Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan (2025) Movie Script
[TV clicks on]
[announcer 1] And now, live from
the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City
[announcer 2] The winner
of American Idol is
[crowd shrieks]
You get a car!
[television dial clicking]
[woman] Look out, baby
[television dial continues clicking]
[announcer 3] And now, the man who,
to many people, is television.
[resolute edgy music playing]
If Ed Sullivan didn't exist,
America would have had to invent him.
[music stops]
[audience applauding]
[Sullivan] Thank you,
ladies and gentlemen.
I hope you enjoy the show tonight.
Will you welcome him now, please?
[drumroll]
Mr. Ed Sullivan.
[audience applauds]
Ed Sullivan!
[announcer 4] Ed Sullivan,
ladies and gentlemen!
["Agent Double-O-Soul"
by Billy Preston playing]
I dig rock and roll music, yeah
I can twine and jerk
Yes, I can now
[woman] If you had to pick one person
in the industry to represent us,
it would be Ed Sullivan.
[man] The greatest finger-pointer
in the history of television.
A man who pointed his finger
at the biggest stars in the business.
[Preston]
That's why they call me, yeah
They call me Double-O-Soul
We think about Ed Sullivan, one of the
most famous shows in television history.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, Elvis Presley!
[crowd screams]
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!
[crowd screams]
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan,
people remember where they were,
what was happening,
where they were sitting,
what they were doing.
What were you thinking?
[man 2] 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
Watching The Ed Sullivan Show
was a cultural revolution.
["Agent Double-O-Soul" continues]
Yeah!
[long final note blares]
[song ends]
[audience applauds]
[light hip-hop beat playing]
[Sullivan] In the early days,
TV came in on the heels of radio
and inherited
some of its worst characteristics.
[typewriter clacking]
[typewriter bell dings]
[man] 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. [chuckles] Okay?
Let's have our next contestant, please.
Will you come in?
[Smokey] And it was not common
to see Black performers on TV.
[television dial clicks]
[Sullivan] There were pressures
to keep television "lily white."
[suspenseful music playing over TV]
We saw mostly characters
like Amos and Andy.
You know, they were comic characters
who had blackface.
[man] What in the world
are you doing there, Amos?
He said to hold the line.
But with Ed, everything changed.
[TV dial clicks]
Now, we're gonna kick off our show.
Jackie Wilson, sir, let's hear it!
[audience applauds]
["Lonely Teardrops"
by Jackie Wilson playing]
-Hey
-[backup singers] Shooby doo wop
Hey
My heart is crying, crying, ha
Lonely teardrops
My pillows never dry
Of lonely teardrops
-Come home, come home
-[backup singers] Oh
Just say you will
-Say you will
-Say you will
-Say that you [holds note]
-Say you will
Say you will
-[backup singers] Say you will
-Hey, hey, hey, hey, come on
[backup singers] 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
[backup singers] Say you will
-[song ends]
-[audience applauds]
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.
[man] 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!
[pensive music playing]
[Belafonte] And his position in defining
who the guests would be
was an act of courage.
The Will Mastin Trio,
featuring Sammy Davis Jr.
[Smokey] I used to watch
The Ed Sullivan Show faithfully.
Everybody watched Ed 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 watch Ed Sullivan
because it was like
a celebratory thing in the hood.
Imagine being ten years old, on welfare,
watching The 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.
[news reporter] 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.
[television dial clicking]
[troubling music playing]
[Berry] You know, at the time,
the country was divided.
[woman] 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.
[music ends]
And then when Ed Sullivan came along,
he seemed to be fearless.
[chuckles] And he didn't seem to care
what other people thought.
[audience applauds]
["Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley playing]
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.
["Bo Diddley" continues]
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.
-[audience applauds]
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.
-[audience applauds]
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
[vocalizes guitar riff]
That's Bo Diddley. [chuckles] I mean,
he was the one That's his invention.
Bo Diddley bought an alley cat
To make his pretty baby a Sunday hat
[Diddley] It's mixed with
African religious chant.
[vocalizes musical rhythm]
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?
[singer shouts]
["Bo Diddley" ends]
[birds chirping]
[gentle piano music playing]
[Ed Sullivan] For a small-town kid,
my life has been an incredible thing.
[children playfully shouting]
[Sullivan] 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.
[piano keys play lightly]
Swing low
Sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low
Sweet chariot
Coming for to carry
Me home
I looked over Jordan
[Sullivan] I was born in Harlem,
which was then
an area for the Irish and Jewish.
[Toni] Coming for to carry me home
[Sullivan] I was one of twins,
but my brother Dan died
when he was just two years old.
[Toni] coming after me
[Sullivan] Our family was poor,
but we had a strong streak
of pride and self-reliance.
[Toni] I'm coming too
Coming for to carry
Me home
[poignant music playing]
[Sullivan] From the very first time
that I can remember,
I always wanted to write.
[Belafonte] 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.
[cameras clicking]
[Sullivan] 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.
[crowd cheers]
And so, sports stayed with you
all your life, as your first love.
[Sullivan] 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.
[Belafonte] 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!
