'I blinded you, man...'
...sez Sammy.
"Yeah, but you paid my hospital bills..." sez Johnny Brown.
That's the "turn off the tv" moment. The flick oscillates between such corny dialog, faux-hip and some real nice mid-60s cool jazz feel, anticipating the social conscious issues of the late 60s.
Music's def cool - Armstrong has a great live number, showing more of his soul side than most of then "Hello Dolly"-like saccharine bits he did on 60s tv. Sammy channels Chet Baker in the opening scene, blowing vocals & horn... Nat Adderly does Sammy's playing, so if you close your eyes the sound is believable...
Seeing Brown do a serious role before "Laugh-In" was eye-opening, even if he was blind. Sammy Davis, shrimpy small with one eye kicking ass is laughable, but he does have style while faking tough...
Mel Torme looks completely hungover singing at a party, but it's a great party scene & song, altho Jack E. Leonard is lurking about... Peter Lawford is pitiful as a power broker... (He's better in another '66 flick - The Oscar - where's he's powerful as a pitiful has-been actor [more closer to true self]...)
Frankie Jr. is surprisingly not bad as the neophyte horn player, but it is eerie watching him riff on his father's mannerisms. Guess if re-made today Ronan Farrow could do the role...
Ozzie Davis dials up his standard "black and proud but nice" man persona; Cicely Tyson keeps her over-bite in check, displaying her sensitivity that charmed audiences. Lola Falana gives a glimpse of how hot she would ultimately become.
Great window into many black performers who were prominent in the 1960s/70s.
Ultimately the whole thing plays as a Rat Pack tax write-off, trying to be hip
while fund-raising for the NAACP. Perhaps Leo Penn played it for Sean & his other sons when they were growing up. Penn & the writers Pine were rooted in 50s-60s tv and the vibe sometimes suffer from not being cinematic and too much like tv.
But worth it for anyone who has an interest in the period and the stars... As unique a film as there was in 1966...