Working within a tight $500,000 budget, director Richard Lester turned out A Hard Day's Night in a fast 6 1/2 weeks.

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2010)

A Hard Day's Night is a fine conglomeration of madcap clowning... with such a dazzling use of camera that it tickles the intellect and electrifies the nerves. Harassed by their manager and Paul McCartney's grandpa, the Beatles embark from Liverpool by train for a London TV show.
The film is a comic fantasia with music; an enormous commercial success with director Richard Lester trying every cinematic gag in the book, it led directly to all the kaleidoscopic Swinging London spy thrillers and comedies of the later sixties - and to the prevailing tone of pop videos decades later. At the time it was a breath of fresh air, and its playful, low-budget style, shot in black-and-white and clearly influenced by the French New Wave, faithfully captured the group's irreverent attitude to their fame, the media, and even themselves. The film was successful both financially and critically; it was rated by Time magazine as one of the all-time great 100 films.