RIP - Kenneth Haigh, cast member in 'A Hard Day's Night'

The New York Times reported Feb. 15 that British actor Kenneth Haigh died Feb. 4 in the UK at age 86. For those who don't know the name, Haigh played the very memorable role of Simon Marshall in one of the best scenes in "A Hard Day's Night." He was the man who didn't recognize George Harrison as he lectured him on how he was supposed to be hip to "Susan." "Oh, that posh bird who gets everything wrong," George snapped at him.  But his other roles included playing Brutus in "Cleopatra" with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton,

Here's the dialogue from the scene with George Harrison and Kenneth Haigh.  You can see the scene at the bottom. 

     SECRETARY  

  (proudly) 

  Will this do, Simon?  

    SIMON 
   (looking at George) 
  Not bad, dolly, not really bad. 
   (he motions to George) 
  Turn around, chicky baby. 

 GEORGE does so.

    SIMON 
  Oh yes, a definite poss. He'll look good 
  alongside Susan. 
   (he indicates the girl on the poster) 
  All right, Sunny Jim, this is all going to be 
  quite painless. Don't breathe on me, Adrian.

 ADRIAN has recognised GEORGE and is trying to stop SIMON.

    GEORGE 
  Look, I'm terribly sorry but I'm afraid there's 
  been some sort of a misunderstanding.

    SIMON 
   (sharply) 
  Oh, you can come off it with us. You don't have 
  to do the old adenoidal glottal stop and carry 
  on for our benefit.

    GEORGE 
  I'm afraid I don't understand.

    SIMON 
  Oh, my God, he's a natural.

    SECRETARY (anxiously) 
  Well, I did tell them not to send us any more 
  real ones.

    SIMON 
  They ought to know by now the phonies are much 
  easier to handle. Still he's a good type.

 He now speaks to GEORGE in the loud voice that the English reserve for 
 foreigners and village idiots.

    SIMON 
  We want you to give us your opinion on some 
  clothes for teenagers.

    GEORGE 
  Oh, by all means, I'd be quite prepared for 
  that eventuality.

    SIMON
  Well, not your real opinion, naturally. It'll 
  be written out and you'll learn it. 
   (to secretary) 
  Can he read?

    GEORGE 
  Of course I can.

    SIMON 
  I mean lines, ducky, can you handle lines?

    GEORGE 
  I'll have a bash.

    SIMON 
  Good. Hart, get him whatever it is they drink, 
  a cokearama?

    GEORGE 
  Ta.

    SIMON 
  Well, at least he's polite. Tony Show him the 
  shirts, Adrian.

 A collection of shirts are produced and GEORGE looks at them. While he 
 is doing this SIMON briefs him.

    SIMON 
  Now, you'll like these. You really "dig" them. 
  They're "fab" and all the other pimply 
  hyperboles.

    GEORGE 
  I wouldn't be seen dead in them. They're dead 
  grotty.

    SIMON 
  Grotty?

    GEORGE 
  Yeah, grotesque.

    SIMON 
   (to secretary) 
  Make a note of that word and give it to Susan. 
  I think it's rather touching really. Here's 
  this kid trying to give me his utterly 
  valueless opinion when I know for a fact within 
  four weeks he'll be suffering from a violent 
  inferiority complex and loss of status if he 
  isn't wearing one of these nasty things. Of 
  course they're grotty, you wretched nit, that's 
  why they were designed, but that's what you'll 
  want.

    GEORGE 
  But I won't.

    SIMON 
  You can be replaced you know, chicky baby.

    GEORGE 
  I don't care.

    SIMON 
  And that pose is out too, Sunny Jim. The new 
  thing is to care passionately, and be right 
  wing. Anyway, you won't meet Susan if you don't 
  cooperate.

    GEORGE 
  And who's this Susan when she's at home?

    SIMON 
   (playing his ace) 
  Only Susan Campey, our resident teenager. 
  You'll have to love her. She's your symbol.

    GEORGE 
  Oh, you mean that posh bird who gets 
  everything wrong?

    SIMON 
  I beg your pardon?

    GEORGE 
  Oh, yes, the lads frequently gather round the 
  T.V. set to watch her for a giggle. Once we 
  even all sat down and wrote these letters 
  saying how gear she was and all that rubbish.

    SIMON 
  She's a trend setter. It's her profession!

    GEORGE 
  She's a drag. A well-known drag. We turn the 
  sound down on her and say rude things.

    SIMON 
  Get him out of here!!

    GEORGE 
   (genuinely surprised) 
  Have I said something amiss?

    SIMON 
  Get him out of here. He's knocking the 
  programme's image!!

 The underlings hustle GEORGE to the door.

    GEORGE 
   (smiling) 
  Sorry about the shirts.

 He is ejected through the door.

    SIMON 
  Get him out. 
   (he stops in mid-shout) 
  You don't think he's a new phenomenon, do you?

