Downloaded from YTS.MX
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
And now, live from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City…
The winner ofAmerican Idolis…
You get a car!
Look out, baby
And now, the man who, to many people,istelevision.
If Ed Sullivan didn't exist, America would have had to invent him.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
I hope you enjoy the show tonight.
Will you welcome him now, please?
Mr. Ed Sullivan.
Ed Sullivan!
Ed Sullivan, ladies and gentlemen!
I dig rock and roll music, yeah
I can twine and jerk Yes, I can now…
If you had to pick one person in the industry to represent us,
it would be Ed Sullivan.
The greatest finger-pointer in the history of television.
A man who pointed his finger at the biggest stars in the business.
That's why they call me, yeah
They call me Double-O-Soul
We think aboutEd Sullivan, one of the most famous shows in television history.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, Elvis Presley!
How old were you when you saw this, the Ed Sullivan Theater?
Seven years old. It had a tremendous impact.
Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!
The Beatles onEd Sullivan, people remember where they were,
what was happening,
where they were sitting, what they were doing.
What wereyouthinking?
Ed Sullivan, anybody like him today?
I grew up off Ed Sullivan.
Ed Sullivan always just stayed with me.
They call me Double-O-Soul
WatchingThe Ed Sullivan Show was a cultural revolution.
Yeah!
In the early days, TV came in on the heels of radio
and inherited some of its worst characteristics.
Back in those days, when Ed Sullivan first came along,
television was, uh… It was a totally different thing.
First of all, the screen was about this big. Okay?
Let's have our next contestant, please. Will you come in?
And it was not common to see Black performers on TV.
There were pressures to keep television "lily white."
We saw mostly characters like Amos and Andy.
You know, they were comic characters who had blackface.
What in the world are you doing there, Amos?
He said to hold the line.
But with Ed, everything changed.
Now, we're gonna kick off our show. Jackie Wilson, sir, let's hear it!
-Hey -Shooby doo wop…
Hey
My heart is crying, crying, ha
Lonely teardrops
My pillows never dry Of lonely teardrops
-Come home, come home -Oh
Just say you will
-Say you will -Say you will
-Say that you -Say you will
Say you will
-Say you will -Hey, hey, hey, hey, come on
Say you will
-Come on, ah! -Say you will
-Say -Say you will
Come on now, baby
-Say you will -Somebody better come on
-Say you will -Come right on
-Say you will -Hey, come on, baby
-Say you will -Come on, baby
-Say you will -Ah, baby
-Say you will -Come on, baby
Say you will
Do you consider yourself to be an influential man?
In the sense of having the power
to influence the attitude of the American people?
Well, you feel that… you feel that you're… you're helpful.
You feel just as, you know, as an editorial in a newspaper
has a… a definite impact on people.
Certainly on television, you can do certain things,
so I say with the Negro issue,
we were the first ever to put Negro performers on.
So, ladies and gentlemen, the show opens with our friends.
The variety of artists and individuals
that Ed Sullivan brought on the show
was really quite
challenging and quite different from any experience we had.
Now, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong!
And his position in defining
who the guests would be was an act of courage.
The Will Mastin Trio, featuring Sammy Davis Jr.
I used to watch The Ed Sullivan Showfaithfully.
Everybody watchedEd Sullivan. It was like an event.
"Okay, Sunday night's coming. What are we doing now?"
The whole family is gathering around the TV to watchEd Sullivan
because it was like a celebratory thing in the hood.
Imagine being ten years old, on welfare, watchingThe Ed Sullivan Show
in a culture that had no Black people on television.
And when you first see somebody that looked like you,
it represented, literally, possibility and hope.
-Would you hold my gloves, please? -I'd be delighted to.
It was always suspected the South would turn off all their sets
if you introduced, uh, a Negro star in their living room.
Two, four, six, eight. We don't want to integrate.
Because people down south were fiercely hostile to Negroes.
They may be forced by circumstances into some demonstration.
But people, in the privacy of their own home,
are gonna do what they think.
You know, at the time, the country was divided.
I got the bus to go home, and after I had taken a seat on the bus,
the driver demanded that I give the seat up for a white man.
I didn't feel that I was being treated as a human being.
I said no.
The racial situation was blatant. Just out front, you know?
Everybody knew where everybody stood.
And then when Ed Sullivan came along, he seemed to be fearless.
And he didn't seem to care what other people thought.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, as everybody knows,
whenever any new musical trend has evinced itself in the popular field,
the first area to find out about it in advance is Harlem.
A couple weeks ago I went up to Harlem. I'd seen people jamming the streets
around Frank Schiffman's Apollo Theater,
all trying to get in to see Dr. Jive's Rhythm & Blues.
So here is Dr. Jive. I want you to meet this young disc jockey from WWRL.
Thank you.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We have a lot of wonderful stars with us.
To get rolling, I'd like to present a wonderful folk-blues singer.
Here is Bo Diddley.
Bo Diddley bought his baby A diamond ring
If that diamond ring don't shine
Bo Diddley take it to a private eye
If that private eye can't see
He'd better not take the ring from me
I remember as a kid, there's a musical riff…
That's Bo Diddley. I mean, he was the one… That's his invention.
Bo Diddley bought an alley cat
To make his pretty baby a Sunday hat
It's mixed with African religious chant.
I went and called the rest of the guys. Jerome and all them with the maracas.
Backstage, somebody said, "No wiggling."
I said, "Man, I know too many things. You ain't gonna shut me down."
"You might slow me up, but you won't shut me off."
The network would tell you, "We can't do so-and-so
because the South will not accept it,"
but Ed pushed the envelope to as far as an envelope could be pushed.