[audience applauds]
["Prisoner of Love"
by James Brown playing]
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
-[whistle blows]
-What's the good of my
[announcer] And he's off,
carrying the ball 96 yards for the score.
["Prisoner of Love" continues]
[Sullivan] I was then sports editor
at the New 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
[Sullivan] I felt this issue was important
enough to be threshed out publicly.
-[Brown] Prisoner of love
-[backup singers] Prisoner of love
Ow!
[backup singers] Prisoner of love
[Sullivan] 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.
-[Brown] No!
-[backup singers] Prisoner of love
-Ow!
-Prisoner of love
No!
[Sullivan] 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
-[backup singers] Prisoner of love
-Made me a prisoner, prisoner of love
-[backup singers] Prisoner of love
[percussive flourish]
[song ends]
[audience applauds]
[rhythmic atmospheric music playing]
[Sullivan] 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.
[typewriter clacking]
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 at The Daily News
who has made Broadway live and breathe
throughout the country
through the magnificence of his writing.
Mr. Broadway himself,
Ed Sullivan of The Daily News!
Ladies and gentlemen, The News presents
the second annual Harvest Moon Ball.
Strike up the band, Dick Himber!
[silence]
Want it again?
["Bold Soul Sister"
by Ike and Tina Turner playing]
Our show opens right now with the exciting
Ike & Tina Turner Revue,
and they are wonderful. Let's have 'em.
[audience applauds]
Tell me now
Oh!
Bold soul sister
Bold soul sister
BSS, all right
Tell me now
Bold soul sister
All right, now
[Sullivan] 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.
[backup singers] Bold soul sister
[Sullivan] I began to develop
a stage presence
and a confidence in my judgment of talent.
[reporter] 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
-[Tina] All right
[Sullivan] 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.
[Tina] The more I give you
[Sullivan] TV was brand-new,
and I hadn't known
that CBS had decided
at the last minute to televise the show.
[announcer] It's the night of
the Harvest Moon Ball on Broadway.
Yeah!
[Sullivan] Nor did I know
that CBS executives
were looking for
a relaxed and informal guy
to emcee a Sunday night variety program.
["Bold Soul Sister" continues]
But as a result of that telecast,
CBS decided
that I was the man for the job.
[song ends]
[audience applauds]
-[static hiss]
-[old-timey television music playing]
[announcer] Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!
Emerson Radio & Television proudly present
Toast of the Town,
and your host, Ed Sullivan!
[fanfare blares]
[audience applauds]
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
[tense music playing]
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,
as you know,
on this particular
Toast of the Town show for Emerson
When I first went on TV
with our Toast of the Town program,
the experts told us
to look directly into the camera.
[dramatic sting]
This didn't faze actors
[audience applauds]
but when I looked
into those iron monsters
[dramatic sting]
rigor mortis set in.
[music halts then restarts]
Well, ladies and gentlemen,
until next Sunday night
at the same time over CBS TV,
at which time Emerson is gonna produce
another
[splutters] 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.
[audience laughs]
And right over here
is the rod that held Ed up.
[audience laughs]
[Sullivan] They knocked my brains out
Aw, now leave me alone, will ya?
[Sullivan] and when I saw the show,
I couldn't blame 'em.
[tense music continues]
I was named
the "Great Stone Face of 1949."
[audience laughs]
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.
[audience laughs]
[imitating Ed Sullivan]
Welcome to our shoe Tonight we're gonna
[Sullivan] I never thought
I was the attraction.
I just kept looking
for the best thing to put on the show.
[rhythmic jazz music playing]
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.
[chuckles] 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.
[audience applauds]
[Sullivan] 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.
[Smokey] 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.
[Sullivan] Television will not only
put vaudeville stars back to work,
this new medium is made-to-order for them.
[music continues]
And it's been proven on my show
by Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald,
Louis Armstrong, Hazel Scott,
the Ink Spots, and Lena Horne.
[audience applauds]
These acts, always great,
become greater on television,
because unlike in a huge theater,
everyone has a front-row seat.
[music ends]
Encore!
[audience applauds]
[pensive music playing]
They didn't get much money.
But when I needed help, the Negro stars
were loyal and considerate.
[audience applauds]
I personally know that without them,
the early TV days
would have been a nightmare.
[tap dance shoes clicking]
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.
[Sullivan] 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.
[interviewer] 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.
[solemn music playing]
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.
[woman] 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.
[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
[interviewer]
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
[song continues quietly in background]
[Sullivan] 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.
[reporter] Asa Carter of Alabama
organized the boycott.
[Carter] 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
[Sullivan] 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
-[song ends]
-[audience applauds]
[Talmadge] 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.
[man] 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?
[crowd] No!
Are you going to do something about it?
[crowd] Yes!
It was an occasion for a bit
of the old Irish temper, I should think.
No, the temper didn't help out then.
[typewriter clacking]
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.
[optimistic music playing]
[Sullivan] 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.
-[audience applauds]
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.
-[audience applauds]
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.
[man] I'm speaking to you
as an American American.
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?
