Sammy Davis Jr Movies

Martin Short again rides with a couple of cronies | Philadelphia Daily News ...

A great thing about inviting Martin Short to a party - he brings along amusing friends.

Like Irving Cohen, the feisty, 90-plus Tin Pan Alley tunesmith and raconteur. Or the nerdly Ed Grimley, always with something doofy on his mind, I must say. Then there's Jackie Rogers Jr., the hipster brother (from another dad and mother) of Sammy Davis Jr. And if the buffet's big enough, Short might also coax Jiminy Glick to stuff his, er, show his face - he being the unctuous interviewer of the stars who always brings the subject back to himself.

Any and all of these dudes might be along for the ride as the man never short on talent participates Sunday night in the Peco Pops at the Mann "Three Singular Sensations," a music and comedy soiree co-starring composer/pianist Marvin Hamlisch and Broadway fave Brian Stokes Mitchell .

Dreamed up by and debuting at the Mann, "it's what you call a symphony show," Short shared in a recent chat from his lakeside summer cabin in Rosseau, Ontario, Canada. "So there are fixed elements but also some room for improvisation - me annoying Marvin or running out into the audience to grab three guys to be my 'Three Amigos,' " a nod to the hit movie in which Short co-starred with good buds Steve Martin and Billy Crystal.

"Each of us [Marvin, Brian and Martin] gets about 30 minutes on our own, which is about right. And we do things together - like Frank and Sammy and Dean . . . or Liza. It's designed to be loose and fun, musical and eccentric, and nobody overstays his welcome."

That last comment seems key to Short's career philosophy. While he made his mark initially in sketch comedy, with the golden-age cast of "SCTV," then on "Saturday Night Live," Short has always been "more of a variety artist, harking back to my childhood in Ontario, putting on imaginary shows in my attic. And that's a Canadian performer's nature that we share with the British - the 'Do you want me to bring a suit?' attitude. Whatever the job requires, we're ready. Song, dance, slapstick, high drama - no problem."

He described English actress Judi Dench as "a role model for me. Dame Judi is a phenomenal actress. But she's not adverse to taking a toothpaste commercial or being on a TV show. You'd never hear her saying, 'I'm an Oscar winner, I can't do that.

Cinema Directives: Porgy and Bess

A few days ago, I watched Porgy and Bess , the 1959 film directed by Otto Preminger. Just the fact that I was able to see this film is something worth mentioning, as it was pulled out of the marketplace in 1967 by the Gerhswin family and has (to the best of my knowledge) received only one public showing since (this took place in New York City in 1998; after the film, author Foster Hirsch who wrote a biography of Preminger, commented on this work before an appreciative audience). The history of this film is quite remarkable, as several producers in the 1940s and '50s wanted to acquire the rights to the famed opera, written in 1935 by George and Ira Gershwin, with a libretto by DuBose Heyward; the opera itself was based on Heyward's 1925 novel Porgy  as well as a subsequent 1927 play written by Heyward and his wife Dorothy. In 1957, Ira Gershwin sold the rights to famed producer Samuel Goldwyn, who had produced such celebrated films as The Best Years of Our Lives  and  Wuthering Heights . Goldwyn hired Rouben Mamoulian as director, after previous individuals turned down the assignment. Mamoulian had directed the original stage production as well as the opera, so this seemed like an inspired choice. But after personal differences between the producer and director, Goldwyn fired him and hired Otto Preminger, who early on had expressed interest in making this film. Having Preminger replace Mamoulian was highly ironic, as the same thing happened on the film Laura (1944), which turned out to be one of Preminger's most critically acclaimed works. I cannot tell you where or how I saw the movie, but I was enthralled with the opportunity, not only because of its "lost" status, but because I am also a big fan of Preminger's work. Throughout most of his career, he displayed a solid hand in his direction, elegantly blocking out scenes and using graceful camera movements. He favored medium shots that would show several characters; thus the viewer could watch the part of the screen he or she wanted to - Preminger in my mind, greatly respected the audience. Overly dramatic closeups were not his thing; this led some critics to complain that Preminger's visual style was objective and without emotion. I disagree and am on the side of many critics who saw in the director's work a subtle quality attained only by the very best craftsmen of the cinema.

Sammy, an autobiography : with material newly revised from Yes I can and Why me?

Gonna do great things, the life of Sammy Davis, Jr

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