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A Hard Day's Night

A Hard Day's Night cover

A Hard Day's Night

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Pre-order. Available Jun 11 2026
$16.15 RRP $17.95 Website price saving $1.80 (10%)

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Description

How did a film made to capture a pop phenomenon become an enduring cinematic classic?
With warmth, wit and precision, Samira Ahmed reveals how the Beatles' first film changed both the band themselves and pop music's relationship with the screen.

In a vivid and personal exploration, she shows how this black-and-white gem, shot in a documentary style and brimming with youthful energy, captured Britain at a moment of social transformation, with a portrayal of celebrity, camaraderie and media frenzy that still resonates today. Drawing on her own experience of first discovering the film as a child and going on to work in the television industry, Ahmed shines a spotlight on the craft behind its enduring appeal. With insights from members of the cast and crew, including her own new interviews, Ahmed highlights A Hard Day's Night's class and sexual politics, and adds a delightfully original analysis of the women in the film.

In these pages you will be transported to a time when four young men from Liverpool, via the mass medium of television, changed the way Britain saw itself and the way the world saw Britain, revealing how, and why, A Hard Day's Night has become a landmark of modern cinema.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
1. Watching A Hard Day's Night
2. Making A Hard Day's Night
3. A Hard Day's Night and TV
4. Women in A Hard Day's Night
5. Reception and What They did Next
6. Legacy: An Early Clue to the New Direction
Notes
Credits
Select Bibliography

Product details

Published Jun 11 2026
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 128
ISBN 9781839029394
Imprint British Film Institute
Dimensions 7 x 5 inches
Series BFI Film Classics
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Samira Ahmed

Samira Ahmed is a journalist, writer, and BBC broa…

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