[crowd cheers]
[reporter 1] Communist agitators
posing as civil rights leaders
hope to enlist massive support
for their schemes.
[reporter 2] 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.
[Belafonte] 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.
[Sullivan] There's men
out in the audience,
famed Blue Angels
of the United States Navy.
Would you all stand up, please?
[audience applauds]
[Belafonte] 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
[Belafonte] 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.
[tense music playing]
[Sullivan] 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."
[optimistic music playing]
"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."
-[TV dial clicks]
-[audience applauding]
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!
[audience applauds]
["Muleskinner" by Harry Belafonte playing]
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
[whistling call]
-Hey there
-Hey there
Hey there, little water boy
Bring your bucket round
[whistling call]
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
[background singer claps, exclaims]
-Good morning, sun
-[background singer makes whistling call]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hah!
-[song ends]
-[audience applauds]
[serene music playing]
[Sullivan] 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.
[Belafonte] 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.
[audience applauding]
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.
[big band music blares]
[Nat King Cole playing piano version
of "Just One of Those Things"]
[reporter 1] This is
the United States Supreme Court.
On May 17th,
the court unanimously declared
segregation in public schools
to be illegal.
[man] There is a brand-new Negro
in the South
with a new sense of dignity and destiny.
[reporter 2] Governor Davis
and the legislature
tried one legal device after another
to prevent or stop the integration.
Segregationists hurled stones.
[indistinct chanting]
[Smokey] 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,
[chuckles] you know what I'm saying?
-[percussive flourish]
-[song ends]
You're not thinking like that.
Sometimes it just hits you in the face.
[TV dial clicks]
[foreboding music playing]
[reporter] This is the muddy,
backwoods Tallahatchie River
where a weighted body was found,
alleged to be that of young Emmett Till.
[man] 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.
[siren wailing]
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.
[siren wailing]
[resolute edgy music playing]
[reporter 1] 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.
[reporter 1] 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.
[reporter 1] 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 expect that.
[reporter 2] Are these the guns
found in the car
the night King Cole was attacked?
-[man 1] Yes, they were.
-Are they loaded?
-Fully loaded.
-Fully loaded.
Two men were charged
with intent to murder, right?
[man 1] That's right.
[man 2] 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.
[reporter 1] 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."
[typewriter clacking]
[Sullivan] 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!
[audience applauds]
["On the Sunny Side of the Street"
by Tony Martin and Nat King Cole playing]
-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.
[audience applauds]
[song ends]
[pensive electronic music playing]
[broadcaster 1] 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.
[broadcaster 2] 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.
[Sullivan] 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.
-[TV dial clicks]
-[drumroll]
[audience applauds]
Now, ladies and gentlemen
[audience shrieking]
here is Elvis Presley!
[audience screams]
-[guitar strum]
-[audience screams]
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
[audience screams]
["Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley continues]
Well, you ain't never caught no rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine
-[song ends]
-[audience screams]
[tranquil music playing]
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.
[interviewer 1] 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.
[interviewer 2] 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.
-[interviewer chuckles]
-[dog growls]
[Sullivan] I hate adverse criticism.
I'm a pop-off.
[piano rumbles]
And let's have a big hand for Nina Simone.
[audience applauds]
[Playing "Love Me or Leave Me"]
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
[Sullivan] I would do everything
except tear it up.
[Simone] the right time for kissing
[Sullivan] 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
[Sullivan] 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
[Sullivan] I'm tired of shaking hands
with Lincoln-Mercury dealers,
signing autographs
[Simone] My love is your
[Sullivan] getting up and saying slogans
that would make you throw up.
[typewriter clacking]
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.
[Simone] There is no love
For nobody else
[audience applauds]
[song ends]
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.
[crowd cheers]
[man] 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.
[interviewer] 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.
[Sullivan] 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.
[Belafonte] 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.
[Sullivan] Terrific.
[Belafonte] 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.
[Belafonte] 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.
[singing in Indigenous language]
But Ed took the position,
"Let's test it and see where it would go."
[audience applauds]
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?
[audience applauds]
["Give Me That Old Time Religion" playing]
[backup singers] 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
[Sullivan] 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.
[Mahalia] 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.
[Kennedy] Where legal remedies
are not at hand,
redress is sought
in the streets and protests.
-[man] I may be poor!
-[crowd] I may be poor!
-But I am!
-[crowd] But I am!
-Somebody!
-[crowd] 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.
[Mahalia] Old-time religion
Hallelujah! Good enough for me
-I am!
-[crowd] I am!
-Black!
-[crowd] Black!
-[man] Beautiful!
-[crowd] Beautiful!
-[man] Proud!
-[crowd] Proud!
-[man] I am!
-[crowd] I am!
-[man] Somebody!
-[crowd] Somebody!
[Mahalia] good enough
"We hold these truths to be self-evident
that all men are created equal."
[Mahalia] for me!
["Give Me That Old Time Religion" ends]
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.
[hopeful music playing]
And the reason that I struggle with it
so hard is because I really believe
in the potential of this country.
-[TV static crackles]
-[foreboding music playing]
[sighs] 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.
