Editing Richard Lester (section)

==The Beatles==
''The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film'' was a favourite of [[the Beatles]], particularly [[John Lennon]]. When the band members were contracted to make a feature film, they chose Lester from a list of possible directors. ''[[A Hard Day's Night (film)|A Hard Day's Night]]'' (1964) showed an exaggerated and simplified version of the Beatles' characters and proved to be an effective marketing tool. Many of its stylistic innovations survive as the forerunner of music videos; in particular, the multi-angle filming of a live performance. Lester was sent an award from MTV as "Father of the Music Video".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mansfield|first=Brian|date=July 29, 2015|title='Help!' at 50: Looking back at the Beatles|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/07/29/beatles-help-50th-anniversary/30741421/|access-date=July 4, 2020|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}}</ref>

''A Hard Day's Night'' was a huge critical and commercial success. Lester then directed the first of several quintessential "[[Swinging Sixties|swinging]]" films, the sex comedy ''[[The Knack ...and How to Get It|The Knack... and How to Get It]]'' (1965). It was the first of three of his films with actor [[Michael Crawford]], and the first out of four credited collaborations with screenwriter [[Charles Wood (playwright)|Charles Wood]]. The film won the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="nyt2">{{cite news|last1=QUINN|first1=Thomas|title=THE KNACK' WINS TOP CANNES PRIZE|work=The New York Times |date=May 29, 1965 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/05/29/archives/the-knack-wins-top-cannes-prize-british-comedy-called-best-us-film.html|access-date=May 28, 2018}}</ref>

Lester followed ''The Knack... and How to Get It'' with the Beatles film ''[[Help! (film)|Help!]]'' (1965).<ref name="Lewisnote">Lewis (1995) provides citations for the television shows & films: ''A Show Called Fred'', ''Son of Fred'', ''Hard Day's Night'', ''Help!'', ''Mouse on the Moon'', ''Running, Jumping Standing Still'', and ''Three Musketeers''</ref> A spoof of the popular [[James Bond]] spy thrillers, it was the second collaboration with screenwriter Charles Wood and another huge commercial success. Lester received a Hollywood offer to direct the film adaptation of ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (film)|A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]'' (1966).<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Richard Lester.jpg|thumb|Director Richard Lester on the set of ''How I Won the War'' in 1967]]
He then made the darkly surreal, [[satire|satirical]] anti-war movie ''[[How I Won the War]]'' (1967) co-starring Crawford and Lennon, which Lester referred to as an "anti-anti-war movie". He explained that anti-war movies still took the concept of war seriously, contrasting "bad" [[war crime]]s with wars fought for "good" causes like the liberation from [[Nazism]] or, at that time, [[Communism]], whereas with screenwriter Charles Wood, Lester set out to show war as fundamentally opposed to humanity.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} Although set in World War II, the film serves as an oblique reference to the Vietnam War, and at one point, breaking the [[fourth wall]], references this directly. 
 
He made ''[[Petulia]]'' (1968) with [[Julie Christie]] and [[George C. Scott]], and a score by [[John Barry (composer)|John Barry]] (who had also scored ''The Knack'').<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/2671/year/1968.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Petulia |access-date=April 4, 2009|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> He returned to his anti-war theme with the post-apocalyptic black comedy ''[[The Bed Sitting Room (film)|The Bed Sitting Room]]'' (1969),<ref>{{Cite news|last=French|first=Philip|date=June 20, 2009|title=Philip French's classic DVD: The Bed Sitting Room|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jun/21/bed-sitting-room-film-review|access-date=June 23, 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> based on a play by Spike Milligan and [[John Antrobus]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Plays by John Antrobus|url=http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsA/antrobus-john.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022171720/http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsA/antrobus-john.html|archive-date=October 22, 2007|access-date=June 23, 2020|website=Doollee}}</ref> The screenplay was the fourth credited collaboration between Lester and Charles Wood, but Wood provided uncredited production rewrites for more films of Lester.

''How I Won the War'' and ''Bed Sitting Room'' performed poorly at the box office; Lester found himself unable to raise funds for a series of projects, including an adaptation of the ''[[The Flashman Papers|Flashman]]'' novels.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Diabolique|title=Trying to Make a Case for Royal Flash|date=May 18, 2020|url=https://diaboliquemagazine.com/trying-to-make-a-case-for-royal-flash/}}</ref>