Jazz In Film

The Film: A Man Called Adam

The Year: 1966

The Director: Leo Penn

The Stars: Sammy Davis Jr., Ossie Davis, Cicely Tyson, Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra Jr., Peter Lawford, Mel Torme, Lola Falana, Jeanette Dubois, Johnny Brown, George Rhodes and Henry Silva.

The Music: Scored by Benny Carter with Sammy Davis ghosted by Nat Adderley. Performances by Louis Armstrong, Billy Kyle, Buster Bailey, Tyree Glenn, Kai Winding, Jo Jones, Frank Wes and Mel Torme.

The Story: Sammy Davis Jr. does a great job as the film’s central character Adam Johnson, a famous self-destructive, unlikable jazz trumpeter finds himself unable to cope with the problems of everyday life. He finds true love for the first time with a virginal bleeding heart: a sensible civil rights activist who wants to reform the hotheaded 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. Much better are Ossie Davis as a friend with a strong center and endless patience, as well as love-interest Cicely Tyson. 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.

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