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Six decades ago, we were in the throes of Beatlemania. The Fab Four scored their first No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart “I Want to Hold Your Hand” on Feb. 1. And the U.S. got to meet The Beatles, four lads from Liverpool when they invaded the U.S. that month making three historic appearances on CBS’ “The Ed Sullivan Show.” They were met with the screams of young girls with burgeoning hormones. By April 4, they had the top five singles on the chart: “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Twist and Shout,” “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Please Please Me.”

Despite their extraordinary success, hopes weren’t high for their first film, “A Hard Day’s Night,” which opened in the U.S. on Aug. 11. Most films starring a group or singer du jour were horrible. So much so, the New York Times’ Bosley Crowther was in...

The Fab Four’s first and biggest movie hit comes to 4K Ultra HD! The Beatles brought something new and exciting to 1964 and the world embraced it. This United Artists release was a major event in the first wave of Beatlemania, setting the standard for Swinging London cool; thanks to Richard Lester’s flip approach and the Beatles’ positive energy little in the movie has dated. George Martin’s input for the musical end of things didn’t hurt either. The movie itself never gets old: new generations still respond with enthusiasm. It always looked super on home video, so what does the format boost add to the mix?

A Hard Day’s Night 4K

4K Ultra-hd + Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 711

1964 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 87 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date January 18, 2022 / 39.95

Starring: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr,

Wilfrid Brambell, Norman Rossington, John Junkin, Victor Spinetti,...

This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s The Beatles on TV Special Collector’s Edition, available for order online now at BeatlesonTV.com and for purchase on newsstands nationwide. The Fab Four’s energy was never higher than on their three beloved films. Ahead of the release of Disney+’s docuseries The Beatles: Get Back, we’re reflecting on the musical group’s trips to the big screen. A Hard Day’s Night (1964) (Credit: The Everett Collection) Directed By Richard Lester, Written By Alun Owen Starring: The Beatles, Wilfrid Brambell, Norman Rossington, John Junkin, and Victor Spinetti The Setup: With the first wave of Beatlemania hitting its crest, the Fab Four look for a respite as they prep for a big television appearance. The Plot: Taking a day-in-the-life approach with Marx Brothers–level anarchy, the movie breathlessly captures the moment the Liverpool lads became generational idols. It’s...

Gangland London, 1960: Expatriate director Joseph Losey gives the Brit crime film a boost with a brutal gangster tale starring the ultra-tough Stanley Baker — and seemingly every up & coming male actor on the casting books. A committed thief returns to his craft the moment he’s freed from prison, but the emphasis is on the nasty betrayals and squeeze-plays of the criminal underworld, that conspire to foil Baker’s plans.

The Criminal

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1960 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date February 18, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Stanley Baker, Sam Wanamaker, Grégoire Aslan, Margit Saad, Jill Bennett, Rupert Davies, Laurence Naismith, John Van Eyssen, Noel Willman, Kenneth Warren, Patrick Magee, Kenneth Cope, Patrick Wymark, Paul Stassino, Tom Bell, Neil McCarthy, Nigel Green, Tom Gerard, Edward Judd.

Cinematography: Robert Krasker

Film Editor: Reginald Mills

Original Music: John Dankworth

Written by Alun Owen and Jimmy Sangster

Produced by Jack Greenwood...

Mark Allison Apr 13, 2017

From A Hard Day's Night to Magical Mystery Tour, Yellow Submarine and Help!, we revisit the original Beatles films...

Of all the art that the Beatles brought into the world, their cinematic misadventures are probably less fondly remembered than their music. But in addition to 12 studio albums, 13 EPs, and 22 singles, the Fab Four also released five films in their comparatively few years together. These efforts comprised two feature films, a TV movie, a cartoon, and a documentary, all of admittedly inconsistent quality. Looking back now, these films provide a fascinating insight into the phenomenon of Beatlemania.

See related Bill Condon interview: Mr Holmes, Beauty & The Beast Bill Condon interview: Beauty And The Beast, Twilight, fandom

For Beatles fanatics such as myself, the music alone makes them a joy to watch and re-watch, but as pieces of cinema in their own right there’s plenty to still be enjoyed and appreciated.

Chicago – If you are lucky enough to have the 50th Anniversary edition of “A Hard Day’s Night” playing in your area, drop everything and go see it, especially if you’ve never seen it before. The Beatles – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – are ageless and timeless in a new print restoration and sound remastering of their 1964 debut film.

