Daytime Revolution: A Film Review

 

Photos by Michael Leshnov, courtesy Kino Lorber

My job as an instructional coach for reading and literacy teachers around America has taken me to interesting places over the past year. Fortunately, it took me to New York City on October 9, 2024, where I could view the film Daytime Revolution at the Quad Theater. 

Over the past few years, I have seen many documentaries about John and Yoko. As you would have guessed, I have enjoyed them all.   Daytime Revolution is my favorite one since The U.S. vs. John Lennon.  

In early 1972, John and Yoko were co-hosts of the Mike Douglas Show.   Years ago, I read Mike Douglas' autobiography, so I knew that if you were asked to co-host, then you would have to choose who the guests were going to be on the show for the week.   I also know that it was a bit misleading.   The co-hosts really weren't on for a straight week.  They recorded over several weeks, and after 5 shows, they showed them all as if they were recorded one day after the other and were live. 

When John and Yoko hosted the talk show, they picked the guests and chose people who were pretty radical. These were the types of people that ladies and sick children who were watching daytime television weren't used to seeing on their screens at that time of day.   That is what this documentary is all about- the stories of the guests who were on the show and everything that happened when John and Yoko were co-hosts.

Many performers, musicians, politicians, and the cooking segment women were interviewed and looked back on their time on the show, telling previously unheard stories of John and Yoko.   I found the duo called "Yellow Pearl" to be very good and the story told by one of the singers is really great.  The way the director wrote the modern-day interviews with the 1972 interviews was amazing and made the documentary very riveting. 

As far as I was concerned, the highlight of the film was seeing John with Chuck Berry. The color is so vibrant in the film that you can see how purple Chuck's shirt really was. The sound of the performances was outstanding. But the smile on John's face and the excitement that he had while singing with Berry almost jumped off the screen. We got to witness one of the best moments of John's life—performing with his musical hero.  Even if you have seen this footage a million times on YouTube, seeing it in this film is like seeing it again for the first time.  

I also appreciated that the entire performance of John singing "Imagine" was included in the film. Usually, only part of a song is shown in a documentary, but I want to thank the filmmakers for keeping the full performance.

During the week of co-hosting, John and Yoko passed around a canvas that was signed by all of the guests and folks in the audience.  It was said it was going to be auctioned off for a charity at the end of the week.   Does anyone know anything about this?   Was it auctioned off?  Who has it and where is it now?  Does anyone recall seeing the canvas in an auction in the past 50 years?   Do you think someone has it tucked away under a bed somewhere?

I hope that the entire Mike Douglas Show with John and Yoko gets released on Blu-Ray very soon.  It was out as a VHS set back at a time when I couldn't afford it, so I have never seen the entire show.  

The film is still showing at a few select theaters around the country.  Catch it if you haven't seen it yet and it is near you.   Otherwise, you will have to wait until November when it will be out on Blu-Ray and DVD.   It is well worth your money to get it.  I know that I want to see it again.

If you are interested in pre-ordering the DVD or Blu-Ray here is the the Amazon link for the pre-orders.  Anything ordered from this affiliate link supports this page with a small percentage of the sale. Thank you for your support. 

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