A Man Called Adam

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!

I am floored that I have never seen this film before...much less ever heard of it! And now I am hooked until the end. The cast, the era, the theme, the music and even the opening is WORTH the price of admission on Netflix!

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.

Sammy Davis Jr. does well with a self-destructive, unlikable role, that of a jazz trumpet player (with the ridiculously Anglo-ized name of Adam Johnson) who finds true love for the first time with a virginal bleeding heart: a sensible civil rights activist who wants to reform the hot-headed musician of his hard liquor and hard-living. Adam, carrying around a multitude of shoulder-chips, lashes out at everybody and never seems to land on his feet; after burning all his bridges, he finds himself at the end of his professional rope--yet the faithful are still hopeful he can make a comeback. Davis mimes the trumpet well enough, but this character is tough to take (if he's not humiliating himself, he's hurting all his loved ones). Much better are Ossie Davis as a friend with a strong center and endless patience, as well as love-interest Cicely Tyson (her sparkling smile is particularly ingratiating, though she has a speech late in the movie about robbing Davis of his manhood that plays all wrong). Mel Tormé stops the show with a terrific rendition of "All That Jazz", while the superb soundtrack and Jack Priestley's gleaming cinematography are first-rate throughout. Director Leo Penn is best at the smaller bits of business; the action happening just left of center is far more interesting than the film's big dramatic moments, which tend to run away from Penn. Worse, the montage-heavy final act is movie-shorthand for the Last Hurrah, a worn-out cliché even in 1966. ** from ****

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.