Rating: 5.0/5.0

There is no way to describe the luck and timing of the music phenomenon called “The Beatles.” They were four guys in a rock band, but they virtually influenced everything the 1960s had to offer, due to the perfect moment they entered the arena and fired their creativity into the mass production era of record albums and baby boomers. Their first film was a coming together of the right screenwriter (Alan Owun) and the perfect director (Richard Lester), who captured a zeitgeist as it was happening...

Stars: Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Wilfrid Brambell | Written by Alun Owen | Directed by Richard Lester

It’s been fifty years since United Artists wanted a Beatles movie to make money off its soundtrack, but what a decision it was. A Hard Day’s Night is a film that focused on the life of the Beatles but in turn became one of the best comedies to come out of the UK. With a new 4k restoration in cinemas this weekend and a DVD/Blu-ray release coming July 21st, is the movie showing its age or does it still stand up as a comedy?

A Hard Day’s Night looks to show what a day in the life of the Beatles is like. Travelling down from Liverpool to London to perform a concert with Paul’s grandfather (Wilfrid Brambell) tagging along for the ride chaos soon ensues.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

The year is 1964 and Beatlemania is in full swing. The biggest band on the planet are about to make their big screen debut. The film is A Hard Day’s Night, a seminal piece of filmmaking that shows The Beatles as they’ve never been seen before.

To celebrate its 50th Anniversary the film will be presented in a new 4k digital restoration approved by director Richard Lester, with three audio options - a monoaural soundtrack in addition to newly created stereo and 5.1 surround mixes supervised by sound producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios. The film will be in cinemas, on-demand and available to download from 4 July, followed by a special edition Blu-ray and two-disc DVD release on 21 July 2014, courtesy of Second Sight Films.

A Hard Day’s Night will have an Extended Run at BFI Southbank...

50th Anniversary Release of “The Beatles: A Hard Day’s Night”

Dir. Richard Lester • U.K. 1964 • Black & White • 1.75:1 • 87 minutes

New 4K Restoration from the Original Camera Negative

New 5.1 Surround Mix Produced by Giles Martin

Opening in theaters on July 4, 2014 in almost 100 cities

(Scroll to the end of the article for the locations and theaters).

Courtesy of Janus Films

This is a Cheeky, Raucous, Irreverent film that will make most warm-blooded mammals laugh from the first scene, until the last! It is brilliant for a summer night out!

If you are a film or music fan, you most likely have already seen “A Hard Day’s Night” before, however, make a summertime date with the famous Fab Four, and see it again on the big screen, with the new restoration, at an art house cinema, and you really can’t go wrong.

It is necessary to give accolades to the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley, because, “if it weren’t for Elvis, there would never have been any Beatles.” John Lennon had admitted, that from the moment he first learned about Elvis and saw all the attention that he was receiving, he wanted to be just like him.

So although, there is no denying that the Beatles changed music forever, it was really Elvis who was the King of their inspiration.

For those who have not seen “A Hard Day’s Night” before, the Beatles had already been a popular recording act, with several Top 20 hits in the U.K., when they arrived in NYC to perform on the Ed Sullivan show on February 7, 1964. A record breaking 73 million viewers tuned in, and the British invasion began.

One month later, across the pond, the film was in the works. The music lover and film producer, Walter Shenson, was brought on by United Artists. Shenson, who had previously worked with Director, Richard Lester, on “The Mouse on the Moon,” mentioned the gist of the project, and Richard jumped at the opportunity.

However, to receive the final green light, the film had to be true to the way the Beatles actually lived, and scriptwriter, Alun Owen, who wrote the television play, “No Trams to Lime Street,” which depicted Liverpool, was chosen.

The film begins with the song “A Hard Day’s Night” playing while the Fab Four are running through town trying to make it to the train station on time before their train departs. Once on board, they start a conversation with an older gentleman, who Paul comments, is his grandfather. John is cheekily trying to snort a Coke (Coca-Cola) bottle up his nose in the background, and a business man wants the train car his way demanding that the windows be closed shut. The laughs just continue from there on out, when the boys are flirting with girls, and the grandfather cunningly tells the young women that the boys are really prisoners. An acoustic version of “I Should Have Known Better” is being played on the train.

