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United Kingdom 1964
Directed by
Richard Lester
85 minutes
Rated PG

Reviewed by
Bernard Hemingway
3 stars

Hard Day's Night, A

The Fab Four's first film, a light-hearted day-in-the-life-of-a-pop-band romp was, of course, a huge hit in its day and is a time capsule not only of the Beatles themselves, but that cheeky anti-establishmentarianism that was soon to very rapidly evolve into a full-blown counter-culture.

But all that is getting ahead of things here. John, Paul, George and Ringo are still fresh-faced lads up for a bit of a lark and Richard Lester gives them the right vehicle to play in, being neither too reverent nor too silly. Not that anyone will watch this for its cinematic merits. There's curiosity or nostalgia value but ultimately the music's the thing and the boys perform most of their classic early hits up to the title song. Needless to say, a must for Beatles fans and a treat for all nostalgics.

 

 

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