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‘Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan' review: How the TV variety show boosted Black talent when segregation was the norm
The documentary 'Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan' on Netflix examines the pivotal role 'The Ed Sullivan Show' played in spotlighting Black music and culture to TV audiences at a time when segregation was still the norm.
In a clip discussing his Sunday night variety show, which ran on CBS from 1948 to 1971, Sullivan keeps his intentions clear and to the point: 'It seemed to me, if you're using public air(waves), the least you can do — or TV can do — in return for this high privilege was to try to do something to bring people a little closer together.'
Sullivan died in 1974 and sometimes in the film his voice is drawn from television interviews he gave over the years. But sometimes it's courtesy of artificial intelligence — a synthetic recreation — that gives literal voice to the columns and articles he wrote over the years. I have an ethical problem with this choice. Plenty of documentary projects before the advent of AI handled this by simply hiring a talented actor to voice the written words of their subjects. It's the more honest choice and it doesn't detract from the end result. I wish filmmakers embraced that instead.
But otherwise 'Sunday Best,' from director Sacha Jenkins (who died this past May), is a fine effort that explores Sullivan's commitment to pushing back against network forces, sponsors and other interested parties who were opposed to the presence — the celebration, really — of Black people on the show.
Sullivan's influence predates all but the boomer generation, and though I've seen clips, I don't think I've ever watched an episode all the way through. My ideas around him were vague and uninformed, mostly of the stiff host tolerating the younger acts. But that impression is inaccurate and undersells his own taste; instead of the reluctant old fogie, he was keeping his finger on the pulse of pop culture and handpicked every entertainer who appeared on his show. Watching his talents more closely here, I have a real appreciation for what he was doing — and how he did it — during a period of profound social change in the U.S.
The documentary also offers an opportunity to think through the impact the show had at the time, compared to our current era, where the closest equivalent — the late-night talk show — has lost so much of its cultural relevancy when it comes to showcasing performers to a broad audience.
Sullivan's path to TV fame was unintentional. He began as a print journalist in sports. Years later, he would note: 'Sports writers get to be very critical and observant. They can tell you what makes a certain ballplayer click.' Maybe he used some of those same skills when it came to identifying which acts he wanted on his show.
Segregation never sat well with him. Using the verbiage of the era, he recalls that when he played baseball in high school, 'there were Negros in the league and some fellows said they would actually not play against a Negro. I always resented (those classmates) very deeply because the Irish had gone through that when we first came.' His parents knew bigotry was wrong. 'They weren't broad-minded, they were just sensible,' is how he puts it.
Later, as a sports writer, he covered a college football game played in New York, where the northern school benched its one Black player to appease their opponents from Georgia. Sullivan was disgusted, so he wrote about it. What a shameful state of affairs this is, of a player 'risking his neck for a school that will turn around and bench him because the University of Georgia asks that the color line be drawn.' Sullivan did not mince words: 'If a New York City university allows the Mason-Dixon line to be erected in the center of its playing field, then that New York City university should disband its football season for all time.'
He was eventually reassigned from sports to Broadway — the film doesn't explore why, or if that column was the reason — and though Sullivan was unfamiliar with the new beat, it eventually led to gala hosting opportunities, which paved the way for his career in television. He got terrible reviews at first; he wasn't a natural in front of the camera. Not that it mattered. 'I never thought I was the attraction. I just keep looking for the best thing to put on the show.' And that included Black talent. The prevailing idea at the time that 'Negro performers should be barred from TV shows on which white performers appear is both stupid and vicious,' he said.
Fifty years after it went off the air, 'The Ed Sullivan Show' is maybe most famous for appearances by Elvis Presley and The Beatles. But the list of Black musical acts Sullivan featured is long and notable, with 'Sunday Best' including clips of Bo Diddley, James Brown, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, Cab Calloway, Pearl Bailey, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes.
Jackie Wilson singing 'Lonely Teardrops' is a standout and a fascinating example of a singer taking the stage alone, without any visible musicians behind him. No dancers, set, or props either. You don't really see that kind of thing today, and it's remarkable how he establishes a presence with nothing more than his voice and charisma.
'Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan' — 3 stars (out of 4)
Where to watch: Netflix