Film director, Richard Lester, “relied on improvisation rather than rehearsal, creating a freshness that was clear on-screen.” “Before we started, we knew that it would be unlikely that they could (a) learn, (b) remember, or (c) deliver with any accuracy a long speech. So the structure of the script had to be a series of one-liners,” Lester later stated, “This enabled me, in many of the scenes, to turn a camera on them and say a line to them, and they would say it back to me.”

The result, the bandmates play brilliant, clever, crafty, and smart-alicky versions of themselves.

Lester’s visual style mixed techniques from narrative films, documentary, the French New Wave, and live television to create something that felt, and was, spontaneous. “I have seen directors who write down a list of scenes for the day, and then sit back in a chair while everything is filmed according to plan. I can’t do that. I know that good films can be made this way, but it’s not for me. I have to react on the spot. There was very little structure that was planned except that we knew that we had to punctuate the film with a certain number of songs.”

Recorded at Emi Studios in Abbey Road, London, they cut “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “And I Love Her,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “Tell Me Why,” “If I Fell,” and “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You,” in only three days.

Must See!

Summer Screenings

Alabama

Montgomery – Capri Theatre

Alaska

Anchorage – Bear Tooth Cinema

Arizona

Tucson – The Loft Cinema

Arkansas

Little Rock – Colonel Glenn 18

British Columbia

Vancouver – Pacific Cinematheque

California

Bakersfield – Valley Plaza

Berkeley – Rialto Elmwood

Eureka – Eureka Theater

La Mesa – Grossmont Center

Los Angeles – Cinefamily

Malibu – The Malibu Film Society

Modesto – State Theater

Monterey – Osio Cinemas

Mountain View – Century Cinemas 16

Murrieta – Reading Cinemas Cal Oaks

Oxnard – Century RiverPark

Palm Springs – Camelot Theatres

Pasadena – Laemmle Playhouse 7

Sacramento – Tower Theater

San Diego – Gaslamp

San Francisco – Castro Theatre

San Luis Obispo – Palm Theatre

San Rafael – Smith Rafael Film Center

Santa Cruz – Del Mar Theatre

Colorado

Fort Collins – Lyric Cinema Cafe

Littleton – Alamo Drafthouse

Connecticut

Hartford – Cinestudio

Milford – Connecticut Post 14

Delaware

Wilmington – Theatre N

Florida

Coral Gables – Coral Gables Art Cinema

Jacksonville – Sun-Ray Cinema

Key West – Tropic Cinema

Maitland – Enzian Theatre

Tallahassee – Tallahassee Film Festival

Georgia

Athens – Ciné

Atlanta – Plaza Theater

Sandy Springs – LeFont Theaters

Hawaii

Honolulu – Kahala 8

Maui – Kaahumanu 6

Illinois

Champaign – The Art Theater

Chicago – Music Box Theater

Downer’s Grove – Tivoli at Downer’s Grove

Normal – Normal Theater

Peoria – Landmark Cinemas

Indiana

Fort Wayne – Cinema Center

Iowa

Des Moines – Fleur Cinema

Iowa City – FilmScene

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Lawrence – Liberty Hall

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Lexington – Kentucky Theater

Louisville – Baxter 8

Louisiana

Baton Rouge – Cinemark Perkins Rowe

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Maine

Waterville – Maine Film Festival

Maryland

Baltimore – The Senator

Hanover – Cinemark Egyptian 24

Massachusetts

Amherst – Amherst Cinema

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Cape Cod – Cape Cinema

Danvers – Hollywood Hits

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Martha’s Vineyard – Martha’s Vineyard Film Center

Williamstown – Images Cinema

Michigan

Ann Arbor – Michigan Theater

City of Detroit Outdoor Screenings

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Kalamazoo – Alamo Drafthouse

