A Hard Day's Knight - A Q&A With Producer Walter Shenson (by Jim George)
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Preview
When A Hard Day’s Night was re-released in theaters in 1982, I was a freelancer for my hometown paper and was fortunate to interview producer Walter Shenson, the person most responsible for the film’s creation. As is usually the case, I ended up with more material than could be used in the confines of a newspaper article. In fact, some of the best stuff remained on my own version of the cutting room floor: a legal pad with the full transcription. All of that never-seen conversation is now included in my Payhip store in this lively and frank Q&A with Shenson.
A few years earlier, in an excellent book entitled The Beatles in Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night, the author, J. Philip Di Franco, did an extensive interview with the director. In it, Lester made a few points/comments regarding Shenson that I felt deserved a response from the man, so I gave him the opportunity, and to my delight he was forthcoming in offering me his slant. Specifically, I questioned him about a disagreement he had with Lester over a particular scene, as well as Lester’s remarks about his meager pay for directing A Hard Day's Night. Other topics covered were John Lennon's subsequent put-down of the "character myths" created by the film, which movie Shenson preferred, and the reason(s) why a third Beatles studio film was never made. But perhaps the most interesting revelation was Shenson’s admission that when they were searching for a new script for the follow-up to Help!, he asked John Lennon to write one.
You can read my introduction to the interview by clicking on the “Preview” link on my Payhip page.
A few years earlier, in an excellent book entitled The Beatles in Richard Lester's A Hard Day's Night, the author, J. Philip Di Franco, did an extensive interview with the director. In it, Lester made a few points/comments regarding Shenson that I felt deserved a response from the man, so I gave him the opportunity, and to my delight he was forthcoming in offering me his slant. Specifically, I questioned him about a disagreement he had with Lester over a particular scene, as well as Lester’s remarks about his meager pay for directing A Hard Day's Night. Other topics covered were John Lennon's subsequent put-down of the "character myths" created by the film, which movie Shenson preferred, and the reason(s) why a third Beatles studio film was never made. But perhaps the most interesting revelation was Shenson’s admission that when they were searching for a new script for the follow-up to Help!, he asked John Lennon to write one.
You can read my introduction to the interview by clicking on the “Preview” link on my Payhip page.