Since our last appearance, so many of you nice folks have written in asking,
where did it happen for us, when did the doors start to open?
Well, this is the stage, and we'd like to tell you about it.
Can we go right back to the beginning of the life of Ed Sullivan?
For a small-town kid, my life has been an incredible thing.
I'm far from special.
Only especially lucky.
Toni, for those who've never seen you before, how old are you?
I'm 11 years old.
-And you come from California? -Yes.
And you dreamed about a candy store and you finally got enough candy?
Sure.
Then you ought to be feeling happy enough to sing another song.
-Mm-hmm. -What would you like to sing?
-"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." -Like to hear "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"?
Huh?
You can get a microphone over there.
Swing low
Sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low
Sweet chariot
Coming for to carry
Me home
I looked over Jordan…
I was born in Harlem,
which was then an area for the Irish and Jewish.
Coming for to carry me home
I was one of twins,
but my brother Dan died when he was just two years old.
…coming after me…
Our family was poor,
but we had a strong streak of pride and self-reliance.
…I'm coming too
Coming for to carry
Me home
From the very first time that I can remember,
I always wanted to write.
The interesting thing about Ed
was that he started off, first of all, as a columnist.
As a journalist, I should say.
That eventually set him up with a very powerful column.
And I went to work as sports editor.
Sportswriters get to be very critical and observant.
They can tell you what makes a certain ballplayer click.
And so, sports stayed with you all your life, as your first love.
When we played baseball in Port Chester High School,
there were Negroes in the league,
and some fellas actually said they would not play against a Negro.
I always resented them very deeply
because the Irish had gone through that when they first came.
They were all supposedly lazy, ignorant drunkards.
And my parents knew these things were wrong.
They were very…
It wasn't broad-minded. They were just… They were just sensible.
My refusal to compromise with people that I despise
certainly comes straight from my dad.
He taught me to respect the rights of the underdog.
He was the most completely fearless man that I ever knew.
Ed, when he wrote about
people of color, his was a more embracing reflection,
and I think toned down, uh, the temperament,
the political temperament of the nation.
But I was most conscious of the fact
that he had to have gotten a lot of flak
because America and the world was in a huge upheaval
on… on conditions of race.
Ladies and gentlemen, here is Augusta, Georgia's young singing star,
James Brown! Let's bring him on here!
Ooh
Alone from night to night You'll find me
Ooh
Too weak to break these chains That bind me
Ooh
I need no shackles to remind me
I'm just a prisoner
Don't let me be a prisoner
What's the good of my…
And he's off, carrying the ball 96 yards for the score.
I was then sports editor at theNew York Evening Graphic,
and NYU booked a game against the University of Georgia,
to be held in New York.
And I was sickened to read NYU's agreement
to bench a Negro player for the entire game.
I'm just a prisoner
I felt this issue was important enough to be threshed out publicly.
-Prisoner of love -Prisoner of love
Ow!
Prisoner of love
What a shameful state of affairs this is.
Myers 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.
-No! -Prisoner of love
-Ow! -Prisoner of love
No!
If a New York university allows the Mason-Dixon Line
to be erected in the center of its playing field,
then that university should disband its football season for all time.
-You, you, you, you -Prisoner of love
-Made me a prisoner, prisoner of love -Prisoner of love
I know that I got a lot of lucky breaks.
Take, for instance, the almost incredible stroke of luck
that launched me, a newspaperman, into show business.
The paper switched me to doing a Broadway column,
even though I knew nothing about Broadway.
Hello? Talk to them?
I didn't want the job, but it was either take it or be fired.
Hello. May I introduce myself? I'm Ed Sullivan, the Broadway columnist.
And I am a columnist, but I'm not an actor.
You will find that out.
May I present to you a very dear pal of mine.
A columnist atThe Daily News who has made Broadway live and breathe
throughout the country through the magnificence of his writing.
Mr. Broadway himself, Ed Sullivan ofThe Daily News!
Ladies and gentlemen,The Newspresents the second annual Harvest Moon Ball.
Strike up the band, Dick Himber!
Want it again?
Our show opens right now with the exciting Ike & Tina Turner Revue,
and they are wonderful. Let's have 'em.
Tell me now
Oh!
Bold soul sister
BSS, all right
Tell me now
Bold soul sister
All right, now
The Harvest Moon Ball was one of the big events
of the New York vaudeville scene.
I selected acts and acted as master of ceremonies
at the big Madison Square Garden benefit.
Bold soul sister
I began to develop a stage presence
and a confidence in my judgment of talent.
Number nine twosome wins the all-around championship,
which gets them the accolade from Master of Ceremonies Ed Sullivan.
I do what I wanna do
Check it one time
Do what you wanna, When you wanna, how you wanna
-Now, do your thing, soul sister -All right
And it all led up to the most important day of my life,
September 3rd, 1947,
when, for the 12th year in a row, I acted as master of ceremonies.
The more I give you…
TV was brand-new, and I hadn't known
that CBS had decided at the last minute to televise the show.
It's the night of the Harvest Moon Ball on Broadway.
Yeah!
Nor did I know that CBS executives
were looking for a relaxed and informal guy
to emcee a Sunday night variety program.
But as a result of that telecast,
CBS decided that I was the man for the job.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!
Emerson Radio & Television proudly present
Toast of the Town, and your host, Ed Sullivan!
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, as you know,
on this particular Toast of the Townshow for Emerson…
When I first went on TV with ourToast of the Townprogram,
the experts… told us to look directly into the camera.
