Time to Twist and Shout with The Beatles on Film

Shake away the winter blues with the Montauk Library and its upcoming series “Twist and Shout: The Beatles on Film,” from late December to early February, six innovative and fun movies featuring The Beatles — John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr — will be screened at the library on consecutive Sunday afternoons at 2:30 p.m. The series begins on December 29, with “A Hard’s Day Night!” followed by “Help!” on January 5, “Magical Mystery Tour” on January 12, “Yellow Submarine” on January 19, “Let It Be” on January 26, and “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week,” on Sunday, February 9.

Here’s the full schedule:

Sunday, December 29: “A Hard’s Day Night!” (1964)

Directed by Richard Lester at the height of Beatlemania, the film, which was a financial and critical success, portrays 36 hours in the lives of the Fab Four. Forty years after its release, Time magazine rated it as one of the 100 all-time great films. In 1997, British critic Leslie Halliwell described it as a “comic fantasia with music” and awarded it a full four stars. The film is considered one of the most influential of all musical films. In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked it the 88th greatest British film of the 20th century.

Soundtrack:

A hard day’s night

Tell me why

I cry instead -

I should have known better

I’m happy just to dance with you

And I love her

If I fell

Ringo’s theme (This Boy)

Can’t buy me love

Sunday, January 5: “Help!” (1965)

Directed by Richard Lester, the film was shot in various locations in the style of Marx Brothers zaniness: It was the first Beatles film shot in color. The film depicts the group struggling to record a new album while trying to protect Ringo from a sinister cult and a pair of mad scientists, who are obsessed with obtaining one of his rings. The film had its Royal World Premiere at the London Pavilion Theatre in the West End of London on July 29, 1965, in the presence of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and the Earl of Snowdon. While “Help!” did not receive the same level of critical praise as “A Hard Day’s Night,” a half century later it is regarded as being as influential in the development of music videos.

Soundtrack:

Help!

Night before

You’ve got to hide your love away

I need you

Another girl

You’re going to lose that girl

Ticket to ride

Act naturally

It’s only love

You like me too much

Tell me what you see

I’ve just seen a face

Yesterday

Dizzy Miss Lizzie

Sunday, January 12: “Magical Mystery Tour” (1967)

“Magical Mystery Tour” was McCartney’s idea after a trip to the U.S. in the spring of 1967 when he read about Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters’ LSD-fueled American bus odyssey. McCartney wanted to combine this with the English working-class tradition of charabanc mystery tours in which children took chaperoned bus rides through the English countryside, destination unknown. “Magical Mystery Tour” was dismissed by critics when it aired on BBC-1 on Boxing Day — the day after Christmas — when family entertainment was traditional.

Soundtrack:

Magical mystery tour

Fool on the hill

Flying

Blue jay way

Your mother should know

I am the walrus

Hello goodbye

Strawberry fields forever

Penny lane

Baby you’re a rich man

All you need is love.

Sunday, January 19: “Yellow Submarine” (1968)

Yellow Submarine is a British animated musical fantasy inspired by the music of the Beatles and directed by animation producer George Dunning. “Yellow Submarine” had little input from The Beatles except for a live-action epilogue and four new songs. Acclaimed for its innovative graphic style, the film received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Pixar co-founder John Lasseter credited the film with raising awareness of animation as a serious art form. Half a century after its release, it is regarded as a landmark of animation.

Soundtrack:

Yellow submarine

Only a northern song

All together now

Hey bulldog

It’s all too much

All you need is love

Pepperland

Sea of time

Sea of holes

Sea of monsters

March of the Meanies

Pepperland laid waste

Yellow submarine in Pepperland

Sunday, January 26: “Let It Be” (1969)

“Let It Be” was an ill-fated documentary of the band shot over a four-week period in January 1969. Originally intended to chronicle the evolution of an album and raise the possibility of the band’s return to live performances, the footage captures the tension among the band members, and documents how their eventual break up began. The band initially rejected both film and album, recording and issuing “Abbey Road” instead. But with so much money spent on the project, it was decided to release the film and album in the spring of 1970. When the film appeared, the break-up had already been announced which lent poignancy to the film’s depiction of the band’s inability to recapture their earlier camaraderie.

Soundtrack:

Two of us

Dig a pony

Across the universe

I me mine

Dig it

Let it be

Maggie Mae

I’ve got a feeling

One after 909

Long and winding road

For you blue

Get back

Sunday, February 9: “The Beatles: Eight Days A Week” (2016)

“The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years” is a documentary directed by Ron Howard about The Beatles from their performances in 1962 at the Cavern Club in Liverpool to their final concert in San Francisco in 1966. Released theatrically on September 15, 2016, in the UK and USA, it started streaming on Hulu on September 17, 2016. It received several awards and nominations, including Best Documentary at the 70th British Academy Film Awards and Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special at the 69th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award.

Admission to the screenings is free and open to the public. The Montauk Library is located at 871 Montauk Highway, Montauk. For more information visit montauklibrary.org or call 631-668-3377.