Erik Nelson’s documentary “Daytime Revolution,” at the M.V. Film Center on Jan. 10, offers a compelling microcosm of the U.S. in 1972. It looks at an extraordinary week in which John Lennon and Yoko Ono co-hosted “The Mike Douglas Show,” the most popular daytime television program, with 40 million viewers weekly. The combination was audacious. Lennon and Ono were entrenched in radical politics, while Douglas’ show was thoroughly mainstream. The result is fascinating.
Ono and Lennon were free to invite whomever they wished to be guests over the five days, and the list is intriguing: Bobby Seale, co-founder of the Black Panther Party; comic truthteller George Carlin; and Chuck Berry and Ralph Nadar, to name just a few.
Nelson intersperses the five shows with news footage reflecting the often explosive nature of the time — the Vietnam War, Nixon-era politics, busing controversies, and the like. He also includes contemporary interviews with six of the guests, who share their extraordinary experiences of appearing with famous icons, notably Lennon.
On the first day, Ono explained that their agenda for the show was to improve the world and reach Middle America. Douglas asked what they wanted to discuss, and the couple answered, “Love, peace, communication, women’s liberation, racism, war, prisons, life in general. The future is going to be very beautiful.”
Lennon and Ono selected guests who in their own way contributed to that optimistic perspective. Lennon engaged Nadar in discussing his book “Let’s Start the Revolution,” which offered practical advice for voters, including strategies, tactics, and messaging. He also urged students to contribute money to start nonprofit groups that they would run to work toward positive change. Douglas asked Yippie founder Jerry Rubin what he believed was right about the U.S. Rubin responded that there are people in this country who want to change it, and he trusts that they will. Bobby Seale talked about how the controversial group’s focus had shifted to creating positive programs that provided free food, medical care, and so forth, emphasizing that that was how they were working toward real freedom.
Each show also had music, whether it was Ono performing with a band and Lennon on backup or vice versa. Lennon also brought on his idol, Chuck Berry, whom he clearly worshipped. “He’s the greatest rock and roll poet,” he told Douglas. Musicians Chris Kando Iijima and Nobuko JoAnne Miyamoto performed a stirring song about the struggles of Asian Americans.
Although the Beatles had broken up the year before, there was still plenty of conversation about them, and Lennon delivers a fantastic rendition of “Imagine.” Ono is anything but a wallflower. She consistently makes her presence felt, sometimes answering questions directed at Lennon, or interrupting him. The couple’s bond shines through, especially in Lennon’s entertaining story of how they met, instantly recognizing that they were on the same wavelength.
Over the week, Douglas, Lennon, and Ono become increasingly comfortable and facile in interacting with one another and their guests. At the end of the last show, there is a particularly touching moment that reflects the authenticity of their friendship.
Given the turbulence of our present time, the film leaves us wondering how a similar week of shows might be constructed now — who would host them, and which guests might be invited.
“Daytime Revolution” is playing at the M.V. Film Center on Friday, Jan. 10, at 7:30 pm. For information and tickets, visit mvfilmsociety.com.
