Very rate twenty images of the band Beatles taken by Pinewood Studios props manager Peter Allchorne while they were filming their first feature film, 1964’s A Hard Day’s Night, will be up for sale at Omega Auctions in Stockport, Chesire on May 19, the BBC reports.
According to the report, taking photos on-set were strictly prohibited, but the 87-year-old Allchorne was able to without any hindrance.
Up until this point, the images — which show the Beatles with their instruments and also between takes capturing candid moments — were put into a family album. One of the photographs shows Beatles member Ringo Starr leaning on bricks to make himself taller for the camera.
Allchorne’s daughter, Jacqueline Griffin, said that her father was largely unaware of the growing interest in the Beatles and said it was typical for him to capture images while on a set.
“He wanted to take pictures of one of the crew, a mate Alfie, and they were there, it was when the Beatles were on stage,” Griffin told the BBC.
She added: “He got to know them quite well but he was just not that interested. I think they just larked about and had a good time. He was not particularly star-struck, they were just four lads in a band, it didn’t really hit him.”
Griffin noted at one point that her father “never held any value on them because he was not into the Beatles, he was just working on the films.”
Other items that will be up for sale at the same auction include a menu card signed by the four Beatle members and an unsigned menu card with the misspelling of the band’s name “Beattles.”
The auction is expected to rake in about $16,100 (£10,000).