Exiting

 

Peek a Boo

John and Cynthia behind Maureen and Ringo.
 

Movie Audience

Silk and Shine

 John and Cynthia attended the How I Won the War premiere in London Pavilion on October 18, 1967, starring John as Private Gripweed. Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, Ringo and Maureen Starr, George and Pattie Harrison also attended.

Coming Home From Spain

John and Cynthia Lennon, with Neil Aspinall, leaving Spain to go home in England after John finished filming How I Won the War on November 6, 1966

From Spain To Home

Cynthia's postcard to her mother while in Spain with John, who was filming How I Won the War, from September until the beginning of November in 1966. It appears that Lillian had quite a bad fall while going down the stairs... In fact, that happened to me earlier this year (January 2019)! I severely sprained my ankle and it took a good 3 months to heal. It still twinges in pain but only in short bursts. Hopefully, Lillian wasn't as hurt as I was but it could've been the same.

How I Won the War

John and Cynthia in Almeria, Spain while filming How I Won the War

On August 29, 1966, The Beatles took their final tour bow at Candlestick Park Stadium in San Francisco before heading home to an unknown phase of life. Well… John already knew: he already agreed to have a supporting role in Richard Lester's movie, How I Won the War. John also knew that he was going to spend more time with his family, and, let's be honest here: his drugs. At the time, marijuana and LSD were the favorites. But more about drugs another day. Between August 30th until September 5th, John was domestic: putting Julian to bed, puttering around the house wondering what to do now that touring was off the table.  On September 5, 1966, John flew to Germany to have his hair cut and adopted a new look with granny-glasses to become Private Gripweed. How I Won the War was John's sorta first project outside the Beatles. I say sorta because he did publish two books of his drawings and writings (In His Own Write in 1964, A Spaniard in the Works in 1965) that had nothing to do with The Beatles. Technically, his 3rd project outside The Beatles. But it was the first time he spent a longer time away from The Beatles: almost 3 months!

This time around, John could be able to have Cynthia with him… actually he had Cynthia with him a year before while filming Help! in Austria. But that was a good 2 weeks. Cynthia joined John now in Spain and stayed with him for the reminder of the time. Two weeks into filming, Cynthia traveled to Spain to be with John. He wanted to get into the groove of filming before Cynthia went to join him. In her 2005 book John, Cynthia claimed that Julian was with them but due to lack of evidence of photos and even a postcard Cynthia wrote, Julian was at home in England and starting his new school, Heath House, with his grandmother Lillian and housekeeper Dot. When Cynthia joined John on the set, he was so happy to see her that they spent some quality alone time together. John asked his driver (Les Anthony, I presume) to leave while waiting the typical long wait of filming…

"I had met John when he was not yet known and the Beatles played in small clubs in Liverpool. We loved each other a lot, but in a hurricane in the early days was not easy being the wife of a Beatle. When the tour ended, he came to Spain to shoot this movie, and I met him two weeks later, in October 1966. He was one of the most beautiful moments as a couple. I was in the desert, stuck in the car. He opened the window and called me over. We made love right there."

Cynthia, 2006

“And we got to know each other again ..."

Cynthia, 2006

Yep… John and Cynthia had sex in his black Rolls-Royce on the set of How I Won the War in Almeria, Spain. I don't know where in what point in the movie, but in general, I haven't looked the movie the same way again since that quote was discovered! I wonder if anyone saw them? Maybe quickly averted eyes and focused on getting next scene ready. Anyway, John wasn't the only one with family visiting: his co-star Michael Crawford had his wife Gabrielle Lewis and their first daughter (of two) along with the nanny with him. So, Cynthia had company while John filmed

Maureen and Ringo Starr traveling from England to Spain to keep John and Cynthia company

John and Cynthia first stayed in Delfin Verde (The Green Dolphin) near  El Zapillo, but the hotel was drabby, not a great place to stay. By the time Ringo and Maureen Starr joined them by October 4th, they moved into a villa Santa Isabel on Camino de Romero around John's birthday. Spain was a different world from England.

"I had never seen so many women together with a veil and dressed in black and they had never seen a couple so pale skin and colorful costumes. They looked at us like we were aliens. Those days were a haven of peace after a very hectic time . John was able to escape the mania, think of yourself in your future, and compose one of his most beautiful and enigmatic songs, Strawberry Fields Forever. Although my favorite is still In My Life."

Cynthia, 2006

"It was completely different from what we knew, I had never seen a woman dressed all in black."

Cynthia, 2006

Ringo and Maureen came in to keep John and Cynthia company. John must have felt alone and was happy to see familiar faces as he was in a whole new separate world.

Cynthia, Maureen, and Ringo on the set of How I Won the War watching filming from a safe distance

“I never actually went to John's villa. I know that Neil Aspinall was with him. I'm not sure about Cynthia. I think she came out to visit, whether she was there all the time or not, I don't know. Ringo came out with Maureen.”

Richard Lester, 2013

I'll give Richard (I refuse to call him Dick, a horrible nickname) a pass for not remembering that Cynthia was there because he was busy and focused on the film. Plus, he is in his 80s.

While staying at Santa Isabel, it turned out to be haunted. To soothe the restless spirits, they sang old war songs and lit candles.

