Previously unseen footage of The Beatles: now, that’s a phrase that’ll speed the pulses of people of all sorts, and ages, who fell in love with rock ’n’ roll music, any old way you choose it. I’ve just spent an hour watching three and a bit minutes of 8mm film, never released and indeed never known of until now, and I am both dazzled and grateful.
Thomas Emmet Mullins is a Dublin-based illustrator, designer and advertising specialist, who has recently brought you the new Irish 2 euro coin. He also created a charity auction vinyl 7-inch single of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Dead Flowers’ that is one of the rarest records in the world.
For the past twenty years, Mullins has had an eBay alert set for “Beatles 8mm.”
“Years ago,” he explains, “when I was shooting 8mm of my own, I thought it would be interesting to see if there was any fan footage or the likes for sale on eBay. There was nothing, and so I set an alert on the site to remind me if some ever came up. Then I completely forgot about it.”
When that alert went off for the first time, Mullins clicked over to see what was there.
“There were some stills of the footage on the listing,” Thomas adds, “and it was clear it was unseen footage of what is arguably the most documented band in modern history. I could tell by the slight difference in exposure rates from scene to scene that this wasn’t a graded, commercially produced reel and that it was taken by a crew member or friend with access to the set of their movie Help!”
Help! is The Beatles’ 1965 follow-up to the tremendously popular A Hard Day’s Night (1964). Both movies were directed by Richard Lester, but Help! is less The Beatles being The Beatles and attempts to follow a wacky script about Ringo being the target of James Bond-level villains because of a gift from a fan. It reels around the world from the Alps to the Bahamas to Salisbury Plain, and it remains beloved by fans because its silliness captures the good-heartedness of all the band members.
The silent footage Mullins now owns was shot on Salisbury Plain, by someone unknown, in early May 1965. While staying at the Antrobus Arms in Amesbury for a few days, The Beatles were ferried daily to Knighton Down, near the Larkhill army base. This five-minute reel captures not only some performance takes, but — most interestingly and importantly — their easy interpersonal relationships, their irreverent humour. You’re looking at the world’s most famous band goofing about amidst the production of a huge hit film.
As they begin a scene dressed in uniforms and hats, their instruments ready, they mug for the cameraman. Ringo points at the sky, and John playfully holds him off at arm’s length, laughing. Then John conducts behind Ringo’s drums, while Paul is seriously asking someone off-camera questions, and George strums his guitar.
Other cast members mill about with rifles, while the Beatles hold their guitars like guns. John fusses with his hair under the hat, laughing. He seems to be having the most fun. All the men wait so patiently under anglepoise boom mics, while the official filming is clearly between takes. Finally, you can see George takes the lead on ‘I Need You’.
Mal Evans roams about. George Martin, lean and elegant, appears in the background. It was cold weather while the filming occurred; contemporary fan reports, from those who gathered to watch their heroes from a distance, complain about the chill winds.
Paul, frowning, sits in a wooden frame and rubs his hands together, then blows on his fingers. Lester, behind a camera, is windblown. Fans crowd around. Paul chews gum. John, cigarette in hand, whistles. What a joy to be a fly on the wall, almost sixty years later, watching the lads at play.
The Beatles Help! film can be yours, via RR Auction. It is currently in their Remarkable Rarities sale, which ends on 22 February.
