Donald M. Ephraim Film Festival: Sammy Davis: I Gotta Be Me

Description

Sammy Davis, Jr. had the kind of career that was indisputably legendary, and yet, his life was complex, complicated and contradictory. He was the veteran of increasingly outdated show business traditions, always trying to stay relevant; he frequently found himself bracketed by the bigotry of white America and the distaste of black America.He was the most public black figure to embrace Judaism, thereby yoking his identity to another persecuted minority. Featured interviews include: Billy Crystal, Norman Lear, Whoopi Goldberg and Kim Novak, with neverbefore- seen photographs from Davis� personal collection and excerpts from his electric performances in television, film and concert, this film explores the life and art of a uniquely gifted entertainer whose trajectory blazed across the major flashpoints of American society from the Depression through the 1980s.