[microphone feedback squeals]
This is Walter Cronkite
in our newsroom, and
there has been an attempt,
as perhaps you know now,
on the life of President Kennedy.
[reporter] 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
[somber music playing]
[guns fire in salute]
[guns fire in salute]
[Smokey] That was
one of the shocks of my life.
[guns fire in salute]
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.
[Sullivan] 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.
[optimistic music playing]
This is the season that is full of hope.
[children shouting]
If we are truly religious,
we can never despair.
[reporter] 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.
[crowd cheering]
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!
[crowd screams]
[man] 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
[song ends]
[Sullivan] Thank you.
[serene music playing]
[audience continues cheering]
[Smokey] 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.
[man] 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.
[serene music continues]
[Smokey] 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.
[interviewer] Meet the president
of the Motown Record Corporation,
Mr. Berry Gordy. Hello, Berry.
[Smokey] 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.
[tense music playing]
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.
[Berry] 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.
[Sullivan] You have a fine act.
[audience cheers]
[Berry] If it was a hot act,
Ed Sullivan had 'em. [chuckles] You know?
-It was American culture.
-[audience screaming]
And for Motown to be a part of that
would be the dream come true for me.
[TV dial clicks]
-[camera clicks]
-[audience applauds]
Out here on stage is this
Detroit's amazing
13-year-old singing star,
Stevie Wonder.
[Berry] Little Stevie Wonder [chuckles]
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?
-[audience cheers]
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.
-[playing "Fingertips" over harmonica]
-[audience clapping to the beat]
[Berry] 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!"
[audience] Yeah!
-Sing "Yeah!"
-[audience] Yeah!
-Sing "Yeah!"
-[audience] Yeah!
-Yeah!
-[audience] Yeah!
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
["Fingertips" continues]
[Berry] People rallied
to possibilities, you know?
Ed Sullivan Show there was possibilities.
That's what made it so special
when he liked us.
[Sullivan] 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.
[announcer 1] CBS presents
this program in color!
[announcer 2] And now Ed Sullivan!
[Berry] The Motown artists were treated
with the greatest respect by Ed,
but there was something special
between him and The Supremes.
[woman] 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.
[Diana] And we made it okay.
Motown made it okay
to listen to our music.
So let's have a fine welcome
for The Supremes.
[Oprah] For me,
watching her for the first time,
glamorous and beautiful,
it was life-changing for 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
[backup singers] Can't wait
Ed loved Motown. He loved The Supremes.
He loved The Temptations.
Here they are!
[man] 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.
[Diana] I keep waiting
Ooh, you gotta give and take
[Smokey] 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!
["You Can't Hurry Love" ends]
[audience applauds]
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.
-[audience applauds]
-So
And I think you've got a lot of soul.
-Well, thank you very much.
-[laughs] 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.
[both] 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.
["The Love You Save" playing]
[band members vocalizing the beat]
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.
[audience applauds]
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.
[audience cheers]
[Berry] The show did
what I wanted our music to do,
be for all people.
It broke down all those barriers.
Put people together.
[sentimental music playing]
[interviewer] 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
[chuckles] 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.
[audience applauds]
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.
[audience applauds]
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 doing The Ed Sullivan Show
just as long as he possibly can?
Well, that's what I'd like. [chuckles]
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.
-[interviewer] You'd be
-I'd be lost.
[film projector humming]
[poignant music playing]
[Sullivan] 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.
-[film projector powers down]
[music becomes invigorating]
[reporter] Thousands
of peace demonstrators
marched on the Pentagon.
[big band music plays]
[woman] All the time
But I do promise action.
[announcer] The first adult
space adventure blasts off Thursdays.
[crowd] Blowin' in the wind
-[crowd commotion]
-[tinkly chime]
[crowd commotion]
[audience applause]
These are the days!
[Sullivan] Time slips by
so quickly and hurriedly
that you scarcely have a chance
to catch your breath.
Before you go, you know, Eddie
[both chuckle]
-"Kiss me"
-Kiss me good night!
-[puppet laughs]
-[crowd applauds]
-Goodbye!
-Goodbye, Eddie!
[Sullivan] 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.
[crowd applauds]
-Pearl, come up here!
-Here we are.
[music continues]
[Sullivan] I had a good long run.
I put up a good fight
for what I believed in.
And I have no complaints at all.
[audience applauds]
Thank you very, very much,
ladies and gentlemen!
Good night!
[Brown] Please! Please!
["Please, Please, Please"
by James Brown playing]
[backup singers] Don't go
[Brown] Please, please
[backup singers]
Please, please, don't go
Don't go
I love you so
Yeah
-Don't go
-Ow!
-Don't leave me, baby
-[backup singers] Please, don't go
Please, please, don't go
Don't go
Please, please, don't go
-Please, please, don't go
-[Brown] Ow! Don't leave me
Ow!
-Don't leave me, baby
-[backup singers] Don't go
Please, please, don't go
Don't go
Don't go
[audience applauds]
[long final note blares]
[song ends]
[contemplative ambient music playing]
[music fades out]
[pensive synth music playing]
[music fades out]
[announcer 1] And now, live from
the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City
[announcer 2] The winner
of American Idol is
[crowd shrieks]
You get a car!
