A Hard Day's Night

I was probably 7 or 8 years old when I caught HELP on its network TV showing. It didn't make a big impression. YELLOW SUBMARINE I saw at the theater when I was 9 and I caught a matinee of LET IT BE when I was 11. It wasn't until after that, I believe, when I finally caught up with A HARD DAY'S NIGHT, the quintessential English rock and roll movie! Ringo really is excellent here, although I remain convinced by his later lack of any substantial acting ability that it was director Richard Lester who brought it out in him. The others are all charm and cheek and even Paulie's grandfather makes an impact. (He's very clean.) Visually and musically, this was a major step up from, say, Cliff Richard's lightweight teen fare. Sadly, much of what followed in the genre was more a step back, leaving A HARD DAY'S NIGHT alone at the top even today!