Are there existing home video releases of A Hard Day's Night and Help! in Mono?

Title says it all. I'm looking for the two, because both contain alternate mixes of tracks (especially Help!), and a few more reasons.

 

The first VHS clamshell box version of AHDN has the original mono mix for the songs and film.

 

Where can it be purchased? Is eBay a good place? Or is Discogs better?

 

Ebay I guess.
Also both films were broadcast on I think AMC in the 90s with the original mono soundtracks.

 

When A Hard Day's Night was remastered about 15 years ago, I asked the studio execs, "hey, are you going to include the original mono track?" They were taken aback and said, "we've spent a FORTUNE on remixing this in Dolby 5.1 surround! Who would want that?" And I said (without trying to argue), "the hardcore fans who are buying this movie yet again would probably appreciate having the original as a choice instead of the surround -- and it won't take up much space on the disc." They kind of smiled and nodded, but ultimately did what they wanted. So... I made the suggestion.

I didn't do the remastering -- it was done by Charlotte Grau at Post Group. And it was subsequently redone again by Criterion (who spent a lot of time dust-busting the negatives). I think the scene-to-scene matching on the latter version is kind of bumpy, but it looks OK to me.

 

The Critierion bluray of AHDN has a mono track. I would assume being Criterion that it's the original mono mix.

 

Does the Criterion laserdisc have the original mono mix?

 

My Criterion Blu Ray of AHDN has a mono option, stereo, and 5.1.

 

I'm not sure that the Criterion Blu mono audio is the original mono.
Not really qualified to say for sure.

 

As for HELP!, no....the mono mix has never been released aside from the AMC airing.

 

I thought Paul Rutan did the remastering.

 

On the Criterion Blu-Ray, I noticed If I Fell was missing the Foley effect for when Ringo sets his high hat. That Foley effect was heard on Vol. 3 of the Anthology VHS set.

 

Another way to tell is also during If I Fell, when George leans on an amp ( or something) while playing, and it moves a bit, and noise is made. That noise is gone from every version I've heard that is not the original mono. I have the entire audio portion of the film recorded on cassette tape when it aired on TV before the 1982 -rerelease was ever done. It's not great, but its the closest to the original mono.

I've also recorded Help! audio portion on cassette before the VHS release as well, but could not really tell you how to spot it other than the mix of the title track.

 

And not to mention the way the If I Fell scene was shown on Vol. 3 of the Anthology VHS series was also in its correct speed and pitch.

 

Regarding A Hard Day's Night, as far as I know (please correct if necessary)...

The early VHS and Laserdisc versions, as well as the 1997 MPI DVD use standard stereo mixes, with no effects.

Ron Furmanek restored the original mono soundtrack, but it was released as fake surround for the 2002 Miramax DVD and 2009 Blu-ray. But this should be able to be collapsed correctly to mono.

The 2014 Criterion DVD/Blu-ray has three audio selections: Furmanek's mono restoration, and new 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround by Giles Martin, all with sound effects.

Supposedly "Tell Me Why" is a mix unique to the original film. Does anyone know how it differs from the standard mono mix?

 

I did notice it quite well. John's "If you don't, I really can't go on" sounds different from the commercially-released version, as if some of the words were overlapped or something.

 

Thanks. There is this comment about "Tell Me Why" at The Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations :

"Steve Shorten reports the original filmprint of A Hard Day's Night has a different mono mix undocumented by Lewisohn, probably March 3, with the doubletrack vocal mixed differently, noticeably on "well I'm beggin' on my bended knees, if you'll only listen to my pleas". See the American Film Institute restored version of 1996."

 

I'm gonna be blunt: Some of the mono mixes from AHDN are better than the ones on the UK album such as the louder strumming in Can't Buy Me Love and the single-track vocals on And I Love Her. At least the latter was given a release on Something New and United Artists' AHDN soundtrack album.

 

I thought that this sound (was it the original sound or not? who knows?) was restored on the Criterion stereo version that is the current AHDN release. Am I wrong?

 

I'll have to pull it out and watch it again, the mixes for some the songs are different, especially on If I Fell and And I Love Her, where there is an absence of some double tracked vocals.

 

Yes, Giles Martin remixed both the stereo and th 5.1 from the Abbey Road studio tapes, so the mixes will be different.
However, I believe he did insert the noise George's amp makes when it slides off its mount. I don't know if he used the original noise or just had one re-made. He did admit to actually adding in the sounds of girls shouting the Beatles names during the "performance" that ends the movie. The original film version showed the girls shouting George or Paul or whomever, but there were no voices heard other than the Beatles songs. Martin now has faked in some girls voices.

 

I think Paul Rutan hunted down the film elements and got them cleaned up. Paul is not a video technician and does not do digital color correction, as far as I know. Cleaning up the film, fixing the splices, fixing torn sprocket holes, checking around four or five different negatives or interpositives or finegrains... that's a really tough job, so I don't slight the work that film preservation people do at all.

 

I did make it a point to hear the sound of the amp sliding on the Criterion blu-ray, and I could have sworn it was in the right place, but not the same exact sound. Maybe Giles had inserted a sound that was similar. I had played that old audio cassette recorded in the mid-70s so many times, I must have played that tape more times than I ever saw the movie and I have many incarnations of the film, too: MPI VHS tape, Criterion LD, Janus CD-ROM, MPI DVD, Miramax DVD, Criterion Blu-Ray.

 

I don't believe I've ever seen anyone else suggest this, but I have a strong suspicion the "restored" audio from the 90s was enhanced with mono mixes of the songs from other sources. I was recording the songs out of the AMC airing of the film at some point and noticed a change in audio quality during "Tell Me Why." The part of the song that is claimed to be unique to the original mono soundtrack had lower fidelity (diminished frequency response) compared to the rest of the song surrounding it. Similar differences can be noted if you compare the two uses of "Can't Buy Me Love," the second appearance having sound effects throughout, making a full song replacement nearly impossible. Considering the care taken overall on that restoration, I'm not too worried the soundtrack varies too much (if at all) from the original mono prints, however the act of replacing any audio from the original elements with a different source does prevent that version from being 100% authentic.

I recall reading that the 90s restoration was hampered by having no magnetic soundtrack elements and the optical tracks were distorted from overmodulation, so I can see why the songs would need some "goosing." I have not checked the Criterion release to see if the mono track exhibits the traits I noted above in the AMC airing. I thought they had discovered some magnetic sources in the intervening years which I assume would have been used for the mono track.

 

Calling Doug Sulpy ...