This didn't faze actors…
…but when I looked into those iron monsters…
…rigor mortis set in.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, until next Sunday night
at the same time over CBS TV,
at which time Emerson is gonna produce another…
…all-star studded show…
TV critics urged CBS to get rid of me.
"Why, oh why is Ed Sullivan on TV?"
"On camera, Ed has been likened to a cigar store Indian,
a stone-faced monument, just off the boat from Easter Island."
"His smile is that of a man sucking a lemon."
This is the jacket worn by Ed Sullivan on his television debut.
And right over here is the rod that held Ed up.
They knocked my brains out…
Aw, now leave me alone, will ya?
…and when I saw the show, I couldn't blame 'em.
I was named the "Great Stone Face of 1949."
The abuse was so awful
that my daughter, Betty, stopped reading the newspapers.
One story was that I had a steel plate in my head.
And I received hundreds of letters congratulating me on my courage
in continuing despite such a handicap.
What does it take to survive,
besides, well, imagination, I guess, to begin with? Toughness?
I think that's it, and I think the people at home,
the families down through the years, have come to accept me as I am.
They know I'm not a performer, but they know that we do make
a darn sincere effort to get fine acts.
Welcome to our shoe… Tonight we're gonna…
I never thought I was the attraction.
I just kept looking for the best thing to put on the show.
Just before the war, there was a drought for Harlem performers.
They were hit hard because of a decline in vaudeville.
Day after day and night after night,
we went to the theaters and the nightclubs to view acts.
And no pair of dancing feet ever made such an impression
as those of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
My name is William Robinson, so by him being Bill Robinson,
I was aware of him from the time I was three years old.
Making movies with Shirley Temple. He was, you know, the man.
Bojangles. They made a song about him.
Sammy Davis had a huge hit. Yeah.
I'm telling you, looks like I'm in Hollywood. You're still in Harlem.
He was a Black face in movies, and he wasn't shuffling and jiving
and all that Black stuff, that, "Y'all the boss," he wasn't doing that.
He was dancing.
Over a span of 20 years, we've been dear friends.
He was the first performer to agree to open a show for me,
and that opened the door for so many vaudeville stars.
…His Highness of Hi-De-Ho, Cab Calloway to come out here!
Ladies and gentlemen, Cab Calloway!
I think that vaudeville was a big part of Ed Sullivan's show
because that was his people.
Pearl Bailey.
Vaudeville people are the most interesting of all troupers on the stage.
Back in those days, there were variety shows.
There would be a comedian,
a band, or a singing group.
There was a guy named Peg Leg Bates. He was a tap dancer.
So, Ed Sullivan is the granddaddy
of all of the TV variety shows that have live talent.
He was the first big gun.
Television will not only put vaudeville stars back to work,
this new medium is made-to-order for them.
And it's been proven on my show by Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald,
Louis Armstrong, Hazel Scott, the Ink Spots, and Lena Horne.
These acts, always great, become greater on television,
because unlike in a huge theater,
everyone has a front-row seat.
Encore!
They didn't get much money.
But when I needed help, the Negro stars were loyal and considerate.
I personally know that without them,
the early TV days would have been a nightmare.
Ed Sullivan is a man with an insatiable curiosity about people.
All kinds of people.
The Sullivans have been living at the Delmonico
here in New York for the past 10 years.
As a matter of fact,
since they were married 24 years ago, home has always been a hotel for them.
When living in a hotel,
you haven't got an awful lot of room to keep things.
The things you do keep are particularly precious to you.
We have a lot of pictures of Betty, our only daughter.
Ed, I think you have a pair of shoes somewhere.
Yes, I have. They're right over here. I'm glad you reminded me of them
because they're the shoes of a very great performer
and a very great American.
These were the shoes of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
The last shoes he ever wore.
And you'll notice these lightweight soles, that Bill always explained
helped him a lot in his dancing.
It seems to me, and I'm quite sure it's true,
that if Bill Robinson hadn't given so much of himself in charitable affairs,
that he still would've been alive, rather than dying of a heart attack.
But Bill just kept on till the very end.
When we arranged his funeral, it seemed to all of us
that although Bill, like a great many other generous performers, had died broke,
he should be given a funeral befitting his stature as a very great American.
They permitted all the Harlem schoolchildren
to take off the afternoon.
And so when the funeral cortege started down from the church in Harlem,
there were tens of thousands
of these Negro youngsters lining the sidewalk.
And that continued all the way down out of Harlem.
He cared.
And, uh, he wanted his audience to understand
that there was a lot of talent out there that needed the exposure.
Miss Dionne Warwick.
And he was willing to give it in order to continue to do
what most people wanted us to do, and that was entertain.
And bring them something they couldn't get anywhere else.
And now… for the fantastic Gladys Knight & the Pips.
Ooh
I've gotta get away from you Fast as I can
Too much for me, baby More than my heart can stand
Like a kid behind the wheel You been reckless with my heart
If I stay around you Sure to tear it all apart
Said the road's got to end somewhere
Oh, every road has got to end somewhere
Now is the time for the showdown So let me give you the low down
We've come to the end of our road
Our distinguished guest this evening
is the honorable Herman Talmadge, governor of Georgia.
Well, Governor, I know the local custom and tradition
are against racial mingling, but how do you think this whole problem
is gonna be solved in the future?
We intend to maintain segregation one way or another, come what may.
…somewhere, yeah
Every road has got to end somewhere
Sick and tired of your stuff Said enough is enough
We've come to the end of our road
It was suggested that it was most unwise to use Negro performers.
They said if you use Negro performers, Southern audiences would be offended
and would turn your show off, and I said that I didn't believe it.
