There was a lengthy scene in the movie (running around 10 minutes) which was filmed but never used. This follows the Beatles escape from Clang and before the elevator scene between John and Ringo, and involved them hiding out at the "Sam Ahab School of Transcendental Elocution", an acting school run by Sam Ahab (played by Frankie Howerd). Sam's pupil Lady Macbeth (a young Wendy Richard) performs a meditation song which causes George to block his ears with earplugs while Clang and his men (hidden in the fireplace) play a piece of music which sends everyone else into a trance. A struggle ensues, as Clang attempts to chop Ringo's hand off with a hatchet to retrieve the ring but the gang are fought off by the non-hypnotized George. After the men flee (and the hatchet is hurled by Clang into a mirror) the others are revived and the scene ends with John yanking the hatchet from the (non-broken) mirror, handing it to Lady Macbeth, and saying, "Is this a chopper that you see before you?". Although filmed this scene has not yet been discovered and may no longer exist.

The scenes set in the Bahamas and the Alps were written expressly to satisfy the Beatles' demands for both a sunny, tropical locale and a skiing holiday, respectively. Another reason for filming in the Bahamas was the tax-breaks it offered, and Cavalcade Productions was formed there to receive the Beatles' appearance fees.

During the filming of the bicycle scene, a Krishna devotee approached all four Beatles with copies of a book about Hare Krishna, sparking the interest George Harrison would carry the rest of his life.

There are many references to the James Bond films, as United Artists also distributed the films of that series.

The original title of the movie was "Eight Arms to Hold You", although no one really liked it much and by the time the movie was edited, it didn't really fit the storyline at all. John Lennon had written the song "Help!" around the same time, and it suited the movie's theme so well it became the title song.