SAMMY DAVIS JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME – JFF 2018 Review

St. Louis Jewish Film Festival
Sunday, June 3, 2018 at 7pm
USA • English
Director: Sam Pollard
Documentary: 100 minutes
With musical introduction by close-harmony group The Caesars, including some Sammy Davis Jr. signature hits 

In the late 1950s the Rat Pack was the pinnacle of cool, a collection of entertainer pals including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford – and Sammy Davis Jr. The multi-talented Sammy Davis Jr.,  the only African American member of that elite group, was a major star in the 1950s-1960s, although today less well-remembered than Sinatra. The documentary SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME might correct that, introducing younger audiences to how amazingly talented Davis was, and how remarkable was his life.

Director Sam Pollard’s documentary SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME is as much a crowd-pleaser as the charismatic star himself. Pollack takes us through Sammy Davis’ life and career, an amazing journey of a man no amount of hardships could keep down, something the entertainer described in his autobiography, “Yes, I Can.”

In the documentary, Davis himself jokes about how much an outsider he was, describing himself as Jewish, black, and Puerto Rican and joking that when he “moved into a neighborhood, I wipe it out,” comically mocking the “white-flight” of the era. Yet Davis’ enormous charm and astonishing talent – as a singer, dancer, impressionist, actor, comic and all-round entertainer – allowed him to achieve amazing success despite the racial prejudices of the era.

SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME introduces us to this complex, multi-talented man, whose life was a series of remarkable highs and lows. Director Pollack reveals little known facts and gives insights into some of the more puzzling twists as he takes us on a tour of this amazing life. The film delves into the controversies and contradictions of this complicated person, and showcases his enormous talent in a series of performance clips.

The film has been a hit at film festivals and particularly wowed audiences in Israel. Pollack uses archival footage of talk show appearances, stills and movie footage of the entertainer from childhood onward, clips of the Rat Pack on stage, footage of his many films, plus the infamous hug of President Richard Nixon. Why a black entertainer would hug a president many African Americans hated is one of the fascinating insights you will learn in this intriguing portrait.

A diminutive man, Sammy Davis Jr. had a stage presence and voice big enough to filled the largest stage, even St. Louis’ own Fox Theater in 1982. Born to a Puerto Rican mother and African American father, little Sammy Davis, Jr. began entertaining at the age of three, the last of the era of vaudeville entertainers born into show biz families who grew up on stage with little or no formal education. Despite that, the self-educated Davis’ native intelligence shines through in interviews and smart comic patter. Touring with his father’s band, the cute little boy started as a dancer but soon displayed a golden singing voice and, a gift for mimicry, doing impressions of movie stars of the day. Adding a sharp comic wit made him into a charismatic all-round entertainer. Even as a little kid, Sammy moved from stage to movies, while still keeping his father’s band in business. He grew up in front of an audience.

It was a remarkable childhood but the documentary spotlights the whole of Davis’ life, which was as full of heartache as triumphs, and unfolded against the shifting racial attitudes of the era. The film covers his affairs and marriages to white women at a time when those marriages were still illegal on many states, his mid-life conversion to Judaism after a horrific accident, his close friendships with Jerry Lewis and Frank Sinatra, and his strange connection with Richard Nixon. If the film has a shortcoming, it is that it is lighter on Davis’ later life and mostly omits his last happy marriage to his wife Altovise.

The life the documentary reveals is one of the most unique in American culture, not just in entertainment but in how it intersects with the political movements of its time, both Civil Rights and the anti-Vietnam War movement. One of the most enjoyable aspects of this film is the amount of clips of Davis performing, which reveals how astonishing talent his talent was, and the personal charm that allowed him to win over audiences, even those pre-disposed against him. Davis was a figure who continually re-invented himself, as the documentary reveals.

SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME is a thoroughly enjoyable film, and one does really get a sense of the man, his personal charm and great talents, and the irrepressible spirit that lead him to repeated rise again every time life knocked him down.