Why did the Beatles dedicate their movie 'Help' to Elias Howe?

Answer 1

They didn't. They actually had very little to do with Help! other than writing the music, and appearing in the movie. Lennon in particular hated Help!, saying he "felt like an extra in my own film". They never did another theatrical movie.

The story put out at the time "Help!" was released, was that Elias Howe dreamed up the invention of the sewing machine. In his dream, he was captured by natives who surrounded him with spears. The spears had holes in their tips, which inspired Howe to complete his idea for the sewing machine. As we all know from the last scene in the film, Ringo is surrounded by "unfriendly's" and about to be sacrificed. I vaguely recall the screenwriter saying in an interview that Howe's dream played a part in the plot development for "Help!" Anybody have access to this interview? Let us know.