Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me
Directed by Sam Pollard
USA | 2017 | Documentary | 100 min
Film Source: Menemsha
Sponsor: Jane Michaud
Sammy Davis, Jr. is probably best known today as a member of the Rat Pack — the hard-drinking, wisecracking, womanizing entertainers, led by Frank Sinatra, who ruled Vegas in the ’60s. Yet I’ve Gotta Be Me reveals a far more complex figure than his onstage persona: a dogged individualist who helped bridge racial divides while facing discrimination from all sides. Samuel Pollard’s briskly entertaining documentary surveys Davis’ entire career, from his childhood days on the vaudeville circuit to his Broadway triumphs as a pioneering black star and his highly publicized conversion to Judaism following a near-fatal 1954 car accident. As the film examines, Davis endured racist threats for his relationships with white actresses Kim Novak and May Britt, yet he was also scorned by blacks for his perceived white lifestyle and his friendship with President Nixon during the Vietnam era. But throughout the controversies, he remained an indefatigable performer and brilliant impressionist who could sing, dance and act with equal aplomb. Sammy Davis, Jr. could do it all — and he always did it his way. ~LB