Long unseen Beatles photos set for auction

A Pinewood Studio crew member's long hidden photos of the Beatles are slated for auction, after decades spent in a family album.

The 20 black-and-white images were snapped in London on the set of the Fab Four's first film, A Hard Day's Night, in March 1964. The photos will be sold by Omega Auctions in Stockport, northwestern England, on May 19 as part of a sale of vinyl, music and film memorabilia.

Though the Hard Day's Night set was closed and taking photos was prohibited, props manager Peter Allchorne proceeded to capture a series of imagessomething he customarily did on film sets, according to his daughter, Jacqueline Griffin.

She told British press that her father, now 87, had not been particularly star-struck by the band sincehe was more of a jazz fan. Although he eventually got to know the Beatles during that time, he still treated A Hard Day's Night like he did any other film set, she said.

The photos set for auction depict John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr with their instruments in between takes, during filming at the former Scala Theatre in London. They include some candid and off-beat moments, including a shot showing drummer Starr resting his feet on bricks in order to boost his height for the cameras.

The entire lot is estimated to sell for10,000 (nearly $16,000 Cdn).

Allchorne also was part of the crew that accompanied the band to the Bahamas to film Help! in 1965, though the camera he used to capture photos on that movie set was stolen.