SI44 A Fantastic Signed “HELP!” Movie Call Sheet Autographed By The Beatles On The Movie Set When The Film Was Still Titled “Eight Arms To Hold You”

It is a well known fact that The Beatles second feature film “HELP!” was first titled “Beatles Two”, then  “Eight Arms To Hold You”, which was originally an allusion to the sum total of all four Beatles arms. It is interesting to note that the statue of the Eastern deity that appears in the very first frame the film’s opening scene and also at the very end of the movie – most likely a nod to the Hindu warrior goddess Durga – actually has 10 arms in total.

Here is a call sheet from the making of the “HELP!” movie that reads “WALTER SHENSON FILMS LIMITED” at the top, under which is the soon to be changed working title “EIGHT ARMS TO HOLD YOU”, followed by “CALL SHEET No. 25”. The Call Sheet lists all four Beatles, as well as main film characters Eleanor Bron and Leo McKern, and also Frankie Howard and Wendy Richards, whose scene together was ultimately cut from the film.

The date of filming was Monday, April 26, 1965, with an 8:30 AM start time on Stage 1 at Twickenham Film Studios in Twickenham, London, England. All four have autographed the reverse of this call sheet beautifully in blue felt tip marker, thus creating an exceptional signed piece related to the production of the movie. The sheet, which measures 8″ x 6 1/2″, has been torn in half horizontally at the center and there is a small area of paper loss at the point where the sheet was taken off of a bulletin board by the person who got it signed – an uncredited British actor named named Manny Michael who appeared very briefly in the film (who was also in the “A Hard Day’s Night” movie, released a year before “HELP!”). This Beatles signed Call Sheet was recently acquired from his nephew, for whom Mr. Michael obtained these autographs 61 years ago.

Autograph sets from the year 1965 are now extremely scarce and were never abundant as The Beatles were getting less and less accessible after1963. Quality signed pieces with a nice connection to the work of The Beatles, such as this one, have now become incredibly difficult to obtain. This is an extremely desirable signed piece for any fan of the “HELP!” movie and album, and also for any collector who wants to fill in the difficult 1965 slot in their collection.

The excellent color picture book about the making of the “HELP!” movie entitled “The Beatles: Eight Arms To Hold You!” will be included with this purchase.