Arguably more a faux documentary-comedy-movie-musical than a traditional concert film, A Hard Day’s Night captures a band just as it began to wow the world back in 1964, as evidenced by the unbridled joy in every frame of director Richard Lester’s love letter to the Fab Four. And while there are traditional band-on-the-road sequences (Ringo going AWOL, an opening scene in which the band is mobbed attempting to board a train), the climax of A Hard Day’s Night‘s in the end, is a concert. When the hordes of teenage girls in attendance scream along with “She Loves You” — some with tears streaming down their face — it’s a reminder of how, even in their early innocence, the Beatles were a force to be reckoned with.
TIME’s take: “It’s a surprise the picture isn’t a mess and a miracle it’s so funny, expert and joyous.”
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