Dubbed by Andrew Sarris ""the Citizen Kane of pop musicals,"" recently given a high-profile release on a two-disc DVD, A Hard Day's Night, directed by Richard Lester, is viewed by Stephen Glynn as that rare event--a cheap exploitation movie that has entered the cultural canon. Following the Fab Four's adventures in New York the film established enduring individual personalities for the four Beatles, invented the pop music video and made us all ""buy into"" the Beatles. This radical Guide, full of detail and insight, explores its making, its music, fandom, Pop Art style,...

This book constitutes the first full volume dedicated to an academic analysis of the sport of boxing as depicted in British film. Through close textual analysis, production and reception histories and readings that establish social, cultural and political contexts, the book explores the ways in which prizefighters, amateur boxers, managers and supporters (from Regency gentry to East End gangsters) are represented on the British screen. Exploring a complex and controversial sport, it addresses not only the pain-versus-reward dilemma that boxing necessarily engenders, but also the frequently...