- Film Review
- Reviewed By David Parkinson
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5 out of 5
At a time when Elvis and Cliff were still making old-style musicals, this forerunner of the modern music video smashed the mould. Satirising the endless round of banal inquisition, petty regulation and screaming adoration to which the Fab Four were subjected, this musical odyssey enabled them to mock authority and shirk duty without allowing such anti-establishment rebelliousness to detract from the working-class respectability of their "Mop Top" image. However, Richard Lester's film is not just a homage to Buster Keaton-style slapstick and Busby Berkeley-style lavish spectacle; it's also a handbook of new-wave film techniques, from Federico Fellini and the nouvelle vague to Free Cinema and the Czech Film Miracle.
Plot Summary
Musical comedy starring the Beatles in their movie debut. John, Paul, George and Ringo set off for London, where they are due to take part in a live TV show. But the antics of Paul's mischievous grandfather throw the performance into jeopardy. Includes the classic songs A Hard Day's Night, Tell Me Why, I Should Have Known Better, She Loves You, This Boy, Can't Buy Me Love, I Wanna Be Your Man and All My Loving.
Cast and crew
Cast
- John
- John Lennon
- Paul
- Paul McCartney
- George
- George Harrison
- Ringo
- Ringo Starr
- Grandfather
- Wilfrid Brambell
- Norm
- Norman Rossington
- TV director
- Victor Spinetti
- Shake
- John Junkin
- Police inspector
- Deryck Guyler
- Millie
- Anna Quayle
- Simon
- Kenneth Haigh
- Man on train
- Richard Vernon
- Hotel waiter
- Eddie Malin
- TV floor manager
- Robin Ray
- TV choreographer
- Lionel Blair
- Car thief
- John Bluthal
Crew
- Director
- Richard Lester
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