Fan club office

 

Here we have Mary "aka Anne Collingham," Paul, George, John and a mystery person that no one ever knew who he was!  

The Rejection is Mutual (1971)

 

The Rejection is Mutual (Edited)

By Nick Kazan

The San Francisco Chronicle

July 11, 1971

This is part of a larger article about independent filmmakers in San Francisco in the early 1970s.  The part  about the letter filmmaker Bruce Conner received from John Lennon is of interest to this site, so that is the part I am reproducing.  

 

    Bruce Connor, who has a gentle face, stringy hair, and beard, describes himself as 73 years old and is hoping to move on from his home movies. "I want to make movies in Hollywood. I want to make technicolor epics in stereophonic sound."  He realizes he will lose some freedom, but seems to welcome the challenge. "You don't try to play canasta in a hard poker game."

     An example of how meticulous Connor is, and of the artistic freedom he will lose if he goes big, is a film called Looking for Mushrooms, which Connor shot in 1961 in Mexico. He cut the film from 15 to three minutes. Three years later, he added sound. In 1967, he heard The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", and re-edited his movie to fit that song. The film, which now lasts a little over two minutes, was six years in production.

     On its completion, Connor mailed copies to all the Beatles and asked John Lennon for a fan letter. Lennon replied, in part:

 Dear Bruce Conner, you don't know me, but I know you, and you are my fave rave, and I'd like a Fab Gear photo of you, and your family, and all your hogs, and cats. You must keep being such a world famous, and I'm not just saying that becaz you are so, as I said, known, and don't just think of me as some little, well, you know, CONNER MANIAC.  I'm a truly introverted admimmeror, and it's my sister what likes the monkees, even though you are old and hairy. I love you, even though you are married tell your wife not to worry, it's not a deep down mother-- greasy knicker kind of love, it's a warmhighkneeholdDaveClarkkindoftruebluesort of thing, John Lennon.

     "It was so weird", Connor said, "writing him and getting the letter, you know, trying to relate to these people who are in your life all the time.

     "After I got the letter, I suffered from an acute attack of Beatlemania; I got very drunk and sent John a gushy letter, and never heard from him again."

Beatles Fluff and Stuff

I was familiar with this letter George wrote to a fan named "Susan,"  where he gives her hilarious instructions on how to wash his car.   I was pleased to have found a newspaper article from 1991 that provides the backstory of this letter when it first went up for auction. 

Beatles Fluff and Stuff set to make £2000!

No author listed

The Stratheard Herald

August 16, 1991

    A Jelly Baby destined for George Harrison's mouth, a piece of toast snatched from his jaws, some fluff from under his carpet. All these and more are due to go on sale at Christie's Auction. 

    Sue Henderson, age 44, of Rossal, The Ross Comrie, was brought up in Liverpool, where she became a besotted Beatles fan by the age of 15. She explained that "A girl came to work in my office, who knew John Lennon. She took me to the Cavern Club, which cost 9d to get in, and I met the band backstage."

     Sue was fired by an obsession that had branded her as The Beatles' "number one fan." "I went to the Cavern regularly, and as they became more popular, I had to go down early to be sure to get into the club.  I often got the bus, which George Harrison's father drove. He used to tell me I was crackers to queue up so long just to see them."

     Driven by adoration, Sue called on George Harrison's parents while he was away playing in Hamburg. They asked her in for tea, and her subsequent visits provided ample opportunity for collecting material, such as a discarded sock and a twig from his hedge. 

    "I pleaded with his mother to let me wash George's Ford Anglia. She thought I was nuts!" But her slavish service earned her a letter from George Harrison, which gives humorous instructions on how to go about the task. The letter is now valued at between £ 600 and £ 800.

     Now married with two children, Sue moved to Comrie with her Scots-born husband over two years ago, when they decided to opt for village life. "Obviously, I'm selling the collection because I want the money. I think that's the reason everyone sells memorabilia, if they're honest. I'm hoping it will pay for a family holiday, perhaps to Disneyland."

     Although she hasn't been in touch with George, Sue sent him a note at the time she arranged for the sale, enclosing a photograph of his mother. 

    While not expecting him to get in touch, she said," but I did say, 'Wouldn't your mum laugh to think of this stuff being worth money now?'"

     A spokesman for Christie's said Sue's collection also includes valuable archive material, photographs, autobiography items, and a list of Harrison's record collection showing influences on his music.

Posting a letter

 

Read some fan mail

 

Dear John....

 

Fan mail

 March 12, 1964

Fun Beatles Fact:  The fan mail used in this scene was actual Beatles fan mail brought in from the Beatles British Fan Club office.   It is fun to think that about how a real Beatles fan wrote the guys a letter and that letter became a prop in their first movie. 

Backstage with fan mail in Liverpool

 May 26, 1963 

Mail call!

 July 2, 1964 - London

Ringo digs into the fan mail.

 

Going through the mail

At one point, the Beatles were getting 10,000 letters a week -- and that was just from fans in the United States! 

Posing with the fan mail

I always like to think that the Beatles wanted to answer fan mail, but just couldn't due to the sheer volume of it all.  

Always fan mail to answer

Happy Birthday Paul!

Happy Birthday to Paul McCartney!    Best wishes to Paul for another happy and healthy year.   In celebration, here are some photos of Paul opening up birthday cards from fans on his 25th birthday.

Thank you note

George wrote this fan, Roy, a note in March of 1969 after he wrote to Harrison and told him how his professor was putting down the Beatles and he stuck up for them.    Way to go Roy---and George approved!

Valentine's Day at Beatles Fan club headquarters

I get the mail it never fails....

If I don't meet them---I will die

This letter is very funny and I think it was very kind for the person that sent it to kindly respond.  

Thanks for Donald

Somehow I think a fan sent Ringo a Donald Duck to help him change his mind about hating the Disney character.    Carol was lucky to get a response back from Ringo!

Dear Ringo...

Remember to click to make bigger

This is just too cute.   First of all why did she send Ringo a postcard with a photo of himself on it?  She sends the fan mail to Ringo's home in Liverpool, which he no longer lived in by 1965, but she most likely found the address in a fan magazine and so we can forgive her for that.  I love how she calls out her friend, Marlilou Saxton from Villa Park, Illinois for starting to dislike Ringo.    That is basically the main point of this note was to let Ringo know that there is one fan out there that is starting to dislike him, but not Laura---she will always love Ringo!