Critical Response
Critical opinion at the time of release was generally positive, but many critics feel that this big budget effort was not as strong as A Hard Day's Night. Leslie Halliwell describes it as an
xhausting attempt to outdo A Hard Day's Night in lunatic frenzy, which goes to show that some talents work best on low budgets. The humour is a frantic cross between Hellzapoppin', The Goons, Goofy, Mr. Magoo and the shade of Monty Python to come. It looks good but becomes too tiresome to entertain.
Allmovie's Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr. describes it as
... a forerunner to music videos. ... Lester seemed to find the right tone for Help!, creating an enjoyable portrait of the Beatles and never allowing the film to take itself too seriously. His style would later be co-opted by Bob Rafaelson for the Monkees' television series in the '60s and has continued to influence rock musicals like Spice World in 1998.
Read more about this topic: Help! (film)
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