Asa Carter of Alabama organized the boycott.
We consider it a plot
to undermine the moral standard of the Anglo-Saxon race
and place him on the level with the Negro.
-Hey, hey, hey, no -No, we gotta end this…
We get letters from Southern people,
and these people write in and ask us to bring them back.
They enjoyed so-and-so and so-and-so.
And their enjoyment is based on the person's performance.
…road
The white people in the South want it left alone, just like it is.
A lot of people that aren't familiar with it
don't realize how far-reaching or deep-seated that is.
We've, uh, set up a 20-man committee
to do away with the… this vulgar, animalistic nigger rock and roll bop.
Could you conceive the horror of your fair-skinned daughter
by some fur-head, liver-lip, goat-smelling, ape-faced nigger…
Can you conceive such a thing?
No!
Are you going to do something about it?
Yes!
It was an occasion for a bit of the old Irish temper, I should think.
No, the temper didn't help out then.
The statements of Governor Talmadge that Negro performers should be barred
from TV shows on which white performers appear is both stupid and vicious.
I know that I shall not contribute money by purchasing of products from any man
who is contributing to the integration,
the degradation, and the mongrelization of the white race.
Just drove in from the country.
Broadcasting as it is done in this country is an advertising business,
and therefore it must give the buyer what he must have.
You'd be amazed at what I couldn't do.
If I had a Black performer on, CBS censors would warn me not to get too close.
They tell me a great friend of all of us is in the audience.
Joe Louis! The heavyweight champion of the world.
Come up.
I was told not to shake hands with Joe Louis.
You're not gonna get any more of my money, champion.
Joe, it's grand to see you.
I was criticized when I put my arm around Ethel Waters.
-Thank you. -Thanks.
But in every day and age, and particularly right now…
So nice to have you back on our show.
…the power of simple words is of tremendous importance
in the ideological clash.
I'm speaking to you as anAmericanAmerican.
I see Negroes holding jobs that belong to me and you!
We allow this thing to go on, what's gonna become of us real Americans?
Communist agitators posing as civil rights leaders
hope to enlist massive support for their schemes.
Many were tricked into helping create the appearance
of popular support for a conspiracy that hid its true objectives
for a Soviet Negro republic,
behind the humanitarian banners of civil rights and peace.
I'm almost convinced that the very beginning of this
was by a communistic front.
I think it's the communistic front that started every bit of it.
The racism which permeates American life
has worked its way deep into… into the… into the fiber
of the hearts and minds of many men and women.
And it has had its incredible influence on my own life.
I have children. I have high hopes for them.
My son is ten years old,
and I will arm him with everything that I can
so that he will be free of any primitive, medieval, you know, concepts
about false patriotism, about boundaries, about the meaning of flags.
You know, mankind is much bigger than all of these primitive symbols.
There's men out in the audience,
famed Blue Angels of the United States Navy.
Would you all stand up, please?
My agent called and told me that Ed Sullivan had made an invitation
for me to come on the show.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, Harry Belafonte will appear on next week's show
for his first TV appearance.
And I was ecstatic because this was really a career launcher.
In the middle of all of this preparation,
I got a call saying, "CBS has informed us that you are not going to be on the air."
"You're blacklisted."
You've been very active in the Civil Rights Movement, have you not?
Yes, I have.
Could you tell us a bit about your role…
In this McCarthy-like atmosphere,
the tradition was not to present
those of us who represented the voice of left-wing politics.
When Sullivan was told of this, he became very annoyed.
When Harry Belafonte's name came up, I dug around.
I found out that Harry is Catholic.
And I phoned his priest.
As an American, I despise communism.
I despise any "-ism" contrary to good, old-fashioned Americanism.
He wanted to talk to me personally, so he invited me to come to his hotel.
He said, "I'm told that I can't have you on my show
because you are very favorable towards the communist ideology,
and that you're out there making mischief
that's not to the best interests of our country."
And I said, "Well, Mr. Sullivan,
everything that you have suggested I'm guilty of having done
is true."
"But tell me something."
"When the Irish did battle with the British,
the rebel mood was considered quite heroic
by all the Irish citizens in the world."
"Explain to me what the difference is when those of us of color
also strike out against the same oppression."
"The Irish rebels who do that are heroic."
"Black rebels who do that are 'not patriotic.'"
We thought this was not about loyalty to the nation.
It's about loyalty to the human condition,
and our humanity was being terribly brutalized.
I left the meeting with nothing really resolved,
and I couldn't have been back in the office more than an hour or two,
then I got a call from my agent, and he said,
"I don't know what you said to Ed Sullivan,
but you're on the show."
Ladies and gentlemen, here's the moment we've all been waiting for.
Here is one of the great artists of our country
and one of the greatest artists of the world.
Here is… Harry Belafonte! So let's bring him on!
Good morning
Captain
Good morning, sun
Oh well, it's good morning, captain
Good morning, sun
Don't you need another muleskinner
Out on your new mule run
-Hey there -Hey there
Hey there, little water boy
Bring your bucket round
Oh well, it's hey there
-Little water boy -Hey there
Bring your bucket round
If you don't like your job
Better lay that bucket down
Go!
Good morning
Captain
Good morning, sun
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hah!
When this writer first used Belafonte on TV,
it proved that the South would welcome him into their homes on Sunday nights.
Harry Belafonte can accomplish a vastly important job
for red, white, and blue power.
But all of a sudden, we who were being demonized
and blacklisted and all those things…
To see us through the lens of a television camera
on a program that was considered to be "most American,"
because Sullivan was about as American as you could get,
the more people began to see the human side of the equation
pushed against the political realities of the day.
