Sam Cooke documentary on Netflix ("The Two Killings of Sam Cooke")

Dhreview16 · Feb 16, 2019

It lays on the conspiracy theory a bit too heavily, but if you are interested in Sam Cooke (the man and his music) it’s well worth watching. I didn’t know beforehand about his role as a music business owner, and there are some nice cameos and interviews. And it contrasts nicely Sam’s Live at the Copa and Live at the Harlem Square Club (and it’s belated release).

Grunge Master · Feb 16, 2019

The Panda said: ↑

yea, that voice, that music.
And I want to see all this about his death. Um, no
The Nina Simeone doc may not have been flattering, but it sure gave her music a lot of attention, thankfully
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I love the Nina documentary. I didn't pay much attention to her before then (not a huge jazz guy); after that, I started checking her out, and have become a fan. It was an honest documentary for sure, they didn't seem to gloss over anything that I could tell.

They kind of make the Sam Cooke one out to sound like it's going to be a documentary about the killing itself, like a true crime doc. That isn't what it is at all, which is fine. I found it interesting, although as others have said if you watch the trailer it makes it kind of out to be a true crime doc, with people talking about how MLK, Malcolm X and Sam Cooke were all somehow interconnected.

Wright · Apr 20, 2019

jojopuppyfish said: ↑

Nothing about being caught with a woman in a hotel that wasn't his wife?
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If you by "caught" mean caught dead, then yes.

Actually, they did mention his infidelity prior to the night of the murder.

spanky1 · Jan 16, 2020

Clark V Kauffman said: ↑

I thought this "documentary" was downright exploitative. The talent, the nobility and the triumph of Sam Cooke -- his real legacy -- is completely overshadowed in this film by the seediest aspects of his death. In that respect, this film perpetuates the very injustice it seeks to expose and condemn. (A real cynic might even argue that this film, called "The Two Killings Of Sam Cooke," represents the third killing of Sam Cooke -- but that would be overstating things.)

I do like the fact that it places Sam's life and death in the context of the civil rights struggle. But then the film desperately tries to link Sam's personal fight for equality to his death.
There's no question the lack of investigation into Sam's death was due to the color of his skin. But the film makes constant vague allusions to the supposed threat Sam posed to white America by virtue of his popularity, and argues there simply had to be a conspiracy of some kind. There's not even a consensus as to who was actually involved in this supposed conspiracy. Just lots of grainy, black-and-white photos accented with ominous, foreboding music.

In fact, the filmmakers simply trot out a series of potential evil-doers who were behind the “hit,” such as the mob, the record industry, Allen Klein, RCA, etc., but it’s all sheer speculation unsupported by any hard facts. It’s the celluloid equivalent of clickbait.

Bertha Franklin admitted she shot Sam. She admitted fighting with him, his body was found in her office, the bullets came from her gun... All of the physical evidence backs up Franklin's admission. To believe she was killed Sam at the behest of these unnamed, dark, sinister forces is ludicrous. What gang of well-funded, mob-connected conspirators, who have the ability buy off the cops, would then hire an elderly, half-blind, physically disabled woman to be the trigger man in a plot to kill a healthy young man who is a nationally known celebrity, at close range, during a heated argument instigated by Sam, with a $24 pistol? No. There’s no way this incredibly messy shooting was planned by anyone.

I will say this: I suspect Elisa Boyer lied about what led up to the shooting (the supposed rape attempt) at the Hacienda Motel. And the police utterly failed to conduct any sort of investigation into her claims, a fact that can only be attributed to Sam’s race. So I do agree with one central premise of the documentary: Sam was tragically and needlessly killed, and because he was black, the police and prosecutors didn't perform even a cursory investigation into Boyer and her claims.

But a murder conspiracy? No. This was simply a robbery, committed by Boyer, that went south when Sam attacked Franklin because he believed she was in on the caper. No need to embellish that story. It’s tragic enough as is.

In the end, you just have to ask yourself how any group of "conspirators" -- whoever they were! -- were able to (1) anticipate that Sam would pick up Boyer and (2) anticipate that after Boyer made off with Sam's clothes, Sam would get in his car, start to drive away from the motel, and then stop the car, get out, and break into Franklin's office where the motel manager waited for him with a gun. I know some people have posited that Sam was killed elsewhere and then his body was taken to the motel, where the crime scene was staged (his Ferrari transported there, fresh blood spilled in the office, bullets fired into the ceiling, door frame broken, etc.) and Franklin (and her friend to whom she was speaking on the phone when Sam broke into the office) were hurriedly bought off, with Franklin essentially agreeing to tell the police, "Yes, officers, I shot and killed Sam Cooke." That implausible scenario leaves no room for Boyer at all. But we know Sam's friends saw him pick up Boyer at the bar, we know a motel guest saw Sam and Boyer enter their room and we know Boyer called the police from a nearby phone booth.

One scenario that I've always thought was possible, perhaps even likely given the physical evidence at the scene, is that after Boyer made off with Sam's clothes she did run into Franklin's office, maybe to split the money she stole. Sam began driving away from the motel but just as he reached the end of the driveway he looked into the manager's office and saw something (Boyer?) that made him suspect Boyer was inside. He threw the car in park (the police later found it still idling there) and broke into the office where he was attacked by both Franklin and Boyer. (The documentary makes no mention of this, but there were TWO weapons used on Sam that night: the gun and a broom handle that Franklin told police she used to hit Sam with AFTER she shot him.) That would mean that while Boyer and Franklin didn't set out to kill Sam, they did so out of panic when he angrily confronted them, and then they lied about it to the police to cover up their own roles in the botched robbery. I could see that sort of "conspiracy" taking place, but nothing remotely like what the documentary suggests.

A few other quibbles: The filmmakers attempt to attribute the Watts riots in the summer of 1965 to Sam's death in December 1964. That's a real stretch, as even one of the interview subjects asserts in response to what must have been some pretty leading questions: "I don't want to say Sam Cooke's death caused the Watts riots. I don't want to say that..." Also, and this is just a technical issue, the archival performance footage is of really poor quality. Even the footage from "The Jerry Lewis Show," readily available on DVD in high quality, looks multiple generations lower. Also, the footage of Sam singing with Cassius Clay was clearly just lifted from the fully authorized "Sam Cooke: Legend" documentary, as it features the exact same insert edit of the BBC announcer laughing and, at the every end, you can hear the opening notes of "Having A Party," which is what the "Legend" documentary cuts to immediately after the Cassius Clay footage. There's also a questionable audio "interview" of Sam that doesn't sound like him at all, or even sound like someone speaking extemporaneously.

All this said, the film does present a historical perspective on Sam Cooke, race, and 1960s America, that I truly appreciate. The one sentence in the documentary that really resonated with me was this, and I'm paraphrasing: "Today, we'd say black lives matter. In 1964, even Sam Cooke's black life didn't matter." That's very true, and the film does an excellent job hammering that point home.

But anyone wanting a more thorough, fair and balanced look at Sam's music, his life and his death would be better served watching the "Sam Cooke: Legend" documentary.
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This is an excellent post, and mirrored my thoughts on this documentary after watching it 2 times(several months apart). I can add nothing to what you've stated. No conspiracy, nothing complicated. Well stated Clark!

a customer · Apr 4, 2020

Interesting film but the conspiracy part I didnt believe . some conspiracies i can believe some i cant oh well.

James Slattery · Apr 5, 2020

Hugo and Luigi are the people I've heard as rumored to be responsible.

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