A HARD DAY'S NIGHT

I was nine years old when A Hard Day’s Night hit the movie theaters in August 1964. I’m not sure, but I don't think I knew who the Beatles were. Maybe I’d heard “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,” on the radio, 📻 but that was about it. All I remember is it was a Saturday afternoon, matinee time set aside for us kids to go to movie. Even though the cost was barely a dollar, 💸coming up with the money was sometimes a challenge. But by-golly-gosh my parents needed some alone time, so somehow they scraped up enough loose change and off we’d go to the movie. 

The theater was packed, every seat filled. As soon as the film started, the Beatles appeared on the big screen running up the street as if they were on fire. Then lo and behold if that movie theater didn’t erupt like Mount St. Helens. Right then those teenage screamers jumped out of their seats, as popcorn 🍿 flew around like confetti. 

I could have gathered up all that popcorn and eaten it while watching the movie. But that’s just it—I couldn’t really see it. And I never did hear it. The entire movie I kept thinking—Why would all those girls spend a whole dollar on a movie and then refuse to shut up long enough to listen?  

 

Okay, so maybe I was too young to attend a Beatles movie. Not because of the movie itself, but more about the chaos of that day. Oh my gosh, all the screaming, crying, and fainting those teens did, all of them caught up in Beatlemania, something my hormones had yet to understand. As for me, I just thought we were there to watch a movie.  

 

Years later A Hard Days Night aired on TV, and the nine year old in me sat on the sofa, a bowl of popcorn in hand, as I watched it in silence. Turns out it was a fun movie. But if not for all those young teenagers going bonkers back in 1964, I would never ever have remembered I was at the theater that day. Or that I went with my best friend Jean Marie. So a big shout out to all those screamers—thanks for giving me this fun memory.  

 

 Anna J. Wise

 Mercy Me