You know, we get so many requests after you've been on the show.
They say, "Would, some night, you please have Nat King Cole sit down at the piano
and actually play a piano number for us?"
I'd be glad to.
-Would you do it? -Okay.
This is the United States Supreme Court.
On May 17th, the court unanimously declared
segregation in public schools to be illegal.
There is a brand-new Negro in the South
with a new sense of dignity and destiny.
Governor Davis and the legislature
tried one legal device after another
to prevent or stop the integration.
Segregationists hurled stones.
The racial situation was rough, and especially in the South,
but when you're doing a job that you absolutely love,
you are living your wildest dream.
You're a young person.
You ain't even old enough to be scared, you know what I'm saying?
You're not thinking like that. Sometimes it just hits you in the face.
This is the muddy, backwoods Tallahatchie River
where a weighted body was found,
alleged to be that of young Emmett Till.
I never will forget.
I was 15 years old when we saw what they did to Emmett Till.
And I don't… 'Cause I get emotional on that.
We played down there where Emmett Till was shot.
They changed the name from where it happened.
I said, changing the name ain't gonna make us forget how it happened or where.
So many different things that has happened.
We're getting shot at… on our tour bus.
Getting called the N-word 'cause we want to eat.
You find out how strong and resilient you can be.
You had to get through it. You can't stop.
You ain't gonna let 'em stop you.
So what you gonna do? Fight on.
Nat, where are you going today?
I'm going to Raleigh.
Raleigh? You're continuing your Southern tour?
Yes. Well, it's not a complete Southern tour.
We only have about four more days to go on it anyway.
They say that the reason those men attacked you
was because of a feeling against rock and roll music
and "Negro music," so called.
Now, what do you feel about that?
It wasn't the particular song I was singing.
It could've been "Nearer My God to Thee" as far as they were concerned.
That type, you know.
You don't expect a repetition of what happened in Birmingham, then?
Well, no, I mean, you don't expect it, of course. We didn't expectthat.
Are these the guns found in the car
the night King Cole was attacked?
-Yes, they were. -Are they loaded?
-Fully loaded. -Fully loaded.
Two men were charged with intent to murder, right?
That's right.
As a kid being in show business, I didn't learn until later
about why we slept in bus stations and why we had to go to the police
and say where's their colored family that you can stay with.
You think by your tour, uh,
that you're helping the cause of integration in the South?
Well, yes. I've been asked by a lot of people,
why do I play to segregated audiences?
But, uh, being a Negro performer
and you're having white as well as colored audiences,
you're helping a lot to bring people together.
I have no jurisdiction over the law.
Of course, I don't condone segregated audiences. I never have.
But I can't, in my own voice, just walk out on the stage in any state
and just say, "I demand integration."
Nat King Cole, applauded for 15 minutes
by the crowd that witnessed the attack,
may be one of the relieving influences in this present tension.
There's something that can be done, but it has to be everyone's fight.
Two great headliners in their own right,
Tony Martin and Nat King Cole!
-Martin. -Cole.
-Glad. -Happy.
-Grand. -Wonderful.
Fine.
You always wear a hat when you work?
Sometimes.
-What times? -When it's sunny.
-What do you do when it's rainy? -Well, I get back on the sunny side.
We better hurry, the way we're going.
Get your coat, get your hat
Leave your worries round the doorstep
Just direct your feet
-To the sunny side of the street -To the sunny side of the street
Can't you hear that pitter-pat?
And that happy tune is your step
Life can be so sweet
-On the sunny side of the street -On the sunny side of the street
Like I said, you don't stop.
We never stop.
You know that.
-On the sunny -On the sunny
-Side of the street -Side of the street
Well, Mr. Cole, it's always a pleasure to work with you.
Same to you, Mr. Martin.
Say, uh, I think we better get off here. We're wasting time.
Yeah, I think so, before our suits fade.
Ooh.
We're on the scene with the man behind the really big show.
Patrick Watson talked to Ed Sullivan about showmanship, and you… are there.
Here is something that not everyone is privileged to see.
You're about to see smiling Ed Sullivan really smile.
Actually, he's known for going to any length
to get the right thing in front of their cameras.
I have always believed that success is a mystery,
a mixture of things you do yourself and things that happen to you.
My show has a weekly national audience ranging from 35 to 50 million people.
If I brought anything to the show,
it's a sense of knowing what the people liked.
That, I believe, is the secret of my success.
Now, ladies and gentlemen…
…here is Elvis Presley!
You ain't nothing but a hound dog
Crying all the time
You ain't nothing but a hound dog
Crying all the time
Well, you ain't never caught no rabbit And you ain't no friend of mine
Well, you ain't never caught no rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine
Is it important to be liked? Do you worry about if somebody doesn't like you?
-Yeah, it bothers me. Yeah. -Does it?
I want people to like me,
and when I read something that, you know, sounds real harsh,
it… it bother… it bothers the life out of me.
I'm much too, uh… probably much too sensitive.
That is the show, and don't forget!
Be sure and drop in, for the sake of me and my family,
on your Lincoln-Mercury dealers and tell them how you liked it.
Good night. You've been a swell audience.
What's the worst moment of your career?
Someone said that it was when you heard that someone had gone round,
trying to sell your show to a sponsor, with or without you.
The network was offering it.
A request to sponsor, with or without Ed Sullivan.
That… That was a… That was really a… an all-time low.
That night when I went to bed, there was a note on my pillow from Betty,
saying, "Win, lose, or draw, I love you."
Down through the years, no phrase ever expressed so completely
the devotion of the three of us.
And I knew exactly what she meant.
