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CAST & CREW: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Leo McKern, Victor Spinetti... 

Directed by Richard Lester 

RUNTIME: 150 minutes 

RELEASE DATE: July 29, 1965

SYNOPSIS:  After the world-wide success of A Hard Day's Night, the Beatles and director Richard Lester reunited for a follow-up film, Eight Arms to Hold You. Well, that wasn't the final title; a pleading Lennon-McCartney tune provided the catchier handle: Help! A loose semi-spoof of the globe-trotting James Bond pictures, Help! has always been considered a somewhat disorganised comedown from its predecessor; but it presents "the famous Beatles" even more clearly as the English cousins of the Marx Brothers. The plot has an Eastern religious cult declaring that the new ring on Ringo's finger is the key element in a human sacrifice; they will stop at nothing to obtain it. Meanwhile, a mad scientist (crazed Victor Spinetti, who also appeared in A Hard Day's Night and Magical Mystery Tour) believes that if he has the ring, he could--dare we say it?--rule the world. 

Official Beatles Help! site