    SECRETARY 
  You mean an early clue to the new direction?

    SIMON 
   (rummaging in his desk) 
  Where's the calendar? 
   (he finds it) 
  No, he's just a trouble maker. The change isn't 
  due for three weeks. All the same, make a note 
  not to extend Susan's contract. Let's not take 
  any unnecessary chances! 

Freda Kelly recovering from heart surgery

Freda Kelly and Kathy McCabe, one of the producers
of "Good Ol' Freda" at a screening of the film
in San Francisco. (Photo by Steve Marinucci.)

Freda Kelly, who the world now knows from the superb documentary "Good Ol' Freda," is on the mend at home after undergoing heart surgery. This note was posted on her "Good Ol' Freda" Facebook page today.

A Message From Freda Kelly

Many thanks to all of you who sent get well wishes after my recent heart surgery. I am recovering well and your love and support meant so much to me. 

I want to tell all my good friends in Mexico City how sorry I am about the horrible earthquake that happened. I am thinking of you constantly and hope life returns to normal for you soon.

Lastly, it is with great sadness I tell you of the sudden passing of my dear friend Billy Hatton of the great Liverpool band The Fourmost. We were friends for 55 years and his sense of humor was impeccable! Billy came to see me several times while I was in hospital. I'll always be honoured that he appeared in 'Good Ol' Freda.'

Godspeed, Billy.

We send our love and wish Freda, one of our favorite people ever, a speedy recovery. You can also leave your best wishes, as we did, on her "Good Ol' Freda" Facebook page.

U.S. early risers, take note: Two Beatles, Ron Howard to do live Facebook chat Wednesday a.m.

Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr along with Ron Howard, the director of "The Beatles: Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years" that opens this week, will answer fan questions live on the band's Facebook page Wednesday. The chat will take place at 12:40 p.m. GMT, which translates to 8:40 a.m. ET and 5:40 a.m. PT.

The film, which opens in the UK and U.S. theaters later this week, will be available to U.S. subscribers of the Hulu streaming service starting Sept. 17. “Live at theHollywood Bowl,” a CD with recordings from the group's concerts there in 1964 and 1965, was released by Universal Music Group on Sept. 9. An SHM-CD version is available only in Japan.

Movie news: 'Eight Days'/'Shea' report, new trailer and S.F. Bay Area screening news

Richard Porter, who leads the London Beatles Walks (more info at the Beatles in London website) was among the first to see "The Beatles at Shea Stadium" special footage that will air with "Eight Days A Week: The Beatles Touring Years" in theaters at a screening in London. He posted a lengthy description of what he saw on his Facebook page and he has graciously allowed us to print it here. (Thanks, Richard.)

Just back from the screening of The Beatles Live at Shea Stadium. It was held at a private cinema in the basement of the Soho Hotel, literally around the corner from Trident Studios, where the Beatles recorded Hey Jude, and 2 minutes from MPL in Soho Square.

The film was introduced by Jonathan Clyde of Apple, who told us that when 'Eight Day's a Week' was being planned, that it was decided to add something extra to the cinema released, and Shea seemed to perfectly fit the bill. It was shot in 35mm and therefore ideal to be shown in cinemas. The original showing in the UK was on TV, in black and white, which didn't really show it at it's best advantage.

Giles Martin produced the audio, and reduced the screams using the same software as he used for the Hollywood Bowl CD.

The film itself was just of the Beatles 30 minute performance, so didn't include the support acts. The picture and sound quality was amazing and brilliant to see on a big screen, as the shear immensity of Shea Stadium, and the occasion, really come across.

The highlight is certainly I'm Down, with John going totally mad at the keyboards. It's also great seeing John and Paul singing eyeball to eyeball on Ticket to Ride.

John is his usual rebel self, being the only one to have his jacket unbuttoned. I also love the scene with Brian Epstein watching 'his boys'

I'm really glad Shea is being shown at the cinema - go see it!

To answer the question you are asking, there's been no word that the footage will definitely end up on the "Eight Days" DVD that's coming in November, but that's certainly on everyone's wish list.

But here's some news for those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area. We'll be hosting the "Eight Days"/"Shea" screening at 7 p.m. Sept. 16 at Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley. We'll watch the movie with you and talk about the Beatles. Look forward to meeting you all.  

And here's a new trailer for the movie posted by the UK Guardian:

Beatles' 'Eight Days a Week' film -- U.S. theaters, Hollywood Bowl CD thoughts, more

Courtesy Apple Corps. Ltd.

As the Beatles "Eight Days a Week" film gets closer, there's some news to be had. A long list of U.S. theaters to show the film has been posted online. The theaters for other countries are on the site, too, but the U.S. list has finally been more available. (We kept getting the European lists.)

