The Pickwick Theatre Classic Film Series has presented vintage gangster movies, horror movies, war movies and even Westerns, but rock ‘n’ roll has never been on its radar.
That will change, however, when “A Hard Day’s Night” hits the Pickwick March 19, complete with a live performance by the Time Bandits, a Beatles tribute band, before the show. Time Bandits drummer Robert Rodriguez, an author with five books on the Beatles to his credit, will also speak about the film before the screening. The 1964 Richard Lester-directed movie is a comedic and heightened look at a day in the life of the Fab Four at the height of their popularity.
“Its really going to be a fun show,” said programmer/host Matthew Hoffman. “You really can’t go far wrong with the Beatles. We’re expecting a large audience because of their cross-generational appeal.”
Now winding up its second season (with one more show,1959’s “Ben Hur” on the schedule April 1), the Classic Film Series has been growing steadily since its debut in September of 2013 with “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.” Its last three films, “Casablanca,” “Gone With The Wind” and “Son of Frankenstein” have attracted a combined audience of more than 2,000 and advance ticket sales suggest similar success for “A Hard Day’s Night.”
“Anytime you get six or seven hundred people at this sort of thing you’re doing extremely well,” said Hoffman who attributes the success of the series to his determination to make each show an event — with a Beatles cover band in this case or a personal appearance by actor Paul Henreid’s daughter Monica at last month’s screening of “Casablanca.” “We’re very happy with the way things are going.”
Given that a digitally restored and remastered version of “A Hard Day’s Night” already ran in theaters last year for the film’s 50th anniversary, Hoffman had planned to book the Beatles’ 1965 follow-up film “Help” for the Pickwick screening. Legal complications made that plan impossible, however, a development that didn’t particularly trouble the “Hard Day’s Night” fan.
“‘A Hard Day’s Night'” has always been considered a classic in its genre and I’ve always thought it was a very inventive film,” he said. “It also has that wonderful, offbeat sense of humor. The director, Richard Lester, really understood and appreciated film history and some of his chase scenes in the film almost seem like a throwback to Buster Keaton.”
If attendance for “A Hard Day’s Night” lives up to expectations, Hoffman is hoping he’ll be able to keep the momentum going with another mid-’60s film for the Classic Film Series’ third-season opener in September. Namely, the a 50th-anniversary booking of the1965 James Bond hit “Thunderball.”
“We had so much success with ‘Goldfinger’ last September,” he said. “And we’re planning a similar event featuring an original prop from the film with help from the Ian Fleming Foundation. Who knows? If we keep doing this well with every screening, maybe we can start doing two a month.”
‘A Hard Day’s Night’ screening
7 p.m. Beatles tribute band Time Bandits perform; 7:30 p.m. movie screening, March 19
Pickwick Theatre, 5 S. Prospect Ave., Park Ridge.
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Tickets are $7; $5 for seniors.
(847) 825-5800; http://www.parkridgeclassicfilm.com