[television dial clicking]
[woman] Look out, baby
[television dial continues clicking]
[announcer 3] And now, the man who,
to many people, is television.
[resolute edgy music playing]
If Ed Sullivan didn't exist,
America would have had to invent him.
[music stops]
[audience applauding]
[Sullivan] Thank you,
ladies and gentlemen.
I hope you enjoy the show tonight.
Will you welcome him now, please?
[drumroll]
Mr. Ed Sullivan.
[audience applauds]
Ed Sullivan!
[announcer 4] Ed Sullivan,
ladies and gentlemen!
["Agent Double-O-Soul"
by Billy Preston playing]
I dig rock and roll music, yeah
I can twine and jerk
Yes, I can now
[woman] If you had to pick one person
in the industry to represent us,
it would be Ed Sullivan.
[man] The greatest finger-pointer
in the history of television.
A man who pointed his finger
at the biggest stars in the business.
[Preston]
That's why they call me, yeah
They call me Double-O-Soul
We think about Ed Sullivan, one of the
most famous shows in television history.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, Elvis Presley!
[crowd screams]
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!
[crowd screams]
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan,
people remember where they were,
what was happening,
where they were sitting,
what they were doing.
What were you thinking?
[man 2] 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
Watching The Ed Sullivan Show
was a cultural revolution.
["Agent Double-O-Soul" continues]
Yeah!
[long final note blares]
[song ends]
[audience applauds]
[light hip-hop beat playing]
[Sullivan] In the early days,
TV came in on the heels of radio
and inherited
some of its worst characteristics.
[typewriter clacking]
[typewriter bell dings]
[man] 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. [chuckles] Okay?
Let's have our next contestant, please.
Will you come in?
[Smokey] And it was not common
to see Black performers on TV.
[television dial clicks]
[Sullivan] There were pressures
to keep television "lily white."
[suspenseful music playing over TV]
We saw mostly characters
like Amos and Andy.
You know, they were comic characters
who had blackface.
[man] What in the world
are you doing there, Amos?
He said to hold the line.
But with Ed, everything changed.
[TV dial clicks]
Now, we're gonna kick off our show.
Jackie Wilson, sir, let's hear it!
[audience applauds]
["Lonely Teardrops"
by Jackie Wilson playing]
-Hey
-[backup singers] Shooby doo wop
Hey
My heart is crying, crying, ha
Lonely teardrops
My pillows never dry
Of lonely teardrops
-Come home, come home
-[backup singers] Oh
Just say you will
-Say you will
-Say you will
-Say that you [holds note]
-Say you will
Say you will
-[backup singers] Say you will
-Hey, hey, hey, hey, come on
[backup singers] 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
[backup singers] Say you will
-[song ends]
-[audience applauds]
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.
[man] 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!
[pensive music playing]
[Belafonte] And his position in defining
who the guests would be
was an act of courage.
The Will Mastin Trio,
featuring Sammy Davis Jr.
[Smokey] I used to watch
The Ed Sullivan Show faithfully.
Everybody watched Ed 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 watch Ed Sullivan
because it was like
a celebratory thing in the hood.
Imagine being ten years old, on welfare,
watching The 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.
[news reporter] 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.
[television dial clicking]
[troubling music playing]
[Berry] You know, at the time,
the country was divided.
[woman] 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.
[music ends]
And then when Ed Sullivan came along,
he seemed to be fearless.
[chuckles] And he didn't seem to care
what other people thought.
[audience applauds]
["Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley playing]
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.
["Bo Diddley" continues]
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.
-[audience applauds]
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.
-[audience applauds]
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
[vocalizes guitar riff]
That's Bo Diddley. [chuckles] I mean,
he was the one That's his invention.
Bo Diddley bought an alley cat
To make his pretty baby a Sunday hat
[Diddley] It's mixed with
African religious chant.
[vocalizes musical rhythm]
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?
[singer shouts]
["Bo Diddley" ends]
[birds chirping]
[gentle piano music playing]
[Ed Sullivan] For a small-town kid,
my life has been an incredible thing.
[children playfully shouting]
[Sullivan] 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.
[piano keys play lightly]
Swing low
Sweet chariot
Coming for to carry me home
Swing low
Sweet chariot
Coming for to carry
Me home
I looked over Jordan
[Sullivan] I was born in Harlem,
which was then
an area for the Irish and Jewish.
[Toni] Coming for to carry me home
[Sullivan] I was one of twins,
but my brother Dan died
when he was just two years old.
[Toni] coming after me
[Sullivan] Our family was poor,
but we had a strong streak
of pride and self-reliance.
[Toni] I'm coming too
Coming for to carry
Me home
[poignant music playing]
[Sullivan] From the very first time
that I can remember,
I always wanted to write.
[Belafonte] 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.
[cameras clicking]
[Sullivan] 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.
[crowd cheers]
And so, sports stayed with you
all your life, as your first love.
[Sullivan] 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.
[Belafonte] 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!
