Musicals—15

From the Broadway-inspired musicals we talked about last week, to a pop culture phenomenon that took the world by storm in the mid-60s. They were beyond anything. Everywhere they went, crowds of teens would follow them and they enjoyed an initial success that hasn’t been bested by any group since. So, of course, someone had the bright idea to capitalize on that and make movies starring them—and the two films were big hits. Seriously, how could they not be with the incredible popularity of the Fab Four?

The first to be released was A Hard Day’s Night [1964] by Alun Owen. Its story was pretty simple—it followed the group through their adventures on a typical day as they try to navigate their obsessive fans to get to a live TV performance on time, while also dealing with Paul’s difficult uncle. Will they make it in time? Uh, yeah. This is a lightweight piece of nothing.

And yet… it’s a lot of fun. Take a look at this clip, which was the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbg8T9r1DiQ. Yep, it’s just the title song—the big hit—and people flocked to this film.

But wait a minute, it gets a 7.6 in IMDB—people who don’t know the Beatles from Adam still love it. Why? The plot isn’t much, but the fast-pace and the memorable songs make you smile as you watch.

This huge hit—that certainly capitalized on the Beatles’ popularity—was followed by Help! [1965] by Marc Behm and Charles Wood. This one had a more complicated story… if a more far-fetched one. Ringo has been sent a ring from a girl “somewhere” in the East who is to be a human sacrifice. Her cult comes to England to get the ring back and when they find Ringo, they tell him he’ll be the next human sacrifice if he doesn’t return it. In addition, he’s being chased by a couple of mad scientists… and Scotland Yard! Yikes!! How will the boys help their friend out of this one when he can’t even get the ring off his finger??? Here’s a clip from this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC8M2MyZN_M. Zany fun.

While on the surface, this plot may seem a bit far-fetched, remember we’re talking about the early 60s when James Bond was taking over movie screens everywhere—Dr. No, From Russia with Love, and Goldfinger had already been released so mad scientists and weird cults abounded. So audiences didn’t have a hard time with Help! because it fit right into the landscape that they knew.

As you think about writing your own musical, ask yourself if there are any unique themes to the time we live in that could lend themselves to a particular kind of musical for this generation… maybe you, too, will come up with a pop culture winner.

Next week, on to the most innovative musical ever made—and it’s French!

Copyright © Diane Lake

03Nov19

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com