As American Graffiti focuses on one night in the lives of a group of California teenagers, I Wanna Hold Your Hand goes across the plains two years later and focuses on A Day In the Life of Beatle-crazed teenagers hoping for a glimpse of the best band in history (their opinion which I share). Released in 1978, the same year as the god- awful Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, this does a much better job as an homage to the Beatles and equally deserves the exposure and saturation of the Pepper movie. Wendy Jo Sperber, Nancy Allen and Teresa Saldana are manic fans who travel from New Jersey to New York to catch even the slightest glimpse of their idols while in town to appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Pandemonium appears to dog their every step as they try to break into the band's hotel as well as the CBS Studio hosting the live broadcast. Supported by beatnik-folk-purist Susan Kendall Newman, jealous Beatle-hater and Four Season fan Bobby Di Ciccio, obsessive Beatle- geek Eddie Deezen and mild-mannered future Jimmy Olsen actor Marc McClure (see what I did there?) as an unlicensed getaway car driver (actually one of the limos from his father's funeral parlor), the girls fight a never-ending battle for an encounter with John, Paul, George, Ringo, and the American Way (sorry). Seriously, all the leading and supporting actors give this film 110% in hilarity, likability and authenticity. You really want them to get what they want and you're laughing your head off at everything that goes wrong during their exploits. One of the biggest laughs comes early in the film in which Rosie (Wendy Jo Sperber) goes insane and screams at the top of her lungs when she mistakes a life sized cardboard cut- out of Paul for the genuine article. This movie made me think of the Hairspray yet to come at that time, as Rosie's character is what Tracy Turnblad might be like two years after desegregating the Corny Collins Show. Her hair is still straight, although some of it's bunched up in a hideously hilarious looking ribbon. The hysteria, the screaming, chanting crowds, the cop chases, and the pandemonium are all chief ingredients of every John Waters movie. Could it be he might have seen this and it seeped into his subconscious? Finally, I think this movie, this film, this cinematic comedic masterpiece (and yes, I'm as obsessive a Beatles fan as they were) should be reissued through the Criterion Collection as it paints a very accurate as well as affectionately satirical picture of Beatlemania on "Sullivan Day". Music licenses were a lot less expensive to acquire in 1978, and this may not be the case these days, with the Beatles now enjoying a higher level of popularity than when they were a band. This wasn't the case in the late 70s, and the Sgt Pepper movie didn't do them very many favors. In fact, the Beatles were so "over" then, there wasn't much interest in anything to do with them, so the licensing of their music was obtained for...a song (okay, yes I had to say it, very sorry). Hopefully good will triumph over evil and this film will see a remastered release (with a stolen limo full of extras). If you're either a fan of broad slapstick comedy, the Beatles music, or both (as I am), and you haven't seen this yet, try to get yourself a copy whether owned or loaned. You know this can't be bad.

Don't believe any of the praise of this film that you see here. What an irritating piece of crap. Annoying characters, moronic plot, stupid storyline, you name it, it's got it.I should have stopped watching when I saw Spielberg's name in the beginning credits; the king of nauseating schmaltz never gets involved in anything without ruining it with his cutesy bullsh!t.It could have been funny, I suppose, in a mindless sort of way, but no, the funny bits would have needed to be stuck in between the irritating ones, and there's just no room. It isn't even funny in that quaint, dated sort of way that makes some '70s films watchable for a few laughs at least.Just inane, mindless drivel, aimed at the lowest common denominator, with IQ in the 60 and below range. Don't bother.

** I am writing this review having just heard of Wendie Jo Sperber's passing from breast cancer today. Her performance as Rosie, the Paul obsessed teen, was absolutely priceless. I hope fans of this film will take a moment to remember her and her work to help others.** I Wanna Hold Your Hand was a movie that came and went very quickly in 1978. For the life of me I can't understand why. I saw this film a year or so later on HBO and thought it was one of the funniest movies I had ever seen. It is about a group of friends trying to score tickets to the Beatles first performance on the Ed Sullivan show in February, 1964. Each person has their own reason for wanting to be there, and the storyline follows each one as they try to reach that goal. The period detail is excellent, even down to having WINS radio personality Murray the K playing himself in a cameo. The young cast does an excellent job of pulling us into their world and helping us feel what it must have been like on that Sunday in February. I must add that, contrary to an earlier reviewers claim that there were not many Beatle songs heard in the film, there were in fact many songs represented. Obviously, in 1964, there were only about two dozen songs available to the public and most of them are in there.While I found this film to be extremely entertaining, viewers not as familiar with this period of the Beatles history may miss out on some fun. There are innumerable "in" jokes and references that will go over some heads. However, as a movie it stands by itself. I still laugh in the same places I did almost thirty years ago, and still find something new with every viewing. If you are in the mood to relive a little nostalgia or need a good laugh, give this little movie a chance. I'm sure most of you won't be disappointed.

I'd never thought I'd see this film again.I first saw this film on what used to be the old "Movie of the Week" program on ABC. I'd never heard of the film, but a Beatles' "revival" of sorts was sweeping the nation; courtesy the Stars on 45 remixes, that were being broadcast all over radio at the time. "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" was shown in that spirit.Why this film failed at the box office I'll never understand. Even with a low marketing budget one would think that word of mouth would've helped boost this film's profits. Myself, I laughed when I saw the cleaned up version aired on television, circa 1979 or 1980. I caught sections of a rebroadcast some years later on another station, but had never managed to see it in its entirety again until now.Now I own a copy on DVD, and laughed all over again at the adventures and misadventures of an eclectic group of young people trying to see the fab-four. The humor is witty, physical and intelligent, and the general overall feel of the film catches the period that was the early-mid 1960's when the Beatles shot to stardom, and then onto legendary icons. And the portrayal of the fans is spot on. Seeing the throngs of screaming teenage girls brings back memories.Overall the film is very good, but again, as per my previous comments on other films, this film was made in a time when movies were made for everyone, and the audience was more adult not just in age but in attitude. This being so there're a couple of off color remarks made by the characters, but nothing with the fervor nor frequency of today's excessive use of same abusive language.Do yourself a favor and help give this fantastic movie new life by renting or buying it. Relive the 1960's and Beatlemania! You won't regret it :-)