{"id":4903,"date":"2021-07-07T09:32:46","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T08:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shindig-magazine.com\/?p=4903"},"modified":"2021-07-07T09:32:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T08:32:46","slug":"apocalypse-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=4903","title":{"rendered":"Apocalypse, No!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Our monthly column from <a href=\"https:\/\/tsptr.com\/\">TSPTR <\/a>heads down the river\u2026 John Lennon doesn\u2019t<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Francis Coppola during production of Apocalypse Now: &quot;I&#039;m making a bad movie&quot;\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KvF9lJ17QaI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\">March 1977<\/span><span class=\"s2\">: <\/span><span class=\"s2\">American\u00a0film director,\u00a0producer and screenwriter\u00a0Francis Ford Coppola <\/span><span class=\"s2\">is<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> living out of a volcano in the Philippines while making <\/span><span class=\"s2\">his <\/span><span class=\"s2\">cinematic masterpiece<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, <\/span><span class=\"s4\"><i>Apocalypse Now<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s2\">. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">By this point the<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> film had run dramatically over budget<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> with <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Coppola himself put<\/span><span class=\"s2\">ting<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> up $30 million of his own money<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">includ<\/span><span class=\"s2\">ing<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> using his home and his winery as collateral<\/span><span class=\"s2\">. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">When filming began, Coppola\u2019s loan was at 7% interest, by the end of filming it was 29%<\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s2\">things were getting tense. It meant Coppola was searching for some extra weight <\/span><span class=\"s2\">to get <\/span><span class=\"s2\">behind the project<\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s2\">th<\/span><span class=\"s2\">at<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> weight would turn out to be John Lennon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\">It was clear to those around him that the pressures of filming were getting to Coppola. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Veteran <\/span><span class=\"s2\">crazyman<\/span> <span class=\"s2\">Dennis Hopper, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">who <\/span><span class=\"s2\">play<\/span><span class=\"s2\">ed<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> the role of \u201cthe photojournalist\u201d, once describe<\/span><span class=\"s2\">d\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s2\">working on the set as\u00a0\u201chell on earth\u201d and added that he \u201cfelt like I\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s4\">had<\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0fought in the war\u201d after it had finished such was the <\/span><span class=\"s2\">insanity<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> of the project. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Martin Sheen had a heart attack <\/span><span class=\"s2\">while filming<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, Coppola suffered epileptic seizures, numerous <\/span><span class=\"s2\">actors and crew members battled alcoholism, heavy drug binges and tropical diseases all while trying to deliver <\/span><span class=\"s2\">the <\/span><span class=\"s2\">seminal<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> epic.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s2\">The<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> tropical weather <\/span><span class=\"s2\">also <\/span><span class=\"s2\">caused havoc.\u00a0Typhoon Olga\u00a0destroyed the set 26th May, \u201976 and production was closed down. According to Dean <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Tavoularis<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, it \u201cstarted raining harder and harder until finally, it was literally\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s4\">white<\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0outside, and all the trees were bent at forty-five degrees\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\">Undeterred by the repeated setbacks Coppola<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> contacted John Lennon<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, hoping <\/span><span class=\"s2\">that by association, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">the ex-Beatles name\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s2\">would add the additional pizazz required <\/span><span class=\"s2\">to<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> pull the project out of <\/span><span class=\"s2\">its<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> money pit<\/span><span class=\"s2\">. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Coppola was a known platonic-romancer of icons such as Lennon and was <\/span><span class=\"s2\">usually <\/span><span class=\"s2\">a dab hand at getting them on board \u2013 but Lennon was a notoriously tough nut to crack.<\/span> <span class=\"s2\">He proposed an idea to Lennon about contributing to the <\/span><span class=\"s2\">score<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> of the film<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, <\/span><span class=\"s2\">that <\/span><span class=\"s2\">two greats of their field working with one another could be magical. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\">Coppola\u2019s initial letter to Lennon, dated 24th March, \u201977, read:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cDear John,<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">We\u2019ve never met but, of course, I\u2019ve always enjoyed your work.<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">I am presently in the Philippines making \u201c<i>APOCALYPSE NOW<\/i>\u201d. I\u2019ve been here eight months, expect to be here another several months. I live inside a volcano, which is a jungle paradise, where there are beautiful mineral springs; and thought <\/span><span class=\"s2\">if<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> ever you were in the Far East or if ever you would enjoy spending a <\/span><span class=\"s2\">little time talking about things in general and some distant future projects that I have in mind, please, I would love to cook dinner for you and just talk, listen to music and talk about movies.<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">If coming to the Far East is difficult, then someday in the future, either in LA, San Francisco or New York, I would like to meet you.<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">Sincerely,<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">Francis Coppola.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\">Despite his best efforts, Lennon declined the offer. <\/span><span class=\"s2\">However, new correspondence recently surfaced citing a reply from Lennon to the director. It would seem that Coppola\u2019s invitation to dinner was accepted by <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Lennon<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> and it is hinted that the pair discussed working on a new book having seen the <\/span><span class=\"s4\"><i>Apocalypse Now<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i> <\/i>project completed. Whether or not they arranged to meet up in Coppola\u2019s volcano is unknown.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\">Lennon\u2019s reply to Coppola was as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s2\">\u201cDear Frank,<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">Having given a lot more thought to this idea, I realise that due to my work schedule I really don\u2019t have the time for such a big new project.<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">I love the <\/span><span class=\"s2\">book<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> but it would take too much energy etc.<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">Best wishes to you, it was nice meeting you<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">Love,<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><br \/>\n<\/span><span class=\"s2\">John Lennon\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"s3\"><span class=\"s4\"><i>Apocalypse Now<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u2019s<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> truly harrowing and frighteningly accurate depiction of <\/span><span class=\"s2\">the United States<\/span> <span class=\"s2\">war in South East Asia, eventually went on to win \u2018Best Sound\u2019 at the\u00a052nd Academy Awards thanks to the work of\u00a0Walter Murch,\u00a0Mark Berger,\u00a0Richard <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Beggs<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, and\u00a0Nathan Boxer<\/span><span class=\"s2\">, they <\/span><span class=\"s2\">could have added <\/span><span class=\"s2\">John <\/span><span class=\"s2\">Lennon\u2019s name to the list had the former Beatle had <\/span><span class=\"s2\">just <\/span><span class=\"s2\">a little <\/span><span class=\"s2\">more spare<\/span><span class=\"s2\"> time.<\/span><\/p>\n<span class=\"synved-social-container synved-social-container-share\"><a class=\"synved-social-button 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By this point the film had run dramatically over budget with Coppola himself putting up $30 million of his [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,7],"tags":[942,943,194],"class_list":["post-4903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-music-videos","tag-apocalypse-now","tag-francis-ford-coppola","tag-john-lennon","post_format-post-format-video"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4903"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}