A Man Called Adam

Adam Johnson (Sammy Davis Jr.) is a troubled self-destructive famous jazz musician. He drinks too much. He is too bitter after some personal tragedy. His best friend Nelson Davis (Ossie Davis) has brought over civil rights activist Claudia Ferguson (Cicely Tyson) and her grandfather Willie Ferguson (Louis Armstrong). At first, Adam is brutal with his guests which he regrets. Sometimes, he teaches and mentors Vincent (Frank Sinatra Jr.). His manager Manny (Peter Lawford) wants him to shut up and play.

This is an interesting indie. At least, it looks indie. There is a mix of musicians and professional actors, both do well. It is a bit of a mess cinematically. They are definitely trying a lot especially Sammy. The music is great. More than anything, this movie needs to rein in the rambling story.

This film, made in 1966, was a bold attempt at addressing the contemporary conflicts of race and identity as it affected an African American jazz musician during the turbulent civil rights era. Adam (Sammy Davis Jr.) is a celebrated yet self destructive jazz musician and womanizer. Possessing a mean temper with a short fuse, he also has a serious drinking problem. In the opening scenes we are introduced to Adam leading his band in a sensuous slow number to an appreciative audience at a jazz club. When a drunken audience member insists he play something up-tempo, the volatile Adam abruptly stops playing and nearly assaults his heckler before storming out of the club and hopping a plane back to New York without explanation. Arriving home drunk with a sexy stewardess whose name he can't remember (a very lovely Lola Falana in her first screen role, which amounts to a brief cheesecake walk-on) Adam inconveniently discovers his apartment has been loaned for the week-end by his best friend (played by Ossie Davis) to a respected, elderly jazz musician (Louis Armstrong) and his chaperon/grand-daughter, a young civil rights activist (Cicely Tyson). Honored by the presence of the senior musician and attracted to his grand- daughter's sharp wit, politic-ism, and natural beauty (unlike the other African American actresses in this film, Tyson wears her hair in a short afro and wears little to no make-up). To his best friend's dismay, Adam attempts to embark upon a serious relationship with the activist, and to meet her challenge to him to be "nothing less and nothing less" than what what he is, "a man. With the support of his no-nonsense girlfriend and his young protégé (Frank Sinatra Jr.) Adam's efforts to tame his drinking and his anger look promising until an unexpected confrontation with the police tips the scale. Neither the elder musician's (Armstrong) brand of courteous subservience nor Tyson's subscription to non- violent protest works for Adam, In an era where his art cannot shield him from the stigma and crisis of his race, Adam is a time-bomb waiting to happen. Davis' performance is riveting as is Tyson's. The issues presented in this film were raw at the time of its making, and Davis and Tyson present African American characters that were almost unprecedented in their dramatic intensity and three dimensionality--an exception would be Ivan Dixon and Abbey Lincoln's startling performances in "Nothin' But AMan", (1961). Rat-pack bad boy Peter Lawford joins the cast as Adam's powerful and vindictive agent who, after twice being humiliated by Adam (don't miss the scene in famed NY restaurant, 21), blackballs him, then forces him back to the humiliation of the segregated south. Also look for a brief yet strong performance from an uncredited Jan'et DuBois ("Willona" on 1970s TV show, "Good Times") as Adam's pride-less sometimes girlfriend, and Academy award winning actor Morgan Freeman an extra in a party scene featuring singer Mel Torme.

HOW have i never seen this before? and why is it rated so low? check out that cast list. Sammy Davis Junior as star horn player Adam Johnson. Louie Armstrong is "Willie". Ossie Davis is Davis. Cicely Tyson is the love interest. co-stars Frank Sinatra Junior, Mel Torme, Peter Lawford is his agent Manny. Lola Falana, Morgan Freeman. has a greater cast ever been in one film?? Adam has experienced so much loss, it comes out in his horn playing. he's wild, explosive. eccentric. and when they get into a hassle with the local coppers, he fights for his rights, and refuses to bow down. great stuff, if a little over the top. but to be fair, it was 1966, right in the heart of the fight for civil rights. Really Good! Directed by Leo Penn, father of Sean Penn. has his own interesting story. One of the last films of Louis Armstrong... he even sings a couple songs. Highly recommend this one!

The good:

• The great performance from Sammy Davis, who has such screen presence and exudes cool. Cicely Tyson (RIP!) is good in this too.

• The jazz soundtrack, with performances from Louis Armstrong and Mel Torme, who were both a treat to see.

• The spotlight on racism in society and in the police force, and in a minor key, allusions to the tension between passive nonviolence and fighting back in reaction to it.

The bad:

• Davis's character is unlikeable. He's been traumatized but is a complete jerk to everyone around him, and I think we're meant to have the same reaction as the other characters, which is to forgive him because he's so talented.

• The plot is melodramatic and lacks creative focus. It's too bad it kept going back to Davis imploding instead of other more interesting things.

The ugly:

• The treatment of Tyson's character. I hated how she succumbed to Davis after he forces himself on her, failing the first time and succeeding the second (just keep assaulting 'em fellas, and they'll give in). She forgives his bad behavior like a saint, and in one nausea-inducing moment, blames herself for having softened him too much by telling him to behave better. Ugh.

Great late Kennedy/early LBJ urban look to this film. A lot of it is set inside The Great Hipster Jazz Club with lots of Jackie hair do's on the gals and narrow black ties and glasses on the guys (horn rims for the Ofays and shades for the Brothers). You expect to see Lei Roi Jones, before he became Amiri Baraka, flagging down a cocktail waitress and Capote holding forth to Jill St. John (or vice versa). And there are three very good musical interludes featuring Satch, Mel and Sammy, respectively. Also, it's good to see Cicely Tyson just before she hit it big as well as Satch playing a character at least somewhat removed from himself.

Otherwise, this thing's a bore with endless, repetitive scenes of the title character either about to fall apart, falling apart or feeling guilty after falling apart, and Davis' performance, to put it at its kindest, is more energetic than nuanced. And Les and Tina Pine's dialogue is strictly from Squaresville, as they would have Adam say. C plus.

PS...Peter Lawford was forty two when this movie was made and easily looks sixty two. Ah, the vagaries of The Pack!