In May of this year, documentary filmmaker Sacha Jenkins tragically passed away, leaving behind an impactful legacy. Jenkins, who started as a zine creator and co-founder of *Ego Trip* magazine, found remarkable success in the realm of filmmaking. He directed documentaries focusing on pivotal figures in Black music, including *Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men*, *Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues*, *All Up in the Biz*, and *Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James*.

Notably, his last film, *Sunday Best*, which debuted at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, centers around a white man. *Sunday Best* is a well-crafted and heartfelt biographical story about variety show host Ed Sullivan, whose stage introduced the latest and most prominent musical talents to America from 1948 to 1971. Beyond the widely recognized legacy of Sullivan, Jenkins’ documentary presents him as a racial pioneer who championed Black artists like Harry Belafonte, James Brown, and Stevie Wonder long before the presence of Black faces became commonplace on television. The film posits that without Sullivan, our musical and daily landscape would be significantly altered today.

What impact does *Sunday Best* create?

Commencing on an uplifting note, the initial 10 minutes of *Sunday Best* showcase testimonials from industry figures highlighting Sullivan’s importance. The opening credits feature celebrities such as Ringo Starr, Wanda Sykes, Keegan-Michael Key, Bruce Springsteen, and Ice-T voicing their admiration for the host. Commentary from figures like Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy illustrates how Sullivan defied numerous early television conventions, particularly around race. The documentary records that when television first started, the only Black faces that audiences might witness were on *Amos ‘n’ Andy*. As Gordy points out, when *The Ed Sullivan Show* aired on June 20, 1948, “Everything changed.”

Jenkins incorporates Sullivan’s own words to demonstrate how he transformed the entertainment landscape. Intertitles reveal that Jenkins utilized Respeecher’s AI technology to replicate Sullivan’s voice for narrating his columns, articles, and letters. This creates a melodious uncanny valley effect, resembling an impression rather than the actual man himself.

Post the initial 10 minutes, the film adopts a musical technique that becomes its signature. A segment featuring an 11-year-old Toni Harper singing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” on Sullivan’s show sets the mood, while Jenkins and editors Billy McMillin and Monique Zavistovski allow the song to play as Sullivan’s voice lends context to his biographical information. He was born in Harlem in 1901, a neighborhood then home to Jewish and Irish communities. His twin brother passed away when he was two, and his father instilled in him the value of respecting everyone, regardless of their background. By blending classic performances from the show — the film filtered through 10,000 musical numbers — with Sullivan’s recollections, Jenkins adeptly addresses key historical details and music within the film’s concise 80-minute duration.

Ryan “Bullet” Shields’ rhythmic score offers a calming contrast to the biographical narrative. As the music flows, we discover that Sullivan participated in an integrated baseball league during high school and initiated his career as a sports journalist. In 1929, when NYU football benched their Black player to satisfy the segregationist stance of their opponent, the University of Georgia, Sullivan penned an article for the *New York Evening Graphic* condemning the action. In the 1930s, upon shifting from sports to reporting on Broadway, he became the emcee of the Harvest Moon Ball, which spotlighted Black vaudeville performers. These stories reveal how Sullivan was progressive compared to his white contemporaries.

*Sunday Best* is a celebration of hits.

Jenkins dedicates a significant portion of *Sunday Best* to correlate the ascent of Sullivan’s show with the prevailing racial tensions. When Sullivan began to showcase vaudevillian acts such as Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Lena Horne, and Pearl Bailey on television, he did so aware that advertisers were concerned about alienating Southern viewers. By 1952, Georgia Governor Herman Talmadge insisted that television remain segregated. Although Talmadge never directly referenced Sullivan, the film contrasts the governor’s position, illustrated through a newspaper headline stating “Talmadge Hits TV ‘Offense’ to South on Race,” against the TV host.

For every historical instance, Jenkins pairs it with a popular song. Through various narratives, we learn of Sullivan’s unwavering loyalty to Harry Belafonte, even when he was blacklisted due to communist allegations. When the film discusses racial violence in the South, it follows with Nat King Cole and Tony Martin singing “On the Sunny Side of the Street.” When addressing the March on Washington, the film prefaces it with Mahalia Jackson, MLK’s favored singer, performing “Give Me That Old Time Religion.”

As Jenkins explores Motown, he appears to draw a direct connection from Sullivan to Hitsville USA. Smokey Robinson…