Whatever Happened to Richard Lester?

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2003)

Richard Lester is my favorite '60's comedy director; he not only directed the Beatles in this film, "Help," and "How I Won the War," he also created the hilarious "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To the Forum" as well as the darkly funny "The Bed Sitting Room." In the '70's he created the frequently amusing Three Musketeers comedies with Michael York and Oliver Reed. Then he just sort of faded, bottoming out in the 1980's with the truly dreadful Superman III. What happened?
Lester's style was originally manic screwball humour, and he's near the top of his form here (I think "Help" is marginally better.) He's capitalizing on the popularity of the Beatles, but not only do they turn out to be fine comic actors (compare this film to contemporary Brit-comedies like "Smashing Time" if you want to see how much it really shone at the time) but Lester is able work in some clever digs about the entertainment industry and teen-marketing.