Mrs. Sullivan, is he hard to live with
after a rough day at the office or the studio?
Well, no, I don't think he's very hard to live with at all,
and I know that on the day that he had his round with Ben Hogan,
he's a perfect joy to live with.
I hate adverse criticism.
I'm a pop-off.
And let's have a big hand for Nina Simone.
Sylvia would come in and say, "Type it up, put it in an envelope,
and then when you're all done, tear it up."
Say love me or leave me And let me be lonely
You won't believe me But I love you only
I'd rather be lonely Than happy with somebody else…
I would do everything except tear it up.
…the right time for kissing
I once wrote a letter that began,
"Dear Ms. Van Horne, You bitch. Sincerely, Ed Sullivan."
There'll be no one Unless that someone is you
I intend to be independently blue
On TV, I've been myself.
And it's the only thing that saved me.
If I'd tried to whip up some phony smile,
the public would've tossed me the hell out.
I remember there were a few at Lincoln-Mercury
who were afraid to send me to the South,
because we featured great stars who happened to be Negro,
and they were worried
about what Lincoln-Mercury dealers' reaction would be.
Now, we've gotten some real good news tonight.
Lincoln dealers all over the country are reporting that sales of 1957 Lincolns
are way ahead of last year.
And remember, last year was the biggest year in Lincoln history.
Today, it's laughable.
We've proved it ridiculous.
Your love is my love
I'm tired of shaking hands with Lincoln-Mercury dealers,
signing autographs…
My love is your…
…getting up and saying slogans that would make you throw up.
I don't give a damn what any of them feel!
They're going on the show, and if you want to get the hell out, fine.
I think it's significant that our show maintains one point of view,
mine.
There is no love
For nobody else
The way in which Mr. Sullivan survived any response to what he was doing
was a testimony to his omnipotence.
He was not to be invaded. He was… he was too powerful.
…the Office of President of the United States.
-And will to the best of your ability… -And will to the best of my ability…
…preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
…preserve, protect…
For the first time in our lives,
Mrs. Sullivan and I attended the inauguration,
and it was really a tremendously thrilling American privilege.
And all of us in show business trust that President Kennedy
continuously will use the people of show business
as sources of creative thinking,
as well as ambassadors of goodwill to the country and to the world.
You've used the show from time to time
as an instrument of patriotism, in a way.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
To reflect things that… that you find to be proud of.
Well, you have to be, for your country.
I'm delighted that Jack Kennedy won.
It's time the younger men of the country step in
and make the decisions which have been loused up so often by their elders.
Good evening, my fellow citizens.
In too many parts of the country, wrongs are inflicted on Negro citizens,
and there are no remedies at law.
Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist
in every city, in every state of the union,
producing, in many cities, a rising tide of discontent.
A great change is at hand, and our task, our obligation,
is to make that revolution, that change, peaceful and constructive for all.
I am therefore asking the Congress to enact legislation,
giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities
which are open to the public,
including greater protection for the right to vote.
But legislation cannot solve this problem alone.
It must be solved in the homes of every American,
in every community across our country.
Television, to justify itself,
must be more than singing, dancing, and comedy acts.
I'm hopeful that the people of show business
will measure up to their obligation as citizens.
My relationship with Ed grew to be one of the most pleasant.
-Harry! -Hi, Ed.
Hiya, boy! I'm so surprised, I thought I'd find you on location.
-That's where we are. -What do you mean?
-Here. The whole town. -Mayor Kelly gave you the whole town?
The whole thing. Gave us…
He gave me a chance to talk to him
about acts of what was considered rebellious.
Terrific.
He had a humanist side to him.
In our relationship. I tapped into that.
You're going to continue to be entertained by Harry Belafonte
with Miriam Makeba and other members of the Belafonte Company.
There are those who weren't happy
about his giving us the platform because of my politics.
What was I doing with Miriam Makeba?
Here she was, she sang in the Indigenous language,
which was not the American appetite.
But Ed took the position, "Let's test it and see where it would go."
He was a door opener, especially for Black artists.
This man opened up his door and let artists come on his show
to be able to express and to be seen.
Let's have a splendid ovation for Mahalia Jackson, would you please?
Oh, Lord
Oh!
Give me that old-time religion, Lord
Good religion that it used to be
Old-time religion Hallelujah! Good enough for me
Hello, this is Ed Sullivan.
Today we've been called upon to search our hearts and souls
and cleanse them of unnatural hate and fear of our neighbors.
The fight for freedom today is a fight for the ideal of brotherhood.
Give me that Old-time religion, Lord
Good religion that it used to be
Old-time religion
Hallelujah! Good enough for me
It was good for the Hebrew children…
Bigotry and intolerance, racial or religious hate and discrimination,
are spiritual acts of treason.
Where legal remedies are not at hand,
redress is sought in the streets and protests.
-I may be poor! -I may be poor!
-But I am! -But I am!
-Somebody! -Somebody!
…good enough for me It was good for my own mother
It was good for my…
We call upon all of you to join in this great crusade for our brotherhood.
Brotherhood means a united America,
and a united America is perhaps the sole remaining hope
for our shattered world.
Old-time religion
Hallelujah! Good enough for me
-I am! -I am!
-Black! -Black!
-Beautiful! -Beautiful!
-Proud! -Proud!
-I am! -I am!
-Somebody! -Somebody!
…good enough…
"We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal."
…for me!
Mr. Belafonte, we all heard Mr. King say that this was perhaps
the greatest day for freedom in modern American history.
To be in Washington today
was, for me, an accumulation of a number of generations
of Black Americans who have been trying to appeal to the conscience
of white supremacy.
