John Lennon fools around with Ringo, Paul and George as the Beatles film on Salisbury Plain, in never-before-seen images that “capture the pure joy of the Fab Four” as they filmed the 1965 film Help! turned.

John Lennon plays around with Ringo, Paul and George in never-before-seen footage of the Beatles filming in Salisbury Plain.

The more than three-minute silent film was filmed more than 59 years ago on Salisbury Plain near Stonehenge, England, while the Beatles were on the set of their film Help! were. in May 1965.

It shows the band in a happy mood during a break for the “I Need You” sequence, with John Lennon clowning around with director Richard Lester as they chat with the cast and crew.

They play around with instruments and mime a track in the “makeshift” outdoor recording studio. The Beatles are surrounded by armed soldiers from the British Army's 3rd Royal Tank Regiment with their tanks and weapons.

In the bizarre plot, a mysterious cult tries to kill Ringo Starr so the band performs under the protection of the Royal Artillery.

A still from behind-the-scenes footage of The Beatles filming their iconic film Help! turned. on location at Salisbury Plain in 1965

The more than three-minute silent film (a still of which is shown here) was filmed more than 59 years ago on Salisbury Plain near Stonehenge, England, while the Beatles were on the set of their film Help! were. in May 1965

It shows the band in a happy mood during a break for the “I Need You” sequence, with John Lennon clowning around with director Richard Lester as they chat with the cast and crew

The film was shot at the height of so-called Beatlemania – a term coined after the band achieved worldwide fame in the early 1960s – which saw people lining the streets to see the band wherever they went.

The Beatles were formed in Liverpool in 1960 by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison.

They released their debut single “Love Me Do” in October 1962, and their first album “Please Please Me” followed in March of the following year.

While they were already incredibly successful in the UK and other European countries, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” was the song that catapulted The Beatles to success in the US and brought Beatlemania across the pond in January 1964.

Shortly thereafter, in April 1964, the Billboard Hot 100 chart was topped by five Beatles songs, with seven more following further down the list.

Other artists even wrote songs about The Beatles that made it into the charts.

The British band changed the musical landscape by skillfully mixing classical elements with traditional pop forms and unconventional recording techniques that inspired other artists in the years to come.

After touring less in 1966, they spent a lot of time at the famous Abbey Road Studios, where they experimented with various techniques that only existed in the studio and could not be reproduced on stage – revolutionary for a time when This was usually the case with albums, created by simply playing a song live in the studio a few times.

But they were also pioneers when it came to music videos, with Help!, released in July 1965, being considered a major influence on the creation of modern music videos.

The Beatles were the first to use the short film in which they presented their song as a PR tool to market their music.

The Beatles – Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon – pictured during the filming of Help in Ailsa Avenue, Twickenham, in 1965

The Beatles filmed promotional videos at Twickenham Film Studios in 1965, the same year as the release of Help!

The film was made at the height of so-called Beatlemania – a term coined after the band achieved worldwide fame in the early 1960s – which saw people lining the streets to see the band wherever they went ( here in Adelaide in June 1964).

British pop group The Beatles, left to right; Ringo Starr, John Lennon (1940-1980), Paul McCartney and George Harrison (1943-2001), outside Buckingham Palace, London, after receiving their MBEs (Members of the Order of the British Empire) from the Queen

Paul, Ringo and John pictured during a press conference in America during their famous US tour in 1965

Their first major motion picture, A Hard Day's Night, was a silent film with the band's music overlaid and is often cited as a precursor to the music video.

The help! The film was released at the same time as the Beatles' fifth album, which included songs like “Help!” and yesterday.

Lennon later said of Help!, “Looking back, I realize how advanced it was.” It was a prequel to the Batman film Pow! Wow!” on TV – things like that.

'But [Lester] never explained it to us. Maybe partly because we hadn't spent much time together between “A Hard Day's Night” and “Help!”, and partly because we had smoked marijuana for breakfast during that time.

“Nobody could communicate with us, we just had glassy eyes and constant giggling.” In our own world.

“It's like doing nothing most of the time and still getting up at 7 a.m., so we got bored.”

The unseen behind-the-scenes footage on an original reel of 8mm black and white silent film was recorded by a member of the production team or a friend of the Beatles.

It was brought to light 59 years later after an Irish collector purchased it on eBay. It is for sale at RR Auction in Boston, USA, for $10,000 (£8,000).

A spokesman for RR Auction said: “Unseen footage of The Beatles is incredibly rare, making the discovery of such a film a unique moment in the history of popular music.”

