Imagine (1972 film)
Imagine | |
---|---|
Directed by | Steve Gebhardt John Lennon Yoko Ono |
Starring | John Lennon Yoko Ono Daniel Richter Fred Astaire Dick Cavett Jonas Mekas |
Country of origin | USA |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Running time | 70 min. |
Original release | |
Release | December 23, 1972 |
Imagine is a 1972 television film by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, filmed mostly at their Tittenhurst Park home in Ascot, England, during 1971, and intended for television. All the songs from Lennon's 1971 Imagine album appear in the soundtrack, and also the songs "Mrs. Lennon" and "Don't Count the Waves", from Ono's 1971 album Fly.
Synopsis
The program consists mostly of "film promos" around the song selection, interspersed with occasional slices of Lennon and Ono's life together, and also fantasy and "gag" sequences. In one of these, a succession of men (ranging from Lennon and Ono's assistants to celebrities including Fred Astaire, Jack Palance, Dick Cavett, and even George Harrison) escort Ono over and over through a doorway; in another, John and Yoko lose each other on the Tittenhurst grounds, and go looking.
Production
The director of photography was Daniel Richter, who was personal photographer for Lennon and Ono in the early 1970s. He earlier gained recognition playing the character Moonwatcher (an ape-man) in the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The title song "Imagine", was used years later in a worldwide simultaneous broadcast, to commemorate Lennon's life and music, on what would have been his 50th birthday (9 October 1990).
The film originally ran for 70 minutes. The VHS version, released in 1985 in the UK and 1986 in the US was trimmed to 55 minutes. "Mind Train" was completely cut, as was half of "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier", Yoko's whisper piece, which originally came after "Mind Train", and all of "Midsummer New York". The original 70 minute cut of the film was later released on DVD and Blu-ray packaged with the 2002 documentary Gimme Some Truth (The Making of Imagine) as part of a massive reissue campaign centered around the Imagine album in 2018. The film also saw a limited theatrical release in September 2018.[1]
References
External links
- 1972 television films
- 1970s musical films
- American documentary films
- American films
- American musical films
- Documentary films about the Beatles
- Documentary films about music and musicians
- English-language films
- Films directed by John Lennon
- Films directed by Yoko Ono
- Films shot in Surrey
- Music documentary film stubs