And the reason that I struggle with it so hard is because I really believe
in the potential of this country.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
Excuse the fact that I'm out of breath,
but about 10 or 15 minutes ago a tragic thing from all indications
at this point has happened in Dallas. Let me quote to you this.
This is Walter Cronkite in our newsroom, and…
there has been an attempt, as perhaps you know now,
on the life of President Kennedy.
As you can imagine, there are many stories
that are coming in now as to the actual condition of the president.
One is that he is dead. This cannot be confirmed.
…word as yet, we are awaiting something more official…
That was one of the shocks of my life.
I mean, I never ever dared to imagine that in the 20th century,
that someone could assassinate the President of the United States.
You know, I mean, that was… I mean, that was impossible.
So yeah, it set me back personally.
We can well ask, and we can well wonder,
where do we go from here?
To those of you who have been down in the dumps
because of the assassination of JFK,
it is human to worry about a crisis.
But despair only comes with the empty nightmare
that there is no future.
This is the season that is full of hope.
If we are truly religious, we can never despair.
1964 came in with a sigh of relief.
Relief that the year had ended in which President Kennedy was killed,
and that there could be new beginnings.
For most of us, the sounds of 1964
really went in one ear and then out the other.
But one sound seemed to be with us always.
Hanging over the city streets in the daytime
and drifting in through the windows evenings,
until it seemed the air itself was permeated with it.
Most Americans became aware of the melody that lingered on and on and on…
in February,
when it passed across our borders at Kennedy International Airport.
Yesterday and today our theater's been jammed
with newspapermen and photographers from all over,
and these veterans agree with me the city never has witnessed
the excitement stirred by these youngsters from Liverpool.
Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!
One, two, three, four!
Close your eyes and I'll kiss you
Tomorrow I'll miss you
Remember I'll always be true
Yeah!
And then while I'm away
I'll write home every day
And I'll send all my loving to you
-All my loving, I will send to you -Ooh
-All my loving, darling, I'll be true -Ooh
-All my loving -Ooh
All my loving
-Ooh-ooh, all my loving -Ooh
I will send to you
Thank you.
It took a long time for the country
to come around to some sense of normalcy.
-Okay. Thank you. -See you, Ed.
Took a long time.
No memorial oration or eulogy
could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory
than the earliest possible passage of the Civil Rights bill
for which he fought so long.
You know, I look at the things that have happened racially
and socially, the passage of a lot of laws,
of equality, and a lot of desegregation moves,
and a lot of court battles, and there's a lot of forced movement
to bring about what we live today.
And then you take what happened with those people that did the same thing
around the world, just did it through music.
Music is one of the great healers… of life.
Music is the soother.
It's the international language.
It's the barrier breaker.
And… And the musical power that we were gonna have, you know,
it was one of my childhood impossible dreams come true.
Meet the president of the Motown Record Corporation,
Mr. Berry Gordy. Hello, Berry.
The reason we started Motown was because
Berry would produce our records,
put them out to other companies, and… nobody was paying us.
We were fledgling at first. It was rough.
I mean, it was always rough, you know.
Even after we became Motown.
Detroit, back in the day when we started,
there were areas like Grosse Pointe and Bloomfield Hills and Dearborn
and places like that, where if you were Black,
you were not supposed to be in that area at all, period.
'Cause you're Black.
If the police catch you, you better be working for somebody in that area,
and you better have something on you that says you work for somebody.
So, on a few of my early album covers,
I didn't use Black faces.
Because I wanted to have people not judge a book by its cover.
So we start to get letters from the white kids in that area.
"Hey, man. We got your music."
"We love your music."
"But our parents don't know we have it."
"Because if they did, they might make us throw it away."
For Motown,The Ed Sullivan Show, to us, was the ultimate.
You have a fine act.
If it was a hot act,
Ed Sullivan had 'em. You know?
It was American culture.
And for Motown to be a part of that
would be the dream come true for me.
Out here on stage is this…
Detroit's amazing 13-year-old singing star,
Stevie Wonder.
Little Stevie Wonder …
Thirteen years old… performing "Fingertips."
I mean, it was so wonderful for me,
because this little blind Black kid on national TV.
Our first major television break.
Let's have a fine welcome, would you?
Thank you, Mr. Sullivan!
Now, I want you to clap your hands,
stomp your feet, jump up and down, do anything that you wanna do.
He was up there,
playing the harmonica and singing live to America
with the white studio audience clapping right along with him. Wow!
My little Wonder. It was wonderful.
Oh, come on! Now, everybody sing, "Yeah!"
Yeah!
-Sing "Yeah!" -Yeah!
-Yeah!
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
People rallied to possibilities, you know?
Ed Sullivan Show…there was possibilities.
That's what made it so special when he liked us.
It seemed to me that inasmuch as you're using public air,
that 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.
CBS presents this program in color!
And now… Ed Sullivan!
The Motown artists were treated with the greatest respect by Ed,
but there was something special between him and The Supremes.
Right before The Supremes and the Motown sound,
Black music was called race music. Uh, it wasn't played on the radio.
I know you're listening all over America and Canada. That's great.
And we made it okay.
Motown made it okay to listen to our music.
So let's have a fine welcome for The Supremes.
For me, watching her for the first time,
glamorous and beautiful, it waslife-changingfor me.
I need love, love, to ease my mind
I need to find, find Someone to call mine
But Mama said
You can't hurry love No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
You can't hurry love No, you just have to wait
She said just give it time
No matter how long it takes
No, I can't bear to live my life alone
I grow impatient for a love To call my own
But when I feel that I, I can't go on
These precious words Keeps me hanging on
I remember Mama said
-Can't hurry love -No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
You can't hurry love No, you just have to wait
She said love don't come easy
It's a game of give and take
Can't wait
Ed loved Motown. He loved The Supremes. He loved The Temptations.
