The Beatles in film directed by Lester. It was a satire of World War II films, and its dry, ironic British humour was not well received by American audiences. He would later produce avant-garde films with his second wife Yoko Ono, such as "Rape" which was produced for the Austrian television network ORF. In 1969, Ringo Starr took second billing to Peter Sellers in the satirical comedy "The Magic Christian", in a part which had been written especially for him. In 1971, Starr played the part of Frank Zappa in Zappa's epic cult film about a rock and roll band touring, entitled "200 Motels".
Peter Sellers British Film Institute's Screenonline, considers that although Sellers favoured playing romantic roles, he "was always more successful in parts that sent up his own vanities and pretensions, as with the TV presenter and narcissistic lothario he played in "There's a Girl in My Soup"". The film was seen as a small revival of his career. However, Sellers's next films, including Rodney Amateau's "Where Does It Hurt?" (1972) and Peter Medak's "Ghost in the Noonday Sun" (1974), were again poorly received, and his acting was viewed as frenetic rather than funny. Despite these setbacks, Sellers won the Best Actor award at