The Beatles: A 50th movie anniversary at the BFI

In their longstanding tenure on the cultural stage, the Beatles not only transformed the face of popular music forever, they also made their unmistakable mark on the movie world with the release of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ in 1964; this film swiftly became one of the most influential music films ever made. To celebrate that this iconic movie is currently enjoying its 50th anniversary, the British Film Institute are running a photographic exhibition until September 21st, bringing to life the behind-the-scenes antics of the group making ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and ‘Help!’. Many of these wonderful images have come out of the private archive of Richard Lester who directed both films.

The fab four went on to produce a total of five movies, and every title lives on not only in the films themselves, but in the poster designs that were created throughout the world at the time, thrilling fans with Beatlemania at the box office back then, and they continue to do so today. The Czech and Polish posters are particularly revered for their good composition and style, as are psychedelic Japanese promotional posters that were produced often by an unknown artist. But topping the charts for true collectability are the British posters, most valuable and rare to source, particularly those that include the work of Robert Freeman, one of the band’s most favoured photographers.

View the full collection of Beatles film posters here.

A Hard Day’s Night: Richard Lester and ‘The Beatles’ is on display in the Mezzanine gallery at BFI Southbank from 3 July – 21 September.