What happened to Paul in "A Hard Day's Night" [1964]?

As explained by Director Richard Lester, each of the Beatles had their own little set piece in "A Hard Day's Night". Paul didn't get one!
In this lovely short video, Richard Lester and the actress who played opposite of Paul, Isla Blair, explain what happened.
Isla helps to more than make up for the loss of her scene with Paul by adding her own personal anecdote regarding her working relationship with him.

[@kingslaphappy1533]

That actress is simply adorable! What a class act.

[@billt1954]

What a beautiful charming lady and such a wonderful voice.

[@minuteman4394]

Agreed an English lady

[@KRW628]

Ilsa just celebrated her 80th birthday in September; and she's still working. (She's been married to the same guy since 1968).

[@nigelsheppard625]

Julian Glover (Meister Pycelle from Game of Thrones).

[@Krzyszczynski]

In 1966 she appeared in a TV series called The Liars, with William Mervyn, Nyree Dawn Porter and Ian Ogilvy. Only one part-episode survives, which can be found on KZbin.

[@MellowWind]

Great story. Thank you.

[@mrfester42]

Wow! Isla Blair looks like she hasn't aged 5 years in the past 50 years.

[@marileelockwood5408]

Thankyou very much for this! 🤗❤️✨

[@D800Lover]

Paul being the gentleman that he always seems to be.

[@gerrymccandless3955]

Great story. Very interesting.

[@GeneKing-lz8xg]

We all need more nice,sweet, wonderful stories like this one.😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@itinerantpatriot1196]

See, now that's cool, a bit about the Beatles not comprised of repackaged material. As a Beatlemaniac I like coming across stuff I didn't know about them. It's hard to do since so much of their lives and careers have been mined to the core. That story she told about the fans attacking her illustrates just how dangerous crowds can be. Tom Petty gave an interview where he talked about the same thing. He fell from the stage during a performance and the crowd got a hold of him for a bit. When they pulled him out his shirt was ripped open. He said it felt like they were trying to rip off a finger or some other part of him to take home as a souvenir. I hadn't heard of Isla until coming across this video so I looked up her bio. What I found most interesting and admirable is she has been married once and is still married to the same man 56 years later. Good for her.

[@Finnador]

Actually, Paul did have a "set piece". Paul brought along his granddad (Wilfred Brambell) and they had several interactions in which just those two did scenes together. Ringo had the longest set piece with his solo adventures around London and the instrumental 'Ringo's Theme' for the background music.

[@Slademanxx]

A very beautiful woman.

[@apolonio0907]

Welcome back, love your press conferences!

[@JohnCStoskopf]

Thank you so much!! ♥

[@robertblock5322]

I always wonder why Paul never did get his own scene in A HARD DAYS NIGHT. But in reality he did.

[@michaelweiser6887]

She was pretty then. She still is.

[@tbeau6663]

Isla is 80 years of age now....that's an old interview clip

[@PaulFormentos]

Paul is a MAN.....

[@JedHead77]

Wish the footage still existed

[@im1who84u]

I can't believe anyone would destroy Beatle footage of any kind whether it was used or not. What were they thinking?

[@sallybrown4947]

It's good it was cut. Ringo's, George's and John Moments were damn funny and quirky.

[@sav0618]

Paul was the most popular by a landslide so probably not the best move to delete the scene

[@Krzyszczynski]

A novelisation of the movie was published in paperback not long after its release - I used to have a copy. This little scene of Paul's was included there. IIRC he tells her how he'd studied the play at school, and so acquired - with help of course from his English master - a more than an average degree of insight into the character she's trying to portray. (And remember: Paul in real life had an A-level in the subject.) Dick Lester was almost certainly right though to drop the scene from the final cut. It comes in the middle of a frenetic search for the missing Ringo, and while it's just possible to get away with it in a written narrative, it would have been too much of a change of pace in the movie version. I suppose the footage has long since been destroyed, or maybe there are too many copyright issues with the producers. Even so, it would have been nice to have the chance of actually seeing it.

[@petejones879]

18th century and Victorian don't go together 😅but I forgive her cos she's beautiful

[@drutgat2]

Thanks for this. What about the discarded scene with Wendy Richard and Frankie Howerd?

[@JohnCStoskopf]

I know what you are talking about and that was "Help!".... I don't have any information on what happened to that scene, however.

[@drutgat2]

@@JohnCStoskopf Thanks for correcting me. I can not believe I thought that was in 'AHDN', and not 'Help!'

[@cak813]

I’ve been wondering since 1964 what happened to that scene!! Only took 60 years to find out. I had bought the novel of “A Hard Day’s Night” that summer and I had always loved that scene. Now, next question…. does footage of that scene exist anywhere? I don’t care if it’s good, bad, or indifferent, I’d just love to see it. Isla Blair seems lovely. Wonderful voice and so pretty. I love her haircut!!

[@JohnCStoskopf]

I doubt that any footage exists. At that time, as far as the film studio was concerned, The Beatles' film was only a means to an end: To obtain the rights to a soundtrack LP and make some money off of that LP. You never know, however. *Any* thing is possible.

[@cak813]

@@JohnCStoskopf An outtake DVD of AHDN (and “Help!”, too) would be something I’d buy.

[@JohnCStoskopf]

@@cak813 Me too!! 🙂

[@fullmetta2764]

Had to have been quite a let down for her, to not have made the final cut of the film.

[@petejones879]

Isla was a damn fine looking lady

[@richardbanker3910]

Paul got a running scene playing off his “grandfather” ( William Brambell)

[@patricksmith4424]

Paul must have liked her to offer her a lift. They should not have cut that scene.

[@Mandrake591]

It’s criminal they didn’t have the foresight to at least save the film the scene was shot on. 🎥

[@dallasbrubaker6054]

I just love the British accent. What is the tube?

[@markwriter2698]

Interesting. Never realized Paul didn’t have his cameo.

[@docsavage8640]

How do you have a cameo in your own film in which you're starring?

[@paulocallaghan6348]

This clip must exist somewhere, even as a negative...

[@michaelmcmac3485]

At 1:55 you can see a cable going up Paul's leg. He must've been wearing a concealed microphone.

[@docsavage8640]

Would be interesting to see in a special edition. But not necessary to the film, too long, and slows down the pace too much.

[@alanmusicman3385]

Do we know if this scene footage still exists?

[@JohnCStoskopf]

I doubt that any footage exists. At that time, as far as the film studio was concerned, The Beatles' film was only a means to an end: To obtain the rights to a soundtrack LP and make some money off of that LP. You never know, however. Any thing is possible.

[@vonbontee]

Almost surely not. It would've been very unusual for a studio to keep outtakes after they'd been edited out of the final film. There was no thought that they'd ever be of any use, no market for home video

[@im1who84u]

4:16 Is someone able to explain this to me? It appears to be from Paul to Isla. This is what I think it says. _To Isla, Love from that famous actor!!! and pal. The late Paul McCartney (Beatles)_ I guessing that Paul is saying _famous actor_ referring to himself in a tongue and cheek way. _The late Paul McCartney?_ Is he saying here that he had a reputation for showing up late? Because the way it's written it makes it sound like he's dead.

[@jonathanmoll7047]

I would guess that the "late Paul McCartney" phrase may have be an in-joke between the two of them.