[audience applauds]
["Prisoner of Love"
by James Brown playing]
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
-[whistle blows]
-What's the good of my
[announcer] And he's off,
carrying the ball 96 yards for the score.
["Prisoner of Love" continues]
[Sullivan] I was then sports editor
at the New 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
[Sullivan] I felt this issue was important
enough to be threshed out publicly.
-[Brown] Prisoner of love
-[backup singers] Prisoner of love
Ow!
[backup singers] Prisoner of love
[Sullivan] 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.
-[Brown] No!
-[backup singers] Prisoner of love
-Ow!
-Prisoner of love
No!
[Sullivan] 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
-[backup singers] Prisoner of love
-Made me a prisoner, prisoner of love
-[backup singers] Prisoner of love
[percussive flourish]
[song ends]
[audience applauds]
[rhythmic atmospheric music playing]
[Sullivan] 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.
[typewriter clacking]
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 at The Daily News
who has made Broadway live and breathe
throughout the country
through the magnificence of his writing.
Mr. Broadway himself,
Ed Sullivan of The Daily News!
Ladies and gentlemen, The News presents
the second annual Harvest Moon Ball.
Strike up the band, Dick Himber!
[silence]
Want it again?
["Bold Soul Sister"
by Ike and Tina Turner playing]
Our show opens right now with the exciting
Ike & Tina Turner Revue,
and they are wonderful. Let's have 'em.
[audience applauds]
Tell me now
Oh!
Bold soul sister
Bold soul sister
BSS, all right
Tell me now
Bold soul sister
All right, now
[Sullivan] 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.
[backup singers] Bold soul sister
[Sullivan] I began to develop
a stage presence
and a confidence in my judgment of talent.
[reporter] 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
-[Tina] All right
[Sullivan] 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.
[Tina] The more I give you
[Sullivan] TV was brand-new,
and I hadn't known
that CBS had decided
at the last minute to televise the show.
[announcer] It's the night of
the Harvest Moon Ball on Broadway.
Yeah!
[Sullivan] Nor did I know
that CBS executives
were looking for
a relaxed and informal guy
to emcee a Sunday night variety program.
["Bold Soul Sister" continues]
But as a result of that telecast,
CBS decided
that I was the man for the job.
[song ends]
[audience applauds]
-[static hiss]
-[old-timey television music playing]
[announcer] Welcome, ladies and gentlemen!
Emerson Radio & Television proudly present
Toast of the Town,
and your host, Ed Sullivan!
[fanfare blares]
[audience applauds]
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.
[tense music playing]
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,
as you know,
on this particular
Toast of the Town show for Emerson
When I first went on TV
with our Toast of the Town program,
the experts told us
to look directly into the camera.
[dramatic sting]
This didn't faze actors
[audience applauds]
but when I looked
into those iron monsters
[dramatic sting]
rigor mortis set in.
[music halts then restarts]
Well, ladies and gentlemen,
until next Sunday night
at the same time over CBS TV,
at which time Emerson is gonna produce
another
[splutters] 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.
[audience laughs]
And right over here
is the rod that held Ed up.
[audience laughs]
[Sullivan] They knocked my brains out
Aw, now leave me alone, will ya?
[Sullivan] and when I saw the show,
I couldn't blame 'em.
[tense music continues]
I was named
the "Great Stone Face of 1949."
[audience laughs]
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.
[audience laughs]
[imitating Ed Sullivan]
Welcome to our shoe Tonight we're gonna
[Sullivan] I never thought
I was the attraction.
I just kept looking
for the best thing to put on the show.
[rhythmic jazz music playing]
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.
[chuckles] 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.
[audience applauds]
[Sullivan] 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.
[Smokey] 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.
[Sullivan] Television will not only
put vaudeville stars back to work,
this new medium is made-to-order for them.
[music continues]
And it's been proven on my show
by Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald,
Louis Armstrong, Hazel Scott,
the Ink Spots, and Lena Horne.
[audience applauds]
These acts, always great,
become greater on television,
because unlike in a huge theater,
everyone has a front-row seat.
[music ends]
Encore!
[audience applauds]
[pensive music playing]
They didn't get much money.
But when I needed help, the Negro stars
were loyal and considerate.
[audience applauds]
I personally know that without them,
the early TV days
would have been a nightmare.
[tap dance shoes clicking]
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.
[Sullivan] 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.
[interviewer] 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.
[solemn music playing]
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.
[woman] 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.
[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
[interviewer]
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
[song continues quietly in background]
[Sullivan] 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.
[reporter] Asa Carter of Alabama
organized the boycott.
[Carter] 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
[Sullivan] 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
-[song ends]
-[audience applauds]
[Talmadge] 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.
[man] 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?
[crowd] No!
Are you going to do something about it?
[crowd] Yes!
It was an occasion for a bit
of the old Irish temper, I should think.
No, the temper didn't help out then.
[typewriter clacking]
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.
[optimistic music playing]
[Sullivan] 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.
-[audience applauds]
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.
-[audience applauds]
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.
[man] I'm speaking to you
as an American American.
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?
[crowd cheers]
[reporter 1] Communist agitators
posing as civil rights leaders
hope to enlist massive support
for their schemes.
