Directed by Leo Penn (Sean Penn's father), this independent film stars Sammy Davis Jr. as a troubled jazz musician (ghosted on trumpet by Nat Adderley) and Cicely Tyson in one of her first screen roles as a young civil rights activist. The film features a musical score composed and arranged by Benny Carter, and appearances by jazz greats Louis Armstrong and Mel Tormé.

Notable for its prominence of African-Americans both in front of and behind the camera and its bold attempts at addressing issues of race and identity, A Man Called Adam is very rarely screened and unavailable elsewhere.