Unseen Beatles film set photos to be auctioned

Unseen photos of The Beatles taken by a crew member shooting their films are to be auctioned in Staffordshire.

The behind-the-scenes images – six from A Hard Day’s Night and two from Help! – are in a collection from Edward Tucker.

The archive will be auctioned as three lots, with the Beatles photos having a guide price of £500 to £700, film scripts and movie photos estimated at £750 and pop music and 1980s autographs expected to fetch £250 to £350.

The collection came to light during a day in Coventry for ITV antiques programme Dickinson’s Real Deal and it is being brought to auction at Richard Winterton Auctioneers, in Lichfield, on 3 November by Mr Tucker’s family.

Photos from the set of A Hard Day’s Night feature Ringo Starr filming in April 1964 in Edgehill Road, West Ealing.

The auctioneers said director Richard Lester was in one shot, taken while “working out the comedic scene where the hapless drummer is arrested after a woman falls down a hole in the road he covered with his coat”.

Other photos show Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

Two colour images are from filming for Help! at Cliveden House, which doubled as Buckingham Palace in the film.

Mr Tucker, from Cambridgeshire, worked for decades in the movie industry before he died eight years ago aged 83.

The auctioneers said he was a grip – a technician responsible for building and maintaining equipment supporting cameras and other production gear.

Daughter Leigh-Anne, 58, said he lived next door to Twickenham studios and one day “he was digging a hole for the council and someone said ‘hey mate, you want to come and do that for us’.

“So he started as a set builder and went on to become a much-loved, accredited grip who travelled the world and was highly valued in the film industry.”

The collection also features scripts, including one for 1976 film The Eagle Has Landed and signed photos by stars like Sir Michael Caine and Kate Bush.

Mr Tucker’s wife, Sheila, was an “enthusiastic autograph hunter”, the auctioneers said.

Other scripts include The Adventurers, The Blockhouse, The Greek Tycoon and Entertaining Mr Sloane.

Images include a photo of Gerry and the Pacemakers in front of Liverpool’s Lime Street station, Lonnie Donegan and Peter Cushing, as well as pictures from Oliver Reed films.