in particlar became good friends with Michael Palin and Eric Idle of Python fame. Now imagine what a combined Beatles-Python movie would've been like!

One scene in "Help!" which I particularly remember is the Leo Mckern, the cult leader, dressed in his sari, drinking tea and collegially discussing his religious beliefs with an Anglican priest. Of the Beatles, John and Ringo have most of the funny lines and the movie exaggerates the idea of George being tight with his money---playing poker with Ringo at Buckingham Palace, pilfering rings from a jeweler, pretending he can't find his wallet thus forcing Ringo to pick up the tab at a pub. The caricature personas the Beatles adopted for this movie in particular became the way many fans viewed them which I think George found to be alternately ironic and irritating since he insisted he was nothing like the movie version of himself.

Okay, so "Help!" isn't quite as creative as "A Hard Day's Night", but the Beatles always were able to do something good. In this case, Ringo happens to have a sacrificial ring belonging to a religious cult. So, the cult sets about trying to get it back. When they fail, they decide to sacrifice Ringo. Meanwhile, a scientist (Victor Spinetti) wants the ring for his own purposes. And of course, there's plenty of great music along the way.

In a way, the whole movie is sort of an excuse to be wacky. Whether it's the seemingly separate apartments that turn out to be one big room, the trap door activated by a glass, the skiing tournament, or the whole Bahamas sequence, they've got something neat every step of the way. Leo McKern, as cult leader Clang, and Eleanor Bron, as cultist Ahme who tries to protect Ringo, provide cool supporting roles.

I guess that if I ever get a woman to watch "Help!" with me, I'll never "Lose That Girl".

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.

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.