Northumbrian Miner at His Evening Meal. 1937, by Bill Brandt
The "ferocious man-eating tiger" which terrifies Ringo Starr in "Help!" (1965) in the cellar of the pub is actually only a cub; it appears to be about ten months old. A real full-grown tiger would be much larger. In addition to this, Ringo was also behind several inches of glass, separating between him and the tiger.
In the pub scene, the other three Beatles are persuading Ringo to have his ring finger amputated. Ringo refuses, insisting that he will miss the digit. Paul McCartney counters with, "Well, you didn't miss your tonsils, did you?" Ringo actually underwent a tonsillectomy two months prior to filming.
By Paul McCartney's and Ringo's own admission, they were so stoned on pot the day they shot the scene where Dr. Foot (Victor Spinetti) and Algernon (Roy Kinnear) tried to blow them up in the Austrian Alps that when George Harrison screamed his line "It's an fiendish thingy! Run Ringo!" both Ringo and Paul ran over the next hill.
Originally, the Beatles were going to make a western picture. The story was going to be set in Texas and involved the four of them fighting over the affections of a cattle baron's daughter. There are even publicity photos showing them on horseback and wearing cowboy outfits. However the film shut down production and the Beatles ended up making this film instead. According to McCartney, the script was designed around their requests that the story involves them going to places like the Austrian Alps and the Bahamas because they had never been there before.
59 years ago!
Dwight D. Eisenhower speaking near the Gettysburg High School during the 1963 battle of Gettysburg centennial celebrations. Original photo from The Gettysburg Museum Of History archives.