We've been listening to the new "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" CD for about a week. We'll talk about it in a little more detail (no audio, sorry) on the next "Things We Said Today" show, but suffice to say that despite our misgivings that there isn't more on the disc, what's there sounds wonderful. For those used to the bootlegs (and who isn't?), the audio has been cleaned up and, as Allan Kozinn notes in our discussion on the show, the voices seemed to have had some reverb added. The new show should be up as early as Wednesday and possibly by Thursday on our Podbean site,  on the show's YouTube channel, my personal YouTube channel and on iTunes. We're also on WCRP1. Subscribe to us on iTunes and you can have the show downloaded automatically when it's available. 

And finally, look for the video for "Boys" to be used to promote the film, sources tell us. You won't find it on the BeatlesVEVO YouTube channel at the moment, though it was there recently, which is a good hint that something might be in the works.

And thanks to a certain C.F. for the picture of the ad in the September Record Collector, shown below.

And here's a review from the Hollywood Reporter..

  

TV alert: 'The U.S. vs. John Lennon' Tuesday and all this month on HDNET

TV alert: "The U.S. vs John Lennon" airs Tuesday (8/2) on HDNET. It's on at 1:05 p.m. EDT/10:05 a.m. PDT.  It will also air this month on the channel on Aug 3rd at 9:25 a.m. EDT, Aug. 11 at 6 and 11:40 a.m. EDT, Aug. 24 at 4:25 p.m. EDT, Aug. 30 at 3:30 p.m. EDT and Aug. 31 at 10:40 a.m. EDT. Check your local listings for the correct time.

Kickstarter Beatles film facing deadline

With 48 hours to go, Shannon Joy Rodgers' proposed film that has a Beatles theme to it  and is being crowd funded on Kickstarter needs some help. She has a total of $4,280 so far, well short of her goal of $18,000.

Maybe things can turn around in the next two days. Spread the word.

"A Hard Day's Night" on the big screen in an art deco theater

"A Hard Day's Night" will be playing one day only on Feb. 17 at the luxurious Castro Theatre in downtown San Francisco. There will be two showings at 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. The Criterion Collection has released the film on DVD and Blu-ray. The double bill that night will also feature a rare big-screen showing of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy For the Devil" at 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. 

The theater is located at 429 Castro Street (at Market Street). It is accessible by the MUNI bus line from the K, L or M lines. Muni bus lines that stop nearby are the 33, 35, 37 and 24. The F streetcar runs down Market Street. We saw "Yellow Submarine" there several years ago. The place is gorgeous and has a wonderful sound system. 

   

(For the most current and best source of Beatles news, please subscribe to our Beatles Examiner, Paul McCartney Examiner, George Harrison Examiner and Ringo Starr Examiner columns. And don't miss the weekly Beatles radio show "Things We Said Today" that we co-host with Allan Kozinn, Al Sussman and Ken Michaels.) We would very much appreciate you. And check out our That's What I Want Beatles store for everything Fab.) 

"A Hard Day's Night" not a classic?

So the other day, we picked up this book because we love old movies. More than 5,000 entries, the cover says. So we're looking through the book and all the ones you'd expect are there. "Casablanca." "Gone With the Wind." "Ben-Hur." "King Kong." "The Godfather." Not everything in the book is on the list of best movies, but many are, as they should be. But some of the worst were there, too, like "Plan 9 From Outer Space." 

So, as we often do with books, we go looking for Beatle mentions. Like "A Hard Day's Night." Turn the pages to the H's. Not there.  Huh? And no "Help!," "Magical Mystery Tour," "Yellow Submarine" or "Let It Be." Hmm... Curiously, though, the Monkees' "Head" is listed. As is the Dave Clark Five's "Having a Wild Weekend." So is "Jimi Hendrix." "Jailhouse Rock." "Rock, Rock, Rock." "Go, Johnny, Go!" "Beach Blanket Bingo." "Beach Party." 

Tucked in the back are checklists of directors' films. It is there (and only there) we found AHDN, plus "How I Won the War" and the McCartney tour film "Get Back" listed. In tiny print.

The key seems to be the mention in the Editor's Note that the book excludes ("painfully," it says) British films, except for early Hitchcock films and also James Bond movies, but makes an exception for films that "feature predominately Hollywood-associated casts or directors." So presumably, then, John Boorman, who is British, incidentally, and his direction of "Having a Wild Weekend" makes it, but the films of Richard Lester, an American, do not?

By the way, this is not a recent book, but came out in 1999. I have to admit I like the book otherwise because I love reading about classic movies. But this was a huge error and there's no excuse for it. 

(For all the best Beatles news, please subscribe to our Beatles Examiner, Paul McCartney Examiner, George Harrison Examiner and Ringo Starr Examiner columns. And don't miss the weekly Beatles radio show "Things We Said Today" we co-host with Allan Kozinn, Al Sussman and Ken Michaels.) We would very much appreciate you.)