“A Hard Day’s Night” opened in the U.S. on Aug. 11. Most films starring a group or singer du jour were bad. So much so, the New York Times’ Bosley Crowther was in shock when he saw the movie which he described as “a whale of a comedy” adding that it had “so much good humor going for it that it’s awfully hard to resist. It’s a fine conglomeration of madcap clowning in the old Marx Bros style, and it’s done with such a dazzling use of camera that tickles the intellect and electrifies the nerves. “ Crowther singled out Richard Lester who, he said, “directed at such a brisk clip that it seems to come spontaneously.”

The black-and-white movie was made in just six weeks for $500,000. And it premiered in English theaters three month after it was completed. Lester shot the movie on the run with a quirky visual style that draws on his experience as a director of television commercials and utilizes some of the techniques of the French New Wave filmmakers. The London street scenes had to be filmed furtively with only a shot or two possible before interruptions by screaming fans and the police trying to control them.

Alun Owen, who earned an Oscar nomination for his story and screenplay, came up with a simple but effective plot-chronicling 36 hours in the lives of the boys as they to get to the theater for a TV appearance while Paul tries to keep his troublemaking “clean old man” grandfather (Wilfred Brambell) out of mischief. Paul McCartney would later note: “Alun hung around us and was careful to try and put words in our mouths that he might have heard us speak, so I thought he did a very good script.”

The film’s credits incorrectly state that all songs are composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney – a portion of “Don’t Bother Me”, written by George Harrison, is heard during one scene. The instrumental versions were recorded by the George Martin Orchestra. And the music video was born with Lester’s innovative staging of “Can’t Buy Me Love” as the boys romp in a large field. Ironically, John wasn’t there they day it was filmed. A double was used; close-ups of John were shot later.

“A Hard Day’s Night” (opening credits)   
“I Should Have Known Better”
“I Wanna Be Your Man”
“Don’t Bother Me” (Harrison)
“All My Loving”
“If I Fell”
“Can’t Buy Me Love”
“And I Love Her”
“I’m Happy Just to Dance with You”
“Ringo’s Theme (This Boy)” (instrumental)
“A Hard Day’s Night” (instrumental)
“Can’t Buy Me Love” (reprise)
“Tell Me Why”
“If I Fell” (reprise)
“I Should Have Known Better” (reprise)
“She Loves You”
“A Hard Day’s Night” (reprise; closing credits)

In addition to the soundtrack album, an EP (in mono) of songs from the film titled Extracts From The Film A Hard Day’s Night was released by Parlophone on 6 November 1964, having the following tracks:[7]

Side A

“I Should Have Known Better”
“If I Fell”

Side B

“Tell Me Why”
“And I Love Her”

Song notes

“I’ll Cry Instead” was among several songs considered for the film but ultimately not included either as an on-camera performance or for usage as an audio-only track. It was to be used during the police chase sequence, but ultimately director Richard Lester vetoed it in favor of the more lyrically upbeat “Can’t Buy Me Love”. Its status as an early contender for inclusion led to the song being included on the US soundtrack album plus the mono “Something New” LP and Capitol 45.

The song was recorded in two sections and was going to be featured in two parts with the break being when the Beatles return to the police station to catch their breath. The unique full-length version, which has a repeat of the first verse, was mixed as a rough mono mix and sent to United Artists and Capitol Records in North America. This “lost” section wasn’t just an edit of the beginning of the song but a separate take (second “section” of the two part recording). Eventually, the final mono and stereo mixes edit out this repeat of the first verse.
In the 1982 US theatrical reissue of the film by Universal Pictures, under licence from Walter Shenson, the song “I’ll Cry Instead” was used as the audio track for a prologue sequence to the film which consisted of stills from the film and publicity photographs as a tribute to Lennon consisting of a Swinging Sixties-style collage of photos of the Beatles in 1964 around the time they were shooting the film. The prologue was assembled without the involvement or knowledge of the film’s director Richard Lester, who subsequently expressed his disapproval of the addition. The prologue was not included on the 2000 restoration of the film.

The song “You Can’t Do That” was filmed as part of the film’s TV concert sequence but was not included in the final cut of the film. At a point before a decision had been made to excise the song from the film, footage of that performance had been sent by the filmmakers and Brian Epstein to be aired on The Ed Sullivan Show as a tease to promote the forthcoming release of the film. The clip aired on the Sullivan show on Sunday, 24 May 1964 in conjunction with an interview with The Beatles specially filmed by Sullivan in London.

An extract of the footage of the song performance was included in the 1994 documentary The Making of “A Hard Day’s Night”.
The song “I Call Your Name” was cut from the film for unknown reasons.

The film premiered at the Pavilion Theatre in London on 6 July 1964. The film and its soundtrack were widely released on 10 July. A Hard Day’s Night set records at the London Pavilion by grossing over $20,000 in the first week, ultimately becoming so popular that more than 1,600 prints were in circulation simultaneously. The film opened in 500 theatres in the United States on 12 August.

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