In 1964, Fredonia’s Winter Garden Theatre was packed for the Beatles’ film A Hard Day’s Night.  To celebrate the movie’s 60th birthday, that theatre, now the 1891 Fredonia Opera House & Performing Arts Center, presents the film on the big screen again.

In this classic of musical comedy, the baggage car gig on the train to London was still setting the bar for music videos more than 20 years later.

Starring John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, the film was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Original Screenplay by Alun Owen. McCartney later said, “Alun hung around with us and was careful to put words in our mouths that he might’ve heard us speak.”

Originally released by United Artists, the film also featured famous actor Wilfrid Brambell as McCartney’s unruly grandfather. Uncredited cast members included model Pattie Boyd, model/actress Charlotte Rampling, and singer/songwriter Phil Collins, all among the Beatles’ adoring fans.

British critic Leslie Halliwell described the film as a “comic fantasia with music,” and awarded it a full four stars. In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked the movie as the 88th greatest British film of the 20th century. In 2004, Time magazine rated the film as one of the 100 all-time greatest movies.

In 1964, the average price of a movie ticket was 87¢.  Nearly everyone in Dunkirk or Fredonia between ages 11 and 19 found their way to the Winter Garden for this film.  As a throwback to 1964, tickets to this screening are $1 and are available at the door only.