Manistee – The Vogue Theatre

Traverse City – State Theatre

Minnesota

Duluth – Zinema 2

Minneapolis – St. Anthony Main Theatre

Missouri

Columbia – Ragtag Cinema

Kansas City – Tivoli Cinemas

Springfield – Moxie Cinema

St. Louis – Chase Park Plaza

Montana

Missoula – The Roxy Theater

Nebraska

Kearney – The World Theatre

Lincoln – Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center

Omaha – Film Streams

Wayne – The Majestic

Nevada

Sparks – Century Sparks

New Hampshire

Concord – Red River Theatre

Wilton – Town Hall Theatre

New Jersey

Asbury Park – The ShowRoom

Manville – Reading Cinemas Manville

New Mexico

Albuquerque – The Guild Cinema

New York

Amherst – Screening Room Cinemas

Binghamton – The Art Mission & Theater

New York City – Film Forum

Pelham – The Picture House

Pleasantville – Jacob Burns Film Center

Rochester – George Eastman House

Rosendale – Rosendale Theatre

West Hampton – Performing Arts Center

North Carolina

Asheville – Carolina Cinemas

Cornelius – Studio C Cinema

Raleigh – Raleigh Grande

Winston-Salem – A/perture Cinema

Ohio

Akron – The Nightlight Cinema

Cleveland – Cleveland Museum of Art

Columbus – Wexner Center for the Arts

Dayton – The Neon

Toledo – Franklin Park 16

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City – Museum of Art

Tulsa – Circle Cinema

Ontario

Kingston – The Screening Room

Toronto – Cineplex Cinemas Yonge & Dundas

Waterloo – Princess Cinemas

Oregon

Portland – Hollywood Theater

Pennsylvania

Bethlehem – ArtsQuest

Bryn Mawr – Bryn Mawr Film Institute

Erie – Film at the Erie Art Museum

Lewisburg – Campus Theatre

Milford – Black Bear Film Festival

Philadelphia – International House

Phoenixville – The Colonial Theatre

Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh Filmmakers

Quebec

Montreal – Cinema Cineplex Forum

Rhode Island

Newport – Jane Pickens

Providence – Cable Car Cinema

South Carolina

Charleston – Terrace Theater

South Dakota

Sioux Falls – Century East at Dawley Farm

Tennessee

Memphis – indieMemphis

Nashville – Belcourt Theatre

Texas

Austin – Alamo Drafthouse

Dallas – Angelika Film Center

El Paso – Plaza Classic Film Festival

Fort Worth – Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Houston – Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

New Braunfels – Alamo Marketplace

Plano – Angelika Plano

San Antonio – Alamo Westlake

Utah

Salt Lake City – Tower Cinema

Virginia

Ashburn – Alamo One Loudoun

Fairfax – Angelika Mosaic

Norfolk – Naro Cinema

Williamsburg – Kimball Theatre

Winchester – Alamo Drafthouse

Washington

Bellevue – Lincoln Square Cinemas

Bellingham – Pickford Film Center

Camas – Liberty Theater

Langley – The Clyde Theatre

Olympia – Capitol Theater

Port Townsend – Rose Theatre

Seattle – Siff Cinema

Tacoma – Grand Cinema

Spokane – Bing Crosby Cinema>

Vancouver – Kiggins Theatre

Washington, D.C.

West End Cinema...

By Mark Cerulli

After a meticulous 4K restoration by none other than the Criterion Collection, the Beatles’ first film, A Hard Days Night, was unveiled at La’s Raleigh Studios. Yes, the image was crisp and clean, not a smudge or scratch in sight. (No surprise there as the film’s director Richard Lester personally approved the restoration.) And yes, the music sounded glorious in a new 5.1 mix. In fact, George Harrison’s iconic opening riff on the title track just about knocked this Cinema Retro scribe off his seat! But what was really special about this whimsical film was watching it through the prism of fifty years. From frame 1, we know how we lost both John Lennon and George Harrison. We are living with climate change, al-Qaeda, overpopulation and deforestation, so this movie is a welcome relief, capturing a simpler time in a quainter London which was then still...

Enemy What would make this a more interesting release would be an audio commentary, but there isn't one. As interesting as this film is and as likely as I am to watch it again, in this day and age, if you aren't going to give me any added incentive to buy a DVD/Blu-ray that I'm only likely to watch once or twice ever again... why would I buy itc

Blood Ties I did not enjoy this movie when I saw it in Cannes last year, but it has been edited down since, by about 15 minutes or so I believe, which could make it a more interesting watch as it was a film that either needed to be about 15 minutes shorter or two hours longer. You can read my original review right here, though do know the movie I reviewed is not the one on this disc.

Winter's Tale This...

