Sandwiched between A Hard Day's Night and Help!, Lester's Palme-d'Or-winning comedy is at once a period piece -- mid-sexual-revolution London -- and a timeless take on youth, insecurity, and the ineffabilities of attraction. The directing is precocious and inspired, and the performances rise to match, especially Michael Crawford as Colin, the skin-and-bones schoolteaching naif, and Ray Brooks as Tolen, the impeccably coiffed ladykiller.

Harold Check