Sammy Davis Jr. in Salt and Pepper (1968)

Vitals

Sammy Davis Jr. as Charles Salt, nightclub singer and co-owner

London, Spring 1968

Film: Salt and Pepper
Release Date: June 21, 1968
Director: Richard Donner
Costume Designer: Cynthia Tingey
Tailor: Charles Glenn

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Multi-talented entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. was born 100 years ago today on December 8, 1925. Davis started performing on stage at only three years old when he joined his father and godfather in a touring act named after the latter: the Will Mastin Trio. After serving in the Army during World War II and maintaining his stardom through the ’50s, Davis developed an informal but enduring association with fellow entertainers Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford that has become immortalized as the “Rat Pack”. (It was reportedly at Davis’ insistence that Sinatra changed the group’s initial name from “the Clan” to “the Summit”.)

The Rat Pack’s heyday was through the early 1960s, consisting primarily of stage shows and feature films like Ocean’s 11 (1960), playing a group of Army vets teaming up to rob five Vegas casinos. But as Dino’s character declares in that flick, “old times are only good when you’ve had ’em,” and the group’s cultural domination began to sizzle within a few short years. Sinatra had spent a small fortune to renovate part of his Palm Springs estate in anticipation of a visit from Lawford’s brother-in-law—who happened to be then-President John F. Kennedy—until Attorney General RFK advised his brother to limit his association with the mob-connected Ol’ Blue Eyes… so both JFK’s visit and Lawford’s upcoming role in 4 for Texas went to Bing Crosby instead.

Ever the diplomat, Davis maintained professional ties with Lawford as the two pallies starred in three more films through the end of the ’60s, adapting their Rat Pack personas to the times in Salt and Pepper (1968) and the Jerry Lewis-directed sequel, One More Time (1970).

Salt and Pepper was the second film directed by Richard Donner, who would more successfully revisit the black-and-white buddy comedy subgenre two decades later with the Lethal Weapon series. Davis and Lawford play swingin’ London nightclub operators-turned-spies Charlie Salt and Christopher Pepper, respectively, who uncover a plot to overthrow the British government. Continue reading →