A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964)

The Beatles' first picture is also arguably their finest. A perfectly formed and performed fauxdocumentary in stark high-contrast black and white simply based on a day in the hectic lives of the Fab Four at the height of Beatlemania. Liverpool born writer Alun Owen's screenplay perfectly pastiches the reallife dry wit and banter of the band. Richard Lester's direction brilliantly weaves gritty comedy with highly creative dynamic musical interludes showcasing the band's latest set of flawlessly catchy pop masterpieces including Can't Buy Me Love, All My Loving and the title song with its iconic chiming opening chord.

The band are joined by a colourful cast including Steptoe And Son’s Wilfrid Brambell as Paul McCartney's fictional mischievous but 'clean' grandfather, Norman Rossington, as the band's manager and Victor Spinetti as a TV director. Spinetti would also go on to appear in both Help! and Magical Mystery Tour. Charlotte Rampling, a young Phil Collins and George Harrison's future wife Pattie Boyd also appear. Despite being conceived by United Artists as a low budget 'cash-in' movie, A Hard Day's Night was a major commercial success. Countless 'copy' pictures followed its release and it directly inspired the creation of the popular Monkees TV show in the US. It became an instant benchmark and remains a huge influence on music promotion film and video to this day.