“The so-called villa was owned by a baron somebody or other who charged exorbitant rent. The property was damp, tatty, and very depressing. It was only when Maureen and Ringo came out to join us for a holiday that we decided to find ourselves somewhere more comfortable, large enough to house us all for the remainder of the filming...The electricity kept going off and to top it all Maureen woke up one morning with her nightdress tied back to front in a knot. She had tied the ribbons in bows. She was adamant that Ringo was not the culprit.”

Cynthia, 1978 A Twist of Lennon

“When Maureen and Ringo flew out to join us for a holiday it was an excuse we needed to find somewhere better. We searched out a vast villa with its own pool- we were told it had once been a convent. No sooner had we moved in than we discovered the place was haunted. Light would keep going off, objects would move mysteriously and we all felt a strange presence. We planned a party to cheer the place up. As thunder and lightning raged outside, we lit dozen of candles in the huge main room. In the flickering candlelight the atmosphere softened and someone began to sing. Everyone joined in and the most beautiful, melodious sound filled the air. It was as though we were totally in harmony, musically and spiritually. After half an hour the lights suddenly came back on and the spell was broken, but it was easy to believe that we had been guided in our son by the spirits of the nuns who had once lived there.”

Cynthia, 2005 John

"It was a haunted house. The lights were off and ignited. You could hear strange noises at night. On one occasion, we celebrate a holiday and stayed in the dark. We spent the night singing songs of War world. Now that I think it is normal to see us as aliens. We had so little world that we tried the seafood and fish and chips to feed them."

Cynthia, 2006

"Once the light went off for more than half an hour, we lit some candles and began to sing traditional British songs of World War II"

Cynthia, 2006

"There, strange things happened. Things moved, the lights went off and on Once the light went out for more than half an hour, we lit some candles and started singing traditional English songs from World War II.”

Cynthia, 2006

Aside from the haunting experience, John wrote Strawberry Fields Forever. I don't know when Ringo and Maureen returned back to England, however after filming wrapped by November 6, 1966, John and Cynthia went home back to England. Right after John and Cynthia came home, he met Yoko Ono. I now wished John and Cynthia would have stayed in Spain a bit longer, turn it into a vacation of just the two of them for a few days… things would have been so different!

"But he also changed his attitude, he came back with more confidence."

Cynthia 2006

Cynthia in front of Santa Isabel villa that was abandoned before becoming a museum in 2006

In 2006, Cynthia returned to Almeria and saw the abandoned villa of Santa Isabel where she and John stayed. The villa was soon repurposed as the Museum of Cinematographic and Performing Arts of Almeria. Cynthia must have grown fond of Spain as she and husband Noel Charles moved to Majorca and spent her remaining years there… possibly the longest time Cynthia ever lived! Majorca and Almeria are about 12 hours away (by car).

Put Me in the Movies

I do plan on breaking down each movie in their own posts with behind the scenes and premieres, but this is a list post.

John

A Hard Day's Night (1964)

Help! (1965)

How I Won the War (1967)

Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

Yellow Submarine (1968)... Well John didn't do his own voice other than appearing in person at the end while married to Cynthia before their India meditation trip; Cynthia didn't have anything to do with the film, not even going to the premiere - Yoko went. There won't be a post for Yellow Submarine because of that (there's nothing to share!)

Let It Be (1970)... Another film Cynthia had nothing to do with other than going to the premiere. Unfortunately at this time, no photos of her at the premiere have resurface. Only Jane Asher's picture have been published. I hope one day in my lifetime something of Cynthia will pop up and I can share on this blog. Fingers crossed!

Cynthia

A cameo in Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

Julian

A cameo in Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

A cameo in Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

Julian's cameo in Leaving Las Vegas with Nicolas

Let's briefly discuss Leaving Las Vegas. It started Nicolas Cage; he won an Oscar/Academy Award for the role. Julian appeared as a bartender who broke up a fight and aided Nicolas's nose. That's it. I don't know how Julian got the role or anything like that.

Now, let's list the movies- most of them made for television- of people portraying John, Cynthia, and Julian on movies about the Beatles and John (and yes, I will have posts about them on their own, too):

The Birth of The Beatles (1979)

Backbeat (1994)

In His Life: The John Lennon Story (2000)

Lennon Naked (2010)

And then, there is Nowhere Boy (2009).

I have a bone to pick with Nowhere Boy. It's about John's early years pre-Beatles except there is NO Cynthia whatsoever. No character, no mention, nothing. And yet, the movie does take John in art school. There's Stuart. But no Cynthia. To be honest with you, I refuse to see it because of that. The director, Sam Taylor Wood, now Johnson, as she is now married to it's star lead Aaron Johnson, is a good friend of the McCartney family. Paul mentioned to her on how Aunt Mimi really was but failed to say that Cynthia existed? That broke my heart. Funnily enough, both Aaron and Sam have met Julian (as shown in the photos below) and Julian seemingly supported the movie at the Cannes Film Festival despite a few years earlier in the introduction on Cynthia's book, he pointed out that Cynthia's role in John's life have been treated like a footnote. Obviously this is it on Nowhere Boy as it won't have a post of its own. No Cynthia, no post. Not even a friggin’ mention!

Julian, Sam, and Aaron at the Quintessentially Party for Nowhere Boy at La Plage vitaminwater at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2009

Julian, Sam, and Aaron at Julian's Timeless photography exhibition in New York City on September 16, 2010. Cynthia was there, too.