Imagine

Perhaps John and Yoko's best known film production was their 70 minute colour film Imagine. The couple used over 40,000 feet of film in making this visual promotion for their Autumn 1971 released albums Imagine and Fly. They were filmed together in various scenes, mainly set around Tittenhurst Park in Ascot, England and mostly shot there on; Wednesday 21st July 1971 (The boat to the island scene and the surreal version of Chess) , Thursday 22nd July (Scenes in the early morning mist, singing 'Imagine' and the album artwork photo shoot) and Friday 23rd July (Going to the toilet, in the bath together). Other footage included the early summer studio activity and a July 6th party shot by Jonas Mekas at Allen Klein's home in New York where he, John & Yoko and various stars including Jazz trumpet genius Miles Davis, celebrated the conclusion of the Imagine album recording sessions. On July 15th the Lennons were filmed signing copies of Yoko's recently re-published book of verse Grapefruit. Further filming took place on the August 11th demo for OZ magazine, and there were various other scenes shot in England and New York during that summer. The movie was eventually premiered on American television on 23rd December 1972 by which time both albums had been available for over a year.



The running order for the original film was Imagine (this sequence shows John and Yoko walking in the mist to their front door, John is then seen playing the song on his white piano in a white room as Yoko opens the blinds), Crippled Inside (John sat posing for a photographer in the garden plus 6th July 1971 party footage), Jealous Guy (Helicopter views of John & Yoko being picked up by a car outside their home which then drives them to the lake where they get into a small boat, John then rows them to an island in the middle of the lake on which there is a small summer house), Don't Count The Waves (now inside the summer house John and Yoko are playing an interesting variation of chess in which all the pieces and squares are white, Yoko reveals her stockinged right leg and begins to place some of the pieces down her cleavage, John responds by eating his pieces), It's So Hard (a man walking down a high street in a black bag / John in the bathroom polishing a glass box / Yoko in the corridor listening at the door), Mrs. Lennon (various shots of Yoko including a slow motion film of her crying / Yoko whispering in John's ear / John and Yoko sat on a bench by the sea / trying to find oneanother in the fog / writing in the sand), I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama (John and Yoko looking around New York and tuning in to the pulse of the city through stethoscopes / Yoko whispering to John who then passes the message on to a sleeping man on a park bench / waltzing together past onlookers / footage of war and demonstration riots / Yoko pretending to be a 'streetwalker' and John a client), St Regis Hotel sequence (Yoko walks arm in arm to look out of a hotel window with various different people, including Fred Astaire and George Harrison, accompanied by music that apparently reflects the personality of the participant), Mind Train (this was cut from the video release), Give Me Some Truth (a short burst of Power to the People precedes this segment which shows John and Yoko on a protest march / signing copies of Yoko's book / John recording the vocal track), Midsummer New York (cut from the video release, John and Yoko are seen sat by some large revolving orange circles), Oh My Love (on holiday in Japan), How Do You Sleep? (blindfolded John playing pool joined by Yoko in hot pants / animated bat flying over Tittenhurst), How? (returning from the island on the boat as a young woman climbs into the house and deposits a dropper pipette full of liquid into what looks like a sponge or cake), Oh Yoko! (John pruning Yoko / photo shoot / various shots of Yoko), John And Yoko (a new version of the Wedding Album track, John and Yoko are seen running towards eachother on the beach, then credits as they walk to the sea).