They Bought Us Love

By Raymond Benson

Released in the summer of 1964, A Hard Day’s Night, starring The Beatles and directed by Richard Lester, is arguably the second most influential British film of that decade (the first being Goldfinger, coincidentally released the same year.). Why? For one thing, it brought The Beatles to a worldwide audience that was just getting to know them through their music. Secondly, it spawned imitations and knock-offs (The Monkees, anyone?) and is arguably the genesis of music videos—where would MTV have been without it? Thirdly, the film itself was innovative, fresh, and surprisingly funny (those long-haired boys from Liverpool could actually act!).

One of the best things about the Criterion Collection’s new deluxe box set of the film (dual Blu-ray and DVD, three discs) is the short extra, On the Road to “A Hard Day’s Night,” an interview with author Mark Lewisohn,...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: June 24, 2014

Price: DVD $19.95, Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95

Studio: Criterion

Just one month after they exploded onto the U.S. scene with their Ed Sullivan Show appearance, The Beatles began working on a project that would bring their revolutionary talent to the big screen – the 1964 comedy musical classic A Hard Day’s Night.

The movie, in which John, Paul, George and Ringo play slapstick versions of themselves, captured the astonishing moment when they officially became the singular, irreverent idols of their generation and changed music forever.

Directed with raucous, anything-goes verve by Richard Lester (How I Won the War) and featuring a slew of iconic pop anthems, including the title track, “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Should Have Known Better,” and “If I Fell,” A Hard Day’s Night, which re-conceived the movie musical and exerted an incalculable influence on the music video, is one of...

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) has added an exciting roster of screen legends and beloved titles to the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival, including appearances by Maureen O’Hara, Mel Brooks and Margaret O’Brien, plus a two-film tribute to Academy Award®-winner Richard Dreyfuss. Marking its fifth year, the TCM Classic Film Festival will take place April 10-13, 2014, in Hollywood. The gathering will coincide with TCM’s 20th anniversary as a leading authority in classic film.

O’Hara will present the world premiere restoration of John Ford’s Oscar®-winning Best Picture How Green Was My Valley (1941), while Brooks will appear at a screening of his western comedy Blazing Saddles (1974). O’Brien will be on-hand for Vincente Minnelli’s perennial musical favorite Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), starring Judy Garland. The tribute to Dreyfuss will consist of a double feature of two of his most popular roles: his Oscar®-winning performance...

Gustave Field, who has died aged 95, was a Hollywood screenwriter who in 1958 was lured to London by the fledgling television company ABC to help aspiring TV dramatists build in motivation, suspense and other Hollywood virtues. His successes included Alun Owen, Ray Rigby, and Harold Pinter, whose A Night Out was primarily written for radio but its TV version, starring Tom Bell, topped audience ratings.

Mutual friends in America urged us to meet. We were both recently married, both living in Pimlico, central London. Instant but lasting friendships were formed. Gustave's wife, Daphne, was English. As a teenager she had gone to America with a theatre group and been trapped there by the outbreak of the second world war.

Gustave was born into an immigrant family, originally called Hirchfeld, in Lower Manhattan, New York. He was a press photographer by the age of 17, and already an innovator. Instead of the bulky...

Comic actor Victor Spinetti, best known for his appearances in three Beatles movies, died on Tuesday morning. He was 82. The Welsh performer had been fighting pancreatic cancer in recent years, according to his agent, Barry Burnett.  Born in the village of Cwm in south Wales, Spinetti studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama before launching his acting career in England. His big break came after John Lennon and George Harrison, with "A Hard Day's Night" director Walter Shenson and screenwriter Alun Owen, caught his performance in 1968, in the...

Veteran actor Victor Spinetti, whose notable roles included appearances in three Beatles films, has died at the age of 82.

The Welsh star, who appeared in a string of acclaimed movies as well as taking roles in the West End and on Broadway, died in a Monmouth hospice following a fight with pancreatic cancer, his agent said.

The versatile actor was able to easily turn his hand from serious classical roles to comedy performances and roles in sitcoms. He has also been a successful stage director, wrote poetry and became known for his appearances in a Jaffa Cake ad campaign.

Cwm-born Spinetti - who studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff - had worked as a waiter before finding his feet as an actor.

Victor Spinetti (left) with John Lennon and Yoko Ono

He landed his role in the first of the Beatles' films following the...

I was looking forward to seeing Juggernaut on TCM not too long ago when I saw it show up on the classics channel’s schedule. Even in this cable/download/Netflix age of constant program recycling, the movie rarely shows up on TV, maybe because it had been such an instant and complete flop when released theatrically in 1974. Still, this UK-produced film has always been one of my pet favorites, a flick I have long felt died an undeserved death, and I was psyched at the chance to see it again.

