10th July 1964
Northern Premiere of 'A Hard Day's Night'

The Beatles travelled to Liverpool, from London by plane, during the afternoon, to attend the Northern Premiere of their film 'A Hard Day's Night', arriving in time to give a 5.15pm press conference at the airport in Speke.They were then whisked through the bussling airport, where as many as 30,000 fans had turned up to wish their boys well, and driven to the Town Hall where the Beatles were guests of honour at a Civic Reception where 714 people were invited. The Beatles travelled in a police cavalcade and on there short journey passed as many as 200,000 people (a quarter of the population of Liverpool at that time), who had lined their route to the centre of town. On numerous occasions the screaming fans managed to break the Police cordons, bringing the cavalcade to a stop.   The Beatles were met at the town hall by Elizabeth Braddock, MP for the Liverpool Exchange Division in front of 20,000 fans who had turned up at the Town Hall to get a glimpse of their idols. After the meal, all the dignitaries went onto the balcony of the Town Hall facing Castle Street, to be met by the fans and the Liverpool City Police Band, who were playing 'Can't Buy Me Love'.   Just before 9pm, and after the Lord Mayor had presented the Beatles with the 'Keys to the City', the Beatles left the Town Hall and made their way to the Odeon Cinema, to watch the premiere of A Hard Day's Night. Once the film and all the pleasantaries had finished, the Beatles were driven back to Speke Airport and then on to London.

An invitation to attend the Press Conference at Speke Airport, Liverpool Freda Kelly's Invitation to the Civic Reception at the Town Hall, Liverpool

Unused ticket to the Northern Premiere of A Hard Day's Night

Scriptwriter Alun Owen's Invitation to the Supper Party at the Adelphi Hotel

Programme for the Northern Premiere of 'A Hard Day's Night'  


A recollection from Compare David Jacobs

“We travelled from London Airport in a Britannia - one of the smaller airline companies, and sat at the back and it was extraordinary to see how very nervous The Beatles were. They were absolutely terrified. They had practically been around the world feted everywhere, but they were petrified that they wouldn't be bothered with in Liverpool. Liverpool, after all, was their home, and Liverpool has got a lot of stars, but they really thought that no one would bother to turn out to meet them. When we got near the airport (at 5pm), they were eagerly looking out of the windows, and the airport buildings looked like it had a black mass of hands crawling around it. The place was covered, absolutely covered from side-to-side, with thousands and thousands of people everywhere, except the runway, which was kept clear. When we eventually left the plane, the boys were absolutely surrounded by a thong of people and it was a very sweet thing that George Harrison did, when he suddenly stopped and ran back to collect me, so that I could go through with the boys.”

They were eventually met by over 200,000 people (which was one quarter the size of Liverpool!), and were presented with the keys to the city. Jacobs said: “We went on this long nine-mile drive into the centre of town, where they were due to come out on the balcony with the Lord Mayor, where the boys would get the Freedom of the City. I was in the car behind them and the nine-mile drive took a very long time. We drove quite slowly, as every inch of the way, on both sides of the street, the road was crowded with people. The strange thing about sitting in the car behind was that I saw the faces of the people after they had seen The Beatles, and the look on their faces was almost like Jesus Christ had just come past.”

A famous incident took place earlier in the morning, when the city woke to find 30,000 leaflets plastered all over the street, accounting Paul's alleged 'affair' with a waitress. They claimed that the then 18-year-old Anita Cochrane had fathered Paul's love-child whilst staying at Stuart Sutcliffe's flat. The whole story was a complete an utter lie, of course, but NEMS offered her five quid a week to keep her mouth shut. Brian then stepped in to smooth it over, and offered her five grand to drop all claims.