[reporter 2] 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.
[Belafonte] 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.
[Sullivan] There's men
out in the audience,
famed Blue Angels
of the United States Navy.
Would you all stand up, please?
[audience applauds]
[Belafonte] 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
[Belafonte] 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.
[tense music playing]
[Sullivan] 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."
[optimistic music playing]
"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."
-[TV dial clicks]
-[audience applauding]
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!
[audience applauds]
["Muleskinner" by Harry Belafonte playing]
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
[whistling call]
-Hey there
-Hey there
Hey there, little water boy
Bring your bucket round
[whistling call]
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
[background singer claps, exclaims]
-Good morning, sun
-[background singer makes whistling call]
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hah!
-[song ends]
-[audience applauds]
[serene music playing]
[Sullivan] 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.
[Belafonte] 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.
[audience applauding]
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.
[big band music blares]
[Nat King Cole playing piano version
of "Just One of Those Things"]
[reporter 1] This is
the United States Supreme Court.
On May 17th,
the court unanimously declared
segregation in public schools
to be illegal.
[man] There is a brand-new Negro
in the South
with a new sense of dignity and destiny.
[reporter 2] Governor Davis
and the legislature
tried one legal device after another
to prevent or stop the integration.
Segregationists hurled stones.
[indistinct chanting]
[Smokey] 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,
[chuckles] you know what I'm saying?
-[percussive flourish]
-[song ends]
You're not thinking like that.
Sometimes it just hits you in the face.
[TV dial clicks]
[foreboding music playing]
[reporter] This is the muddy,
backwoods Tallahatchie River
where a weighted body was found,
alleged to be that of young Emmett Till.
[man] 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.
[siren wailing]
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.
[siren wailing]
[resolute edgy music playing]
[reporter 1] 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.
[reporter 1] 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.
[reporter 1] 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 expect that.
[reporter 2] Are these the guns
found in the car
the night King Cole was attacked?
-[man 1] Yes, they were.
-Are they loaded?
-Fully loaded.
-Fully loaded.
Two men were charged
with intent to murder, right?
[man 1] That's right.
[man 2] 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.
[reporter 1] 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."
[typewriter clacking]
[Sullivan] 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!
[audience applauds]
["On the Sunny Side of the Street"
by Tony Martin and Nat King Cole playing]
-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.
[audience applauds]
[song ends]
[pensive electronic music playing]
[broadcaster 1] 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.
[broadcaster 2] 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.
[Sullivan] 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.
-[TV dial clicks]
-[drumroll]
[audience applauds]
Now, ladies and gentlemen
[audience shrieking]
here is Elvis Presley!
[audience screams]
-[guitar strum]
-[audience screams]
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
[audience screams]
["Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley continues]
Well, you ain't never caught no rabbit
And you ain't no friend of mine
-[song ends]
-[audience screams]
[tranquil music playing]
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.
[interviewer 1] 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.
[interviewer 2] 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.
-[interviewer chuckles]
-[dog growls]
[Sullivan] I hate adverse criticism.
I'm a pop-off.
[piano rumbles]
And let's have a big hand for Nina Simone.
[audience applauds]
[Playing "Love Me or Leave Me"]
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
[Sullivan] I would do everything
except tear it up.
[Simone] the right time for kissing
[Sullivan] 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
[Sullivan] 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
[Sullivan] I'm tired of shaking hands
with Lincoln-Mercury dealers,
signing autographs
[Simone] My love is your
[Sullivan] getting up and saying slogans
that would make you throw up.
[typewriter clacking]
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.
[Simone] There is no love
For nobody else
[audience applauds]
[song ends]
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.
[crowd cheers]
[man] 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.
[interviewer] 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.
[Sullivan] 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.
[Belafonte] 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.
[Sullivan] Terrific.
[Belafonte] 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.
[Belafonte] 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.
[singing in Indigenous language]
But Ed took the position,
"Let's test it and see where it would go."
[audience applauds]
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?
[audience applauds]
["Give Me That Old Time Religion" playing]
[backup singers] 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
[Sullivan] 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.
[Mahalia] 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.
[Kennedy] Where legal remedies
are not at hand,
redress is sought
in the streets and protests.
-[man] I may be poor!
-[crowd] I may be poor!
-But I am!
-[crowd] But I am!
-Somebody!
-[crowd] 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.
[Mahalia] Old-time religion
Hallelujah! Good enough for me
-I am!
-[crowd] I am!
-Black!
-[crowd] Black!
-[man] Beautiful!
-[crowd] Beautiful!
-[man] Proud!
-[crowd] Proud!
-[man] I am!
-[crowd] I am!
-[man] Somebody!
-[crowd] Somebody!
[Mahalia] good enough
"We hold these truths to be self-evident
that all men are created equal."
[Mahalia] for me!
["Give Me That Old Time Religion" ends]
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.
[hopeful music playing]
And the reason that I struggle with it
so hard is because I really believe
in the potential of this country.
-[TV static crackles]
-[foreboding music playing]
[sighs] 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.
