Cynthia and John at the London Pavilion for the premiere of Help! on July 29, 1965
In the beginning of 1965, it was time to make another film! The Beatles had sign a contract for a 3 movies deal with United Artists. The first was A Hard Day's Night in 1964; it was semi-autobiographical. So, what should the second film be about? Around this time period, the James Bond franchise was a big hit. Ringo had made quite an acting impression in A Hard Day's Night, so the storyline centered him finding and keeping this ring: A red pingpong size ball that was used for sacrifices. This Eastern-like cult chased Ringo around the world to get this ring, and two mad scientists joined in on the chase after trying to help Ringo take off the ring as it was now stuck.
While the movie sounded exciting and action packed, it wasn't the greatest fun to film. While A Hard Day's Night was new territory and awestruck, Help! was more... eh. They felt like extras in their own film. Especially for John. The Beatles all admitted that they smoked a lot of marijuana while filming. Subconsciously, John wasn't feeling great with some weight gain (despite him calling it his "Fat Elvis" period, he really wasn't fat... but I suppose he felt fat), he may have been depressed, and wrote the song Help! after being asked by Richard Lester (the director) to provide for the film, originally titled Eight Arms to Hold You.
Filming started on February 23, 1965 in the Bahamas - first scene was shot of The Beatles coming out of a drain into a public swimming pool. John originally planned on having Cynthia and Julian (who was about to turn two in April) but the idea fell through.
"Yeah, I miss them like mad. I was going to bring them out here but they’d just be hanging around all the time because that’s all there is."
John, 1965
The Beatles were in the Bahamas for two weeks with no day off... After all, they were limited on a deadline (Richard Lester would shoot during the day, edit the film at night)! Filming started at 8:30 AM until 5:30 PM. On March 10th, The Beatles left the Bahamas to London, arriving early morning the following day on March 11th.Two days later, they went back to the airport, this time with Cynthia, Maureen, and Pattie accompanying them. Jane couldn't go as she had acting commitments, but she did visit the set later in London.
"Well, when we discussed going on to Austria with a brief stop-over in London, I told Walter Shenson, our producer, I was ready for a fight, 'I'm not going alone.' So he said, and it sounded almost too simple to be true, 'By all means, take Maureen along.' As a result Cynthia Lennon came along too, and so did George's Pattie. Jane Asher, Paul's girlfriend was busy and had to stay behind. But the other three girls took off happily to keep us company."
Ringo Starr, 1965
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George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Richard and Maureen Starkey, Cynthia and John (with Brian Epstein) at Heathrow Airport in London before boarding a flight to Austria to film their second movie, Help!, on March 13, 1965.
At Heathrow Airport, for some strange reason, Pattie didn't pose with her boyfriend George and everybody else.... I suspect it's from Brian Epstein's request that wives can be with their husbands but hide the girlfriend (although Pattie didn't hide when they returned to Austria). Well, anyway, they took off and landed in Salzburg, where they drove 100 miles to Obertauern to stay at Edelweiss Hotel. At some point during the drive, there were everyone mixed together but at a rest stop, The Beatles went in one car and the companions went another car when they arrived at their destination. There was a press conference along with Eleanor Bron and the rest of the cast.
John and Cynthia riding together from Salzburg to a rest stop on March 13, 1965
Maureen, Cynthia, and Pattie (wearing a dark wig) arriving at Edelweiss Hotel on March 13, 1965
"They had their black hats on, their black capes. They had this amazing setting on this snow-covered mountain with a piano. They didn't exactly ski down the mountains with these torches because they had doubles, but it looked fantastic and every time I see that cape, I remember the whole scenario. We had a lot of fun, a lot of lunacy, a lot of madness, and we learned how to ski."
Cynthia, 2009
While the Beatles filmed, Cynthia, Maureen, and Pattie, along with Sonnie Freeman (sigh.... I really hope that this trip nothing happened between John and Sonnie during their affair...), took skiing lessons, shopped, and hung out at the hotel. There had been nights of partying, having a great time.
The Beatles with Cynthia, Maureen, and Pattie at Edelweiss Hotel in between filming scenes, March of 1965
Maureen, Pattie, and Cynthia sightseeing in Obertauern, March of 1965
Paul, George, Pattie, John, Maureen, and Cynthia (Ringo is behind John) at Salzburg Airport walking to their flight back to Heathrow Airport in London on March 22, 1965
On March 22, 1965, The Beatles and their entourage arrived back to London. There were still lots of filming to do but this time were able to stay at home while filming scenes at Twickenham Studios in London and near the Stonehenge.
Filming wrapped up on April 12, 1965.
On June 12, 1965, the same day The Beatles received news that they'll be getting an MBE (Members of the British Empire) honor, they, along with Cynthia, Maureen, and Pattie, went to Twickenham Studios to view an early screening of Help! after doing a press conference for their reaction. John (and Cynthia) arrived late and deliberately didn't comb his hair in protest after being woken up when Brian and chauffeur Alf Bicknell picked them up for the press conference.
As for the music of the film, majority of it was written while at home. Cynthia remembered John writing You're Going to Lose That Girl in his music room in Weybridge and called out to her to come up and listen. Cynthia once speculated that Help! was written for her, like the lyric 'And I do appreciate you being 'round' although Pete Shotton also claimed that was for him... Who knows? Maybe it was for both Pete and Cynthia, as they were around a lot during that time period? John also wrote You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, It's Only Love (I strongly think that's for Cynthia, although John hated that song), and Ticket to Ride for the film.
On another note, Julian owns John's cape jacket that he wore for the film in the skiing scenes.
The Beatles with Cynthia and Maureen at the London premiere of Help! on July 29, 1965
Help! was premiered at the London Pavilion with an appearance by Princess Margaret. Okay, side note before I get into this: Cynthia described her premiere dress from Help! but for A Hard Day's Night (I did make note of this in a post about A Hard Day's Night). So.... Sorry, Cynthia, but I'm going to correct you... while I'm sure her hunt for a perfect dress for the premiere of A Hard Day's Night may have been true, still, wrong dress description! Maybe both dresses for A Hard Day's Night and Help! premieres have similar circumstances to the story: went on a frantic excited shopping hunt for that perfect gown, but it wasn't the right fit and needed re-adjustments. It was finally ready on the day of the premiere, her mother Lillian picked up the dress. I heard Ringo and Maureen spent the night in Kenwood and they all went together on John's Rolls Royce (before it got famously painted) to the London Pavilion. Afterwards, the party was held at the Dorchester Hotel.
"The highly successful film, Help! was premiered in London in the presence of Princess Margaret and was followed by a fantastic party where Maureen in her final days of pregnancy danced and gyrated the night through watched with great concerned by all. It would have been an incredible occasion if she had given birth in the presence of H.R.H. Maureen was enjoying herself more than anyone else; it was her first baby and she was making the most of life while she could."
Cynthia, from her 'A Twist of Lennon' autobiography, 1978
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