In His Life: The John Lennon Story

While effectively detailing the events that shaped the life of the great singer songwriter, this NBC TV movie will nevertheless surprise (and disappoint some) fans, since it ends just as the Beatles are invited to appear on the Ed Sullivan show for the first time. (I could understand if the filmmakers had called it John Lennon: The Early Years or even The Johnny Lennon Story, but the final title is somewhat misleading.) Still, if you accept that there ain't gonna be no Yoko, or Hollywood Bowl, or Sgt. Pepper or much more after Meet The Beatles, then you're likely to enjoy Irish actor Philip McQuillan's lead turn, as the film explores Lennon's troubled early years (abandoned by his father, his mother dying), his world-altering meeting with a young lad named Paul McCartney, and his failed marriage to his first wife, Cynthia. Recommended. (R. Ray)