[microphone feedback squeals]
This is Walter Cronkite
in our newsroom, and
there has been an attempt,
as perhaps you know now,
on the life of President Kennedy.
[reporter] 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
[somber music playing]
[guns fire in salute]
[guns fire in salute]
[Smokey] That was
one of the shocks of my life.
[guns fire in salute]
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.
[Sullivan] 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.
[optimistic music playing]
This is the season that is full of hope.
[children shouting]
If we are truly religious,
we can never despair.
[reporter] 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.
[crowd cheering]
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!
[crowd screams]
[man] 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
[song ends]
[Sullivan] Thank you.
[serene music playing]
[audience continues cheering]
[Smokey] 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.
[man] 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.
[serene music continues]
[Smokey] 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.
[interviewer] Meet the president
of the Motown Record Corporation,
Mr. Berry Gordy. Hello, Berry.
[Smokey] 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.
[tense music playing]
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.
[Berry] 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.
[Sullivan] You have a fine act.
[audience cheers]
[Berry] If it was a hot act,
Ed Sullivan had 'em. [chuckles] You know?
-It was American culture.
-[audience screaming]
And for Motown to be a part of that
would be the dream come true for me.
[TV dial clicks]
-[camera clicks]
-[audience applauds]
Out here on stage is this
Detroit's amazing
13-year-old singing star,
Stevie Wonder.
[Berry] Little Stevie Wonder [chuckles]
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?
-[audience cheers]
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.
-[playing "Fingertips" over harmonica]
-[audience clapping to the beat]
[Berry] 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!"
[audience] Yeah!
-Sing "Yeah!"
-[audience] Yeah!
-Sing "Yeah!"
-[audience] Yeah!
-Yeah!
-[audience] Yeah!
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah
["Fingertips" continues]
[Berry] People rallied
to possibilities, you know?
Ed Sullivan Show there was possibilities.
That's what made it so special
when he liked us.
[Sullivan] 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.
[announcer 1] CBS presents
this program in color!
[announcer 2] And now Ed Sullivan!
[Berry] The Motown artists were treated
with the greatest respect by Ed,
but there was something special
between him and The Supremes.
[woman] 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.
[Diana] And we made it okay.
Motown made it okay
to listen to our music.
So let's have a fine welcome
for The Supremes.
[Oprah] For me,
watching her for the first time,
glamorous and beautiful,
it was life-changing for 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
[backup singers] Can't wait
Ed loved Motown. He loved The Supremes.
He loved The Temptations.
Here they are!
[man] 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.
[Diana] I keep waiting
Ooh, you gotta give and take
[Smokey] 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!
["You Can't Hurry Love" ends]
[audience applauds]
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.
-[audience applauds]
-So
And I think you've got a lot of soul.
-Well, thank you very much.
-[laughs] 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.
[both] 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.
["The Love You Save" playing]
[band members vocalizing the beat]
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.
[audience applauds]
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.
[audience cheers]
[Berry] The show did
what I wanted our music to do,
be for all people.
It broke down all those barriers.
Put people together.
[sentimental music playing]
[interviewer] 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
[chuckles] 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.
[audience applauds]
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.
[audience applauds]
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 doing The Ed Sullivan Show
just as long as he possibly can?
Well, that's what I'd like. [chuckles]
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.
-[interviewer] You'd be
-I'd be lost.
[film projector humming]
[poignant music playing]
[Sullivan] 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.
-[film projector powers down]
[music becomes invigorating]
[reporter] Thousands
of peace demonstrators
marched on the Pentagon.
[big band music plays]
[woman] All the time
But I do promise action.
[announcer] The first adult
space adventure blasts off Thursdays.
[crowd] Blowin' in the wind
-[crowd commotion]
-[tinkly chime]
[crowd commotion]
[audience applause]
These are the days!
[Sullivan] Time slips by
so quickly and hurriedly
that you scarcely have a chance
to catch your breath.
Before you go, you know, Eddie
[both chuckle]
-"Kiss me"
-Kiss me good night!
-[puppet laughs]
-[crowd applauds]
-Goodbye!
-Goodbye, Eddie!
[Sullivan] 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.
[crowd applauds]
-Pearl, come up here!
-Here we are.
[music continues]
[Sullivan] I had a good long run.
I put up a good fight
for what I believed in.
And I have no complaints at all.
[audience applauds]
Thank you very, very much,
ladies and gentlemen!
Good night!
[Brown] Please! Please!
["Please, Please, Please"
by James Brown playing]
[backup singers] Don't go
[Brown] Please, please
[backup singers]
Please, please, don't go
Don't go
I love you so
Yeah
-Don't go
-Ow!
-Don't leave me, baby
-[backup singers] Please, don't go
Please, please, don't go
Don't go
Please, please, don't go
-Please, please, don't go
-[Brown] Ow! Don't leave me
Ow!
-Don't leave me, baby
-[backup singers] Don't go
Please, please, don't go
Don't go
Don't go
[audience applauds]
[long final note blares]
[song ends]
[contemplative ambient music playing]
[music fades out]
[pensive synth music playing]
[music fades out]