Ali and Cavett when they were kings – The Boston Globe
He floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. Yes, Im talking about Dick Cavett, the talk-show host nonpareil, whose dry wit flattered, charmed, and chastened the high-profile guests on his eponymous program, which ran on ABC from 1968 to 1975 and continued on in some form on other networks until 1995. Those who sat on his couch ranged from Alfred Hitchcock to Lester Maddox and from Jimi Hendrix to Groucho Marx. A memorable 1971 program featured Satchel Paige, Lillian Gish, Salvador Dali, and an anteater.
One special guest was truly special Muhammad Ali, the only three-time heavyweight boxing champion of the world. The champ made 14 appearances on the show, in good times and bad, and he and the host seemed to share a bond. As Cavett says at the end of Robert S. Baders HBO documentary Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes (Cavett co-wrote the film with Bader), Id like to think he would have played with me as a kid. Sometimes he seems almost like a brother.
Though many documentaries have been made about the late champion the most recent and one of the better ones is last years Whats My Name: Muhammad Ali by Antoine Fuqua this offers a unique and illuminating perspective on the fighter and his times and celebrates an unlikely, exemplary friendship between Ali and the whitest white guy in America as interviewee Al Sharpton describes Cavett. Bader includes numerous entertaining and provocative clips from the show, along with rich archival material, interviews with writers and journalists, and the now 83-year-old Cavett.
The talk-show host first crossed paths with Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, in 1963 when the latter was a guest on the ill-fated Jerry Lewis Show. One of Lewiss writers at the time, Cavett composed a poem for Ali to read on the air which made a barbed allusion to the shows imminent cancellation.
It wasnt until 1968 that they would connect on Cavetts show. Much had happened to Ali in the meantime he won his first championship, in 1964, changed his name, and announced his membership in the Nation of Islam, a.k.a. the Black Muslims, was drafted and refused to serve in the military, and was stripped of his title and banned from boxing. Then in 1967 he was convicted of evading the draft and sentenced to five years in prison (after appeals his conviction would be overturned by the Supreme Court, in 1971).
It was a lot to talk about, and in between bantering with the host Ali would seriously discuss the countrys endemic racism and offer opinions that are more radical than those who idolize him today might acknowledge. Some of Baders interviewees suggest that Ali was parroting the ideology of Black Muslim leaders such as Elijah Muhammad and Louis Farrakhan. Cavett himself says that these diatribes made him uncomfortable and it was disturbing that maybe he was being used for some disreputable causes. These reservations aside, the film depicts Alis resistance to the war and his denunciation of white oppression of Black people as principled and admirable.
The mood also darkens when the focus turns to the twