Books in the British Film Guides series

Dubbed 'the Citizen Kane of juke-box movies' and recently given a high-profile release on a two-disc DVD, 'A Hard Day's Night', directed by Richard Lester and produced by United Artists, is viewed by Stephen Glynn as that rare event - a cheap exploitation movie that has entered the cultural canon.

Described by Stuart Hall as 'one of the most riveting and important films produced by a black writer in recent years', My Beautiful Laundrette was a significant production for its director Stephen Frears and its writer Hanif Kureshi.

Released in 1971, "Get Carter" fell out of fashion until the cultural changes of the 1990s gave a new currency to its pessimistic vision of a doomed male within a decaying social order. Steve Chibnall places the film in its social context, describes its making and discusses its characteristics.