In synopsis, I admit the movie doesn’t sound like much. Or perhaps I should say it sounds way too familiar. A nutcase has put seven bombs on an ocean liner and threatens to sink the ship unless he’s given a ransom of £500,000. The ship is far from land, no other vessels are close enough to render assistance,...

Sometimes in this series of articles, we’re going to focus on specific filmmakers who deserve a spot within the Criterion Collection. Especially those the public might not even be that aware of or the impact they’ve had in the art of cinema in general. Alan Clarke is one such filmmaker. Most people when you mention the name Alan Clarke, they will wonder who you’re speaking about. When you mention the actors they helped usher in and a fraction of the future filmmakers they influenced, you’d start to really want to know who this man was.

Alan Clarke primarily worked in television in England, primarily adaptations of plays (such as George’s Room by Alun Owen and Which of These Two Ladies is He Married To? by Edna O’Brien) and various television shows via Itp productions. It wasn’t until he combined his skill and vision...

British-born director known for Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots

The film and television director Charles Jarrott, who has died of cancer aged 83, began his career during a golden period of British TV drama, working on Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play in the 1960s alongside writers and directors such as Ken Loach, Dennis Potter and David Mercer. Both series were presided over by the Canadian producer Sydney Newman, who encouraged original work – what he called "agitational contemporaneity" – and had an astonishing impact. But in 1969 Jarrott's career took a different turn when he left for Hollywood, thereby increasing his income a hundredfold, while having to contend with far less adventurous material. His best films were his first, two Elizabethan costume dramas, Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots, enlivened by the Oscar-nominated performances of Richard Burton (Henry VIII), Geneviève Bujold (Anne Boleyn) and...

Miramax rereleases "A Hard Day's Night" -- with a restored picture and soundtrack -- in New York and Los Angeles today. This review originally appeared in The Hollywood Reporter on July 21, 1964.

In their first feature, "A Hard Day's Night", the Beatles display a flair for knockabout comedy and slapstick when they're not beating out some dozen of their tunes, including six new ones. The film is mad, mad and crazy, shrewdly designed for the teenage and calculated also to attract the curious and the oldsters who enjoy this sort of thing.

The shrieking, screaming teenage reaction was evident at a packed invitational afternoon screening at an upper Broadway theater. The mere appearance of a Beatle set off a chain reaction of screeching. When this mingled with the screams of pursuing teenagers on the screen, the result was pandemonium.

The Liverpool string quartet collectively achieves stardom in their maiden cinematic effort, and the film may be expected to be the first in a series.

Produced by Walter Shenson, directed by Richard Lester and written by Alun Owen, the team that delivered "The Mouse on the Moon", the film purports to chronicle 36 hours in the life of the moptops, hours that are normal because they're hectic. The riot starts as they take off for their next engagement, continues with their arrival in the provincial city and rehearsal and staging of a TV show. Always there are mobs of young girls in hot pursuit.

The script cleverly makes use of the Beatles' individual personalities, and while Norman Rossington as the harassed manager, Wilfrid Brambell (of TV's "Steptoe & Son") as a fictional grandfather and Victor Spinetti as a neurotic director have their moments in counter-plot, it's the Beatles' show all the way. Ringo Starr in a solo sequence displays potential as a mime.

While imaginative and often offbeat, the photography is lacking by top standards in on-the-spot location shooting, and editing is not as fluent as it might be in integrating the fast-moving scenes. The sound at times doesn't help American audiences to understand the quaint dialect and slang expressions.

But only the experts and the finicky will cavil at these deficiencies. There's a host of young American females waiting for this picture like the world is waiting for the sunrise.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT

United Artists

Producer: Walter Shenson

Director: Richard Lester

Screenwriter: Alun Owen

Director of photography: Gilbert Taylor

Art director: Ray Simm

Music director: George Martin

Songs by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney

Sound: H.L. Bird, Stephen Dalby

Editor: John Jympson

Associate producer: Dennis O'Dell

Assistant director: John D. Merriman

Cast: The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr), Wilfrid Brambell, Norman Rossington, Victor Spinetti, John Junkin, Deryck Guyler, Anna Quayle.

Running time -- 85 minutes

MPAA rating: G...