A Man Called Adam

For some reason this film has gone sadly neglected over the years when assessing Sammy Davis, Jr. The man sung and danced and acted with the best. His trumpet playing may have been dubbed, but Davis was as real a deal talent wise as we've ever had.

A Man Called Adam casts Davis as a trumpet player who's been on a downward spiral for 10 years ever since he lost a wife and child in a car accident. Even dissipated and drunk as he is the talent is there and he still gets bookings. But the jazz clubs are disappearing as well as his concentration.

When he gets himself involved with Cicely Tyson the only question has she come too late to be a salvation for him?

Ossie Davis plays Tyson's uncle and guardian and the great Louis Armstrong is Davis's mentor. No doubt Sammy was learning from the best. Might have been nice to see some of Satchmo's own playing.

I'd love to know how Davis managed to get Peter Lawford and Frank Sinatra, Jr. in the same film. Lawford and Sinatra Sr. had broken off all relations four years earlier. Still Davis of all the clan members kept up a friendship with Peter Lawford who plays a big booking agent. Sinatra, Jr. plays an up and coming jazz trumpeter who idolizes Davis and takes quite a bit of guff from him during the film.

A Man Called Adam is a nicely acted film all around by its cast and it should be better known. Especially when assessing the whole career of Sammy Davis, Jr.