They play around with instruments and mime a track in the “makeshift” outdoor recording studio

The unseen behind-the-scenes footage on an original reel of 8mm black and white silent film was recorded by a member of the production team or a friend of the Beatles

A spokesman for RR Auction, which is selling the tape, said: “Unseen footage of the Beatles is incredibly rare, making the discovery of such a film a unique moment in the history of popular music” (pictured: a still from the film)

A still from the three-minute, 17-second film shows the drum kit with “The Beatles” written on the drum

The tape (pictured above) was discovered on eBay 59 years after it was purchased by an Irish collector. It is for sale at RR Auction in Boston, USA for £8,000

The Beatles are surrounded by armed soldiers from the British Army's 3rd Royal Tank Regiment with their tanks and weapons

The film is said to be so special because it captures the “pure joy of the Fab Four.”

“It features some rare and unique moments in which all four Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, were captured “off camera” in their natural, joyful state.

“In this footage, they are not performing in front of the camera, but rather are interacting with the cast and crew, playing around with their instruments and joking around on set.”

“The sequence for “I Need You” was filmed near Stonehenge from May 3rd to 5th, 1965 and shows the Beatles miming the track in a makeshift outdoor recording studio, surrounded by armed soldiers from the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment of the British Army and their soldiers Centurion tanks.

“The film's plot involves Ringo Starr being murdered by a mysterious cult, so the band performs under the protection of the Royal Artillery.”

Bobby Livingston, Executive Vice President at RR Auctions, added: “I've seen a lot of rare Beatles artifacts, but this 8mm film is special because it captures the pure joy of the Fab Four.”

“It’s a cinematic time capsule that brings us closer to the Beatles in a way that photos and interviews simply can’t.”

The sale will take place on February 23rd.

This comes after more unreleased recordings of the Beatles were seen filming the film “Help!” in the Austrian Alps was created in 2017 after 50 years of storage in a garage.

The famous four starred in the film alongside the late actor Leo McKern, best known as Rumpole of Bailey on ITV between 1978 and 1992.

He candidly recorded his bandmates goofing around on set between takes.

The 8mm film and its copyright are now selling for a price of £35,000.

Speaking to the Guardian in 2017, rare book dealer and actor Neil Pearson, who is selling the footage, said: “It's never-seen footage of people who were the most famous people in the world at the time.”

“It's footage of the Beatles from the golden age, goofing around between takes, waiting for something to happen… I know that feeling.”

The band members are in the plot of Help! surrounded by soldiers. sees that Ringo Starr needs protection from a cult

Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at RR Auctions, added: “This is it.” [the tape is] a cinematic time capsule that brings us closer to the Beatles in a way that photos and interviews simply cannot.”

The behind-the-scenes footage shows Ringo Starr sitting behind a drum set

In the video, the band members were surrounded by soldiers, as in Help!, a mysterious cult trying to kill Ringo Starr, so the band performs under the protection of the Royal Artillery

A still from behind-the-scenes footage of The Beatles filming their iconic film Help! turned. on location at Salisbury Plain in 1965

Bobby Livingston, Executive Vice President at RR Auctions, added: “I've seen a lot of rare Beatles artifacts, but this 8mm film is special because it captures the pure joy of the Fab Four.”

The film features John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr clowning around with their stunt doubles and pretending to play instruments.

Their on-set follies for this particular film were well documented, with Ringo Starr describing in a 2000 interview how “a hell of a lot of weed” was smoked during the filming of the film.

He said it was “great” and the director knew that very little would get done after lunch.

Of a piece in the 2000 book “Beatles Anthology,” he said: “In the afternoons we very rarely got past the first line of the script.”

“We were so hysterical that no one could do anything. Dick Lester would say, “No, boys, could we do that again?” “It's just that we had a lot of fun – a lot of fun back then.”

And at the end of the footage, McKern's daughter Abigail, who was ten years old at the time, can be seen playing in the snow.

She became part of the gang and remembers being in the Beatles' entourage and even remembers being spat on by a jealous fan, Pearson said.

Aside from family members, when the McKerns returned to their London home, it otherwise remained unseen and stored in the garage.

It came to light because Pearson had been approached by Abigail McKern, also an actress, to ask if he could help distribute her mother's children's literature collection.

Abigail McKern was paired with Paul McCartney's stunt double on BBC's The One Show in November 2017 to show the footage live on air for the first time.

The film was made following the group's success with A Hard Day's Night. The film had a larger budget than her first film and scenes were shot in both the Bahamas and Austria.

Portrait of the Beatles. From left to right: Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison, circa 1965

The Beatles pictured above in Milan, 1965, at the height of worldwide Beatlemania

Images of screaming fans at the 1965 Shea Stadium concert during The Beatles' famous 1965 US tour

They spent two weeks in the Alps, but although they seemed to have a great time, John Lennon said in interviews afterward that the film got “out of control.”

He then said they had more creative input on the first film and that director Dick Lester didn't tell them “what it was about.”

Despite their concerns, the film is still viewed positively by most critics, with a 9/10 rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

McKern died in 2002, having gained a reputation as a fine stage actor in the 1950s before turning to film.

One of his most memorable performances was as a defense attorney in Rumpole of the Bailey.