Here they are!
We idolized those artists at the time.
Anticipating for that soft voice
To talk to me at night
It's not just our family.
The whole neighborhood would just stop and go see that.
I keep waiting
Ooh, you gotta give and take
We'd go down south, and when we'd first go down there,
stage is in the middle, white people here, Black people there,
and they didn't even look at each other.
Year or so later, we go down there, see white boys with Black girlfriends.
Black boys with white girlfriends, all dancing together and singing.
Having a good time together. With that music.
…love!
My artists were seen in millions of homes across America,
right along with the greatest white pop stars of the time.
I do feel that this has been an exciting decade
in the history of American music.
What is soul?
Well, soul is hard to describe.
I think it's everybody, uh, doing their own thing.
I think you've been doing your own thing for 22 years here on this show,
on this really big show, Ed.
So…
And I think you've got a lot of soul.
-Well, thank you very much. -Yeah.
-The whole world was watching Ed Sullivan. -Yeah. Yeah.
And for us to go on that show, we knew it was the show to be on.
We had just put out our first recording,
and you need that one big show to really take it over the top,
so we rehearsed and rehearsed.
And rehearsed.
I was always a fanatic for perfection. I had to get it perfect.
And I wanted the song to sound just like the record.
Now, here are five brothers from Gary, Indiana,
ranging in age from ten to 18.
And I was so nervous 'cause I said,
"This is our break. We gotta really do great."
-You get that kinda nervous stomach. -Yeah, the butterflies.
And it was up to us to do what we're gonna do with this opportunity.
They're a sensational group. Here, The Jackson 5.
It just launched us.
When we played tag in grade school
You wanted to be it
But chasing boys was just a fad You crossed your heart you'd quit
When we grew up you traded Your promise for my ring
Now just like back to grade school You're doing the same old thing
Stop, the love you save May be your own
Darling, take it slow Or some day you'll be all alone
You'd better stop The love you save may be your own
Darling, look both ways Before you cross me
You're headed for the danger zone
I'm the one who loves you I'm the one you need
Those other guys will put you down As soon as they succeed
They'll ruin your reputation They'll label you a flirt
The way they talk about you They'll turn your name to dirt
That night, every kid in America fell in love with The Jackson 5.
Monday morning, the phones lit up
with the clubs all over the country wanting to book them.
Little Michael Jackson and his brothers were considered a true phenomenon.
Come on over here, fellas.
Now… congratulations.
On July 7th, these five brothers will begin their summer tour
of one-nighters at Madison Square Garden,
and you're gonna bust every record in the country.
-Wonderful to have you on our show. -Thank you.
Thank you.
The show did what I wanted our music to do,
be for all people.
It broke down all those barriers.
Put people together.
How long will you go on with the show?
I don't know. We were discussing it the other day.
You know, it's been so a part… …part of our lives
and part of my life, a very… big part of my life.
And I enjoy it very, very much, and I like show business people.
I like to be around with them. They're lots of fun.
You know, when you were singing that so eloquently, I was thinking,
and probably everybody listening was thinking the same thing.
What the world needs now, I think, is the camaraderie of show business.
-I agree. I agree. -You know?
Something we've known in show business for a long time.
-Show business has it. -Has it.
And if the world could have it, it would be a fantastic thing.
-Let's have a wonderful… -Thank you.
It is one thing to look at the transformation
of the United States of America
through the prism of what Dr. King brought to the table,
the big Black rebellion, the Civil Rights Movement.
But that movement would never have been able to sustain itself
with the intensity that it did if there were not subtle forces at play.
That subtle force was a moment like Ed Sullivan.
Does that mean that Ed Sullivan's going to go on doingThe Ed Sullivan Show
just as long as he possibly can?
Well, that's whatI'dlike.
Whether the sponsors and the networks will agree with that, I don't know.
I don't know what I would do without it if I didn't have that to look forward to.
You don't have another component in your life that would fill that gap?
No. No.
I don't know what I'd do without it.
-You'd be… -I'd be lost.
When our ratings first dropped,
I said to myself, "Well, maybe it's the weather."
When we dropped to about 37,
I knew it wasn't the weather.
Thousands of peace demonstrators
marched on the Pentagon.
All the time
But I do promise action.
The first adult space adventure blasts off Thursdays.
Blowin' in the wind
These are the days!
Time slips by so quickly and hurriedly
that you scarcely have a chance to catch your breath.
Before you go, you know, Eddie…
-"Kiss me…" -Kiss me good night!
-Goodbye! -Goodbye, Eddie!
The phenomenon of our show is proof that miracles still happen.
Let's have a tremendous hand for both of 'em.
I'm sort of like some ordinary guy
who somehow met someone famous
and is throwing a party for his friends, saying, "Look who I got to come over!"
For a long time, everyone came to those parties.
-Pearl, come up here! -Here we are.
I had a good long run.
I put up a good fight for what I believed in.
And I have no complaints at all.
Thank you very, very much, ladies and gentlemen!
Good night!
Please! Please!
Don't go
Please, please
Please, please, don't go
Don't go
I love you so
Yeah
-Don't go -Ow!
-Don't leave me, baby -Please, don't go
Please, please, don't go
Don't go
Please, please, don't go
-Please, please, don't go -Ow! Don't leave me
Ow!
-Don't leave me, baby -Don't go
Please, please, don't go
Don't go