The day thousands descended on the city ‘will never happen again’

Tomorrow marks 60 years since thousands descended on London Road to catch a glimpse of The Beatles ahead of the Northern premiere of their film ‘A Hard Day’s Night’.

Formed from a chance meeting between John and Paul at Woolton Village Fete decades ago – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr changed music and changed the world when they started their band in Liverpool. Catapulted to fame, by 1964 the band had a string of hits, as well as their own film.

Before coming to town, A Hard Day’s Night premiered at London’s Pavillion Theater on July 6, 1964. It cast the Fab Four as exaggerated versions of themselves and followed the band over several days as they traveled from Liverpool to London.

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By 10 July of that year, The Beatles had made a triumphant return back to Liverpool for the Northern premiere at the Odeon cinema on London Road. Mike Taylor, from Allerton, worked as a projectionist at the Odeon, formerly the Paramount, from 1964 to 1968.

Mike, 80, went for an interview in the Odeon as staff were rehearsing A Hard Day’s Night. After showing himself around and looking at the more modern equipment, he was invited to stay for the premiere by the head projectionist.

Mike told the ECHO: “It was a blast on the night with all the fans. There were thousands and thousands of people on London Road.

“The Beatles flew in for it, they were on the Ed Sullivan Show in America and it’s already had a premiere reception in London.

Do you remember the Nordic premiere of A hard day’s night in Liverpool? Let us know in the comments section below.

“From the Town Hall to London Road was nine and 10 deep. They were still trying to get traffic through downtown as well.

“The Beatles arrived and were ushered through the side entrance because there were so many fans. They came to the Odeon and premiered at 9pm that night.

“You saw them come in and we were up in the projection room and we saw them through the port holes on the back wall sitting down. The movie didn’t start until everyone was seated.

“The film was in black and white, not colour. Some of the heads of the Rank Association were there, the heads who promoted the film were all there, the director. It was quite an experience.”

Earlier in the day, The Beatles flew into Speke Airport and were greeted by 3,000 fans, before being led to Liverpool City Hall in a police motorcade, with an estimated 200,000 people en route. Inside the town hall, Lord Mayor Councilor Louis Caplan gave a speech from the Minstrel Gallery to the 714 guests in the ballroom, and the Beatles were each presented with a key to the city.

As for A Hard Day’s Night, the film received two Academy Awards, and the soundtrack was later ranked fourth on the Rolling Stones 25 Greatest Soundtracks of All Time. On its initial release, the film grossed $12 million on a budget of £189,000, or $500,000 during the height of Beatlemania, the ECHO previously reported.

Mike said: “When it was shown in Liverpool, everyone came to see it and it is still a popular film. It was on TV on Saturday on the BBC.

“It was really exciting because I’d never been to a premiere before, they were always in London, so when the boys came to Liverpool it made it extra special. All their friends were there, a lot of them knew them from when they came they were at school

“Of the staff, the projectionists at the Odeon, there are only two of us left who remember being there, me and my colleague Phil Green, who I still talk to. I look back on it now and still think it won’t happen again never.”

Mike said another of his favorite memories from the Odeon was the two-year run of the sound of music. Mike said it was “unheard of” for any film to run that long.

Wednesday marks 60 years since The Beatles returned for the Nordic premiere of A Hard Day’s Night. To celebrate the anniversary, the ECHO recently scoured our archives to find some of the most iconic images of that historic day.

Courtesy of our Mirrorpix archives, they show everything from The Beatles landing in Liverpool to the crowds that tried to catch a glimpse of the Liverpool legends that day. For those who were there, they are bound to bring back some memories.

The Odeon, which opened on 15 October 1934, began life as one of seven Paramount theaters in the UK. It cost £240,000 to build and was once the largest cinema in Merseyside.

By the 1970s the venue had five screens and in 1999 a massive refurbishment saw the building further subdivided and the number of screens doubled. At one point, it also had a restaurant and an aquarium inside.

The London Road Odeon closed on 30 September 2008 and was replaced the next day by the purpose-built Odeon multiplex in Liverpool ONE. But it is still fondly remembered by residents and staff who worked there.

Mike said: “It had 2,700 seats and we’ve never had a cinema like it in Liverpool. It was a unique one, I haven’t had anything like it since.

“A lot of people remember the Odeon on London Road. It was a very sad day when it closed.

“It was one of the top cinemas in Liverpool, it was a class act. andIt’s part of the memories – I look back on those days and think “I was there”.

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