The Beatles 'became bored' and were 'doing nothing most of the time'

The Beatles were not always proud of the work they produced. In particular, John Lennon was happy to take aim at some of the band's output he wasn't fond of.

He shared his disdain for the 1967 album 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' and Paul McCartney's work on the 'Let it Be' single and the closing medley on 'Abbey Road'. It wasn't just Paul's work that John criticised. He notably said he wished he had not written 'It's Only Love'. About it, he said: "That's the one song I really hate of mine. Terrible lyrics."

‌And as The Beatles rose to fame, they had to work on more than just music. John did not particularly love having to star in films and admitted he didn't enjoy working on the film 'Help!'. The 1965 film followed the success of their 1964 movie debut 'A Hard Day's Night' but it was widely viewed not to have hit the heights of its predecessor. ‌

A New York Times review of the film said: "It's a fiasco of farcical whimseys that are thrown together in this film – a clutter of mechanical gimmicks and madcap chases... Funny? Exciting? Different?

"Well, there's nothing in "Help!" to compare with that wild ballet of The Beatles racing across a playground in 'A Hard Day's Night', nothing as wistful as the ramble of Ringo around London all alone ... The boys themselves are exuberant and uninhibited in their own genial way. They just become awfully redundant and – dare I say it? – dull."

Critic Leslie Halliwell said it was an: "exhausting attempt to outdo 'A Hard Day's Night' in lunatic frenzy, which goes to show that some talents work best on low budgets."  

The film's plot sees George Harrison, Paul and John try to save Ringo Starr from a cult and scientists, hellbent on taking a ring sent to the drummer by a fan in what was a parody of the James Bond series.

The film was shot in studios in London and on location in Austria and the Bahamas during spring 1965 but the band's hearts weren't in it, it seems.

About the filming process, John said: "'Help!' was a drag". He added: "We were on pot by then and all the best stuff, with us breaking up and falling about, was left on the cutting room floor."

Source: Dan Haygarth/liverpoolecho.co.uk

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