A Hard Day's Era

I recently watched A Hard Day's Night for the first time since I was a kid. As usual, I made a point of reading Roger Ebert's review after my viewing, and enjoyed his summary of its place in Beatles history:

"The innocence of the Beatles and 'A Hard Day's Night' was of course not to last. Ahead was the crushing pressure of being the most popular musical group of all time, and the dalliance with the mystic east, and the breakup, and the druggy fallout from the '60s, and the death of John Lennon. The Beatles would go through a long summer, a disillusioned fall, a tragic winter. But, oh, what a lovely springtime. And it's all in a movie."