Ed Sullivan effect

It takes the courage of one Ed Sullivan to change the perception of an entire country. Filmmaker, hip hop journalist and cultural historian Sacha Jenkins, who passed away before the release of his documentary, ‘Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan’, pays tribute to the showman who was ‘the biggest finger pointer in the history of television’.

At a time when there were fierce hostilities towards Negros, much of America was resisting integration, and the Civil Rights Movement led by Martin Luther King Jr was at its peak. journalist and TV variety show host Ed Sullivan became the first to feature black performers on national television.

Opening up a world of possibility and hope, his Sunday show, which at one time drew a weekly audience of 35 to 50 million, brought black performers from the margins into America’s living rooms.

Despite the flak he received, Sullivan kept pushing the envelope. By the time the show went off air in 1971, the man who dared to break all rules had introduced more than 10,000 entertainers, many of whom would go on to become legends.

“I had a good, long run. I put up a good fight for what I believed in. And I have no complaints at all,” Ed Sullivan tells journalist David Frost in a footage from a 1969 TV interview.

Editors Billy McMillin and Monique Zavistovski bring to the table thousands of hours of archival footage of 23 years from 1,100 episodes aired on The Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City. Packed with some of the show’s iconic moments such as the first-ever live performance by 13-year-old blind Stevie Wonder, the Beatles’ hysteria, a gyrating Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole playing a piano, etc, Jenkins’ documentary offers a glimpse into how entertainment evolved during one of America’s most turbulent periods.

Interviews with legends like Harry Belafonte, Smokey Robinson, Berry Gordy and Dionne Warwick give an intimate perspective on this variety show trailblazer, who handpicked every guest performer from various nightclubs and theatres across the country.

The son of Irish immigrants, Sullivan had experienced discrimination firsthand while growing up in Harlem. It was here that the seeds of respect for the underdog were ingrained in him by his parents. Newspaper clippings reveal how as Sports Editor in his initial years, Sullivan had thrashed the NYU for benching a Negro player for an entire game.

The documentary also features powerful historical footage from national events. These include protests during the Civil Rights Movement, speeches by President John Kennedy advocating integration with the Negro population, and resistance from the white population down South.

Ed Sullivan’s voice has been recreated in select portions of the film and his words have been taken verbatim from thousands of columns, articles and letters he wrote throughout his life.

The 80-minute heartfelt documentary is a must-watch not only for history buffs, but for all those who want to understand how the show brought about a cultural revolution and paved the way for music trends like Rock and Roll and Hip Hop.