Very little needs to be said about this trend-setting 1964 classic: Simply put, A Hard Day's Night is the finest rock 'n' roll comedy ever made. It hit America shortly after the Beatles themselves did, and with the Fab Four as popular as they were, Stateside audiences would've been happy just to see and hear John, Paul, George, and Ringo perform such hit songs as "Can't Buy Me Love," "I Should Have Known Better," "And I Love Her," and the title tune. But director Richard Lester (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum), working from a script by Alun Owen, further delighted moviegoers with his wonderfully offbeat, visually inventive chronicle of a 36-hour period in the group's hectic life. He made no attempt to turn the Beatles into actors but encouraged them to give free rein to their naturally zany impulses; the result was a wacky, fast-paced romp with a carefully cultivated air of spontaneity and hokey sight gags reminiscent of silent-era comedies. Initially designed to capitalize on the group's burgeoning popularity, A Hard Day's Night was, as expected, wildly successful -- but it proved to be surprisingly influential as well, inspiring Britain's Monty Python troupe, American "mockumentaries" such as This Is Spinal Tap, and even Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan! Happily, A Hard Day's Night remains just as vital as it was in 1964, reminding us again how very special the boys from Liverpool really were.

It's a blessing to Beatles fans that someone had the foresight to capture them on film in the midst of the first flash of Beatlemania. Was A Hard Day's Night an accurate picture of 36 hours in the life of the Fab Four? Probably not, though one can only hope for their sake that it was this much fun. The dry, cheeky wit of Alun Owen's screenplay may have been a bit tart for teens, but it's still smart and funny, and if the Beatles weren't all great actors (John Lennon and Ringo Starr come off well, but George Harrison often reveals why he was a guitar player and not a thespian), Owen cleverly allowed them to play to their strengths: John's charming snideness, Ringo's loveable sad-sack persona, Paul McCartney's cute cool guy routine, and George's quiet, no-nonsense attitude. The supporting cast blends in perfectly (no small feat with four strong personalities in the lead), and Richard Lester's sharp, inventive visual style was the perfect match for The Beatles' music: fresh, smart without being pretentious, brash in just the right ways, and an awful lot of fun. A Hard Day's Night has aged as well as the Beatles' music from the same period: timeless yet inescapably a product of its era.