MovieChat Forums > Danger Man (1965) Discussion > Connection with.... the Beatles !

Connection with.... the Beatles !

posted 14 years ago by feodoric
6 replies | jump to latest

By pure chance, I happened to watch again 'A Hard Day's Night' (presentation needed ?) not long after I watched 'The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove' (series 2, episode 18). You know, the one where John Drake has a car crash and has visions/hallucinations in which he is harassed by his 'boss' for an imaginary gambling debt ? When I watched the wonderful Beatles movie again last night, I just KNEW I had seen the croupier's face somewhere. Sure enough, it was in that Secret Agent episode, laying the same exact role as a croupier !!!! Same bad French when he says: 'Fay-tt vow juuuu !'. Unmistakable ! By curiosity I checked the credits. And, lo and behold, he is played by a certain Mr. Terry Hooper in 'A Hard Day's Night', while IMdB mentions that the croupier in 'Mr. Lovegrove' is played by a certain Terrance Hooper !!!

Talk about the Beatles having given some extra work to Mr. Hooper merely for a 20-30 sec moment's appearance in Richard Lester's movie ! He made such a credible croupier, and most of all, 'A Hard Day's Night' was such a huge success back then (and I do fondly remember) that casting people in the Secret Agent's production team just had to have him ....

I'm so glad I followed my idea of getting that 'Secret Agent' boxset. Truly one of the most remarkably entertaining AND well done AND intelligent series I was blessed enough to discover in my life. The 'Seinfeld' of espionage on television !

[–] amyghost 13 years ago

To make it even a little more interesting, supposedly PMG was tapped as a choice to direct a Beatles film. Alas, the project never came to pass.

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

McGoohan did use the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" in the final episode ("Fall Out") of The Prisoner. The context is decidedly ironical.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." -- Hunter S. Thompson

[–] Madeline5 10 years ago

I was wondering, given the year of the last episode's production...how much persuasion or convincing it took for the Beatles and the legal owners of their work...Capital Records? APPLE? (in the days before the rights were sold to Sony or Michael Jackson) to give anyone anywhere, permission to use their material as background music.

I may be wrong about it, but for the most part, I think I'm mostly correct. They (Beatles) must have held a lot of respect for the Prisoner series itself and its creators to give their blessing to use the music.

To play a hit song on a tv show is not very unusual today. It's probably taken for granted, but back then, it was viewed by viewers as something very special.

I know it was a big deal back then. I'm sure the laws and restrictions were a lot different than today. You hardly heard too many A artists music, like the Beatles used by tv shows, unless specifically created for the show. Again, must be the legalities they had.

At that time, I don't think reproduction of, or remake of even playing their music was legally allowed to be used for anything, except The Beatles productions themselves, unless the legalities were sanctioned by the paper pushers who exacted enormous fees from those who used them.

[–] darryl-tahirali 10 years ago

They (Beatles) must have held a lot of respect for the Prisoner series itself and its creators to give their blessing to use the music. - Madeline5

From what I've been reading, it was a mutual admiration society. McGoohan was impressed by the Beatles, and the band loved The Prisoner, which is why it agreed to let McGoohan use "All You Need Is Love" in "Fall Out" for the sum of about $75, which was a pittance even in 1967.

What is even more impressive is that the song survives on current DVDs. The Beatles agreed to let footage of their playing "Ticket to Ride" be used in "The Chase" serial of Doctor Who, and this was omitted on Region 1 DVD releases.

The Beatles even wanted McGoohan to direct a movie for them, but that project never materialized. Links:

http://www.wired.com/2009/11/the-prisoner-an-all-star-appreciation/

http://www.the-prisoner-6.freeserve.co.uk/arch_1.htm

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"This isn't a hospital--it's an insane asylum!" - "Hot Lips" Houlihan

[–] Moor-Larkin 13 years ago

Watching Danger man is like watching a roll-call of actors of those days. The coincidence of roles is curious, but I guess the actor would complain it was type-casting....

http://numbersixwasinnocent.blogspot.com/

[–] terencejohnsmith 8 years ago

The Beatles wanted McGoohan to film their independent feature "Magical Mystery Tour", but Pat was busy with "The Prisoner". Other posts have mentioned their mutual admiration. "The Prisoner" is the only non-Beatle UK DVD that is allowed to keep it's use of The Beatles music, "Billion Dollar Brain" had to cut their short burst of music.