A digitally-enhanced version of Richard Lester‘s Help! is now buyable on iTunes. Help! is a 6 or 6.5 compared to the 8.5 or 9 of A Hard Day’s Night. But I love Lester’s decision to have that middle-aged gnome play the flute at the end of “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”…Chico Marx sitting on the green shag carpet. (And I love that the flute riff complements but doesn’t echo the main melody — it has its own purpose and flavor.) And Lennon’s face is so impassive and non-expressive. His eyes are alive but his mouth barely moves as he sings — his mouth could almost be something out of Clutch Cargo. And I love how Eleanor Bron (27 at the time) just kind of chills on the couch — no smiling or grinning.
