I am Sam

On January 25, 2002 a wonderful dramatic movie starring Sean Penn and Michelle Pfeiffer called I am Sam was released in the U.S.A.   The plot of this story is of a man, Sam Dawson, who has the mental capacity of a seven year old, who is trying to gain full time custody of his seven year old daughter, Lucy.   It is a very good movie, but what makes it particularly interesting to Beatle fans is that the main character, Sam, is one of "us."  Sam is a die hard Beatles fanatic, and many Beatles references sneak into the movie.

• Once Sam's daughter is born, a nurse asks him what her name is and Sam says "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.  Her name is Lucy Diamond Dawson"
• From there we see Sam in his apartment.  His apartment is full of John Lennon posters (New York City, Imagine self portrait, and a close up of Lennon)
• Sam is changing Lucy's diaper and is using a John Lennon "Give peace a chance" button as a diaper pin
• Several of the John Lennon "Real Love" baby clothes can be seen hanging on a clothes line in the apartment
• Sam goes over to his Beatle fan friend, Annie's apartment and they talk about Lucy's name, where Annie goes into the story of how John got the title of the song from the painting Julian drew of his friend Lucy.
• When Lucy is a bit older, she asks Sam about her mother.  Sam goes on to say that Paul McCartney's mother died when he was young, and John Lennon's mother died when he was young.
• After Sam and his friends buy school shoes for Lucy, they are all walking across a crosswalk holding balloons, and looking very much like the cover of Abbey Road
• During a Halloween party, Sam is dressed up like a 1964 Ed Sullivan Beatle, and he embarrasses his daughter by his silly behavior.
• Sam is talking to the school councilors about Lucy and he compares their situation to how everything changed after John met Yoko, and it wasn't Yoko's fault.  He says "Annie says you can hear it on the White album."
• Sam's lawyer's name is Rita Harrison.  And as Lucy says, "Rita like lovely Rita Meta Maid, and Harrison like George Harrison!"
• When the judge is asking Lucy what she got for her 7th birthday she said "I got the Help album limited edition."  She finishes her talk with the judge by saying "All you need is love"
• While on the stand, Sam talks about how Paul wrote the first part of Michelle and then gave the rest to John who wrote the "I love you I love you I love you" part.  Sam says "Annie tells me that it wouldn't be the same song without it"
• Sam moves into a new apartment and he lives at number nine.  To which he tells Lucy, "Like how John was born October 9, 1940.  And his mother lived at number 9 Newcastle in Liverpool. And Lucy adds, "Newcastle and Liverpool both have 9 numbers!"
• In Sam's new apartment the John Lennon record album of "The Lennon collection" can be slightly seen on a record rack
• There is a bench outside of Sam's apartment with a Volvo ad on the back of it.  The ad reads:  Revololution
• Sam is talking to Rita and tells her how Annie told him that George didn't write very many songs, but he did write "Here comes the Sun," which Annie says is the best song on Abbey Road. Rita then tells Sam "George was always my favorite"
• Sam wrote Lucy a letter and at the end of it he wrote "P.S. I love you like in the song"
• When Randi gives Lucy back to Sam, Sam tells her "Help because I need somebody"
• The entire soundtrack to this movie is Beatles cover songs.  The soundtrack Cd is 17 songs of Beatles covers.
• Paul and Heather attended a private screening of the movie. Paul's reaction: "You gave my fiancée a sinus infection from crying so much. Warn the audiences to bring tissues."
• I am sure there are many other references that I have forgotten about.  Please email me if you saw something I missed.
• http://www.oocities.org/Starshyne9