ABSTRACT
The introduction provides a socio-cultural context for The Beatles phenomenon and their film work. It reveals the early youth culture and music scene in Britain, where film rapidly recuperated stars such as Tommy Steele and Cliff Richard. The arrival of The Beatles shifted both the musical soundscape and the pop music film (sub-)genre, their ‘youth quake’ initiating a positive rebellion in youth culture – changing society by singing ‘Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’. The introduction also explains the methodology of the monograph, which will provide each film with a brief production history, a survey of its press and commercial reception, and a full textual study of the film and how it represents The Beatles and their relationship with their fanbase. It concludes with an examination of the importance of picture houses to the development of the group’s popularity, soon labelled Beatlemania.
