Richard Lester

Director

January 19, 1932 (74 years)

† March 25, 2006

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Biography

Richard Lester (born 19 January 1932) is an American-born British-based film director notable for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the Superman film series in the 1980s.

Filmography

6.8

Superman II

Three Kryptonian criminals led by General Zod team up with Lex Luthor to conquer Earth, forcing a depowered Superman to regain his strength and stop them.

5.5

Superman III

Aiming to defeat the Man of Steel, wealthy executive Ross Webster hires bumbling but brilliant Gus Gorman to develop synthetic kryptonite, which yields some unexpected psychological effects. Between rekindling romance with his high school sweetheart and saving himself, Superman must contend with a powerful supercomputer.

6.7

The Three Musketeers

In 17th century France, young D'Artagnan wants to join the King's Musketeers, but instead befriends three legendary musketeers—Athos, Porthos, and Aramis—and together, they become embroiled in the political intrigue surrounding King Louis XIII and his adversaries, particularly the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.

7.3

A Hard Day's Night

Capturing John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in their electrifying element, 'A Hard Day's Night' is a wildly irreverent journey through this pastiche of a day in the life of The Beatles during 1964. The band have to use all their guile and wit to avoid the pursuing fans and press to reach their scheduled television performance, in spite of Paul's troublemaking grandfather and Ringo's arrest.

6.4

The Four Musketeers

The Four Musketeers defend the queen and her dressmaker from Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter.

6.2

Juggernaut

A terrorist demands a huge ransom in exchange for information on how to disarm the seven bombs he has planted aboard a trans-Atlantic cruise ship. Inspired by real events.

6.0

Petulia

Dr. Archie Bollen is having a midlife crisis. He's just divorced his wife and is establishing a new life for himself. One night, he catches the eye of Petulia Danner, a charming, free-spirited young woman. Petulia's vibrant personality hides her fear of her abusive husband, David, whose father is a powerful society figure. As Petulia and Archie's feelings for each other grow, they must decide what it is they truly want.

6.2

The Return of the Musketeers

It's 1649: Mazarin hires the impoverished D'Artagnan to find the other musketeers: Cromwell has overthrown the English king, so Mazarin fears revolt, particularly from the popular Beaufort. Porthos, bored with riches and wanting a title, signs on, but Aramis, an abbé, and Athos, a brawler raising an intellectual son, assist Beaufort in secret. When they fail to halt Beaufort's escape from prison, the musketeers are expendable, and Mazarin sends them to London to rescue Charles I. They are also pursued by Justine, the avenging daughter of Milady de Winter, their enemy 20 years ago. They must escape England, avoid Justine, serve the Queen, and secure Beauford's political reforms.

6.9

Help!

An obscure Eastern cult that practices human sacrifice pursues Ringo after he unknowingly puts on a ceremonial ring (that, of course, won't come off). On top of that, a pair of mad scientists, members of Scotland Yard, and a beautiful but dead-eyed assassin all have their own plans for the Fab Four.

6.0

The Knack... and How to Get It

A nebbish schoolteacher begs his smooth (and misogynistic) pal to teach him 'the knack' – how to score with women. Serendipitously, the men meet up with a new girl in town, as well as a friendly lunatic who can’t help but paint things white.

6.3

Robin and Marian

Robin Hood, aging none too gracefully, returns exhausted from the Crusades to woo and win Maid Marian one last time.

5.5

Cuba

A British mercenary arrives in pre-Revolution Cuba to help train the corrupt General Batista's army against Castro's guerrillas while he also romances a former lover now married to an unscrupulous plantation owner.

5.9

Royal Flash

Cowardly rogue Harry Flashman's (Malcolm McDowell) schemes to gain entry to the royal circles of 19th-century Europe go nowhere until he meets a pair of devious nobles with their own agenda. At their urging, Flashman agrees to re-create himself as a bogus Prussian nobleman to woo a beautiful duchess. But the half-baked plan quickly comes unraveled, and he's soon on the run from several new enemies who are all calling for the rapscallion's head.

6.3

The Mouse on the Moon

Sequel to The Mouse that Roared; The Tiny Country of Grand Fenwick has a hot water problem in the castle. To get the money necessary to put in a new set of plumbing, they request foreign aid from the U.S. for Space Research. The Russians then send aid as well to show that they too are for the internationalization of space. While the grand Duke is dreaming of hot baths, their one scientist is slapping together a rocket. The U.S. and Soviets get wind of the impending launch and try and beat them to the moon.

5.4

Finders Keepers

On the run from the police and a female roller derby team, scam artist Michael Rangeloff steals a coffin and boards a train, pretending to be a soldier bringing home a dead war buddy. He gets more than he bargained for from the train and the coffin.

6.1

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

A wily slave must unite a virgin courtesan and his young smitten master to earn his freedom.

5.6

How I Won the War

An inept British WWII commander leads his troops to a series of misadventures in North Africa and Europe.

5.9

The Bed Sitting Room

In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room.

6.0

The Ritz

To escape from a mobster, businessman Gaetano Proclo orders a cab driver to take him to a place where he can't be found. Unfortunately for Gaetano, the place turns out to be a gay bathhouse.

5.0

Butch and Sundance: The Early Days

Before the adventures that made them legends, they were charming mastermind Robert Leroy Parker, alias Butch Cassidy, and crack-shot outlaw Harry Alonzo Longabaugh, soon to be known as The Sundance Kid. This is the 'prequel' of how they met, their first clumsy robberies, the heroic dangers that abound them together, the secret that nearly tore them apart, and the impossible train heist that made them notorious for life. Saddle up and ride with the showdowns, shootouts, bad guys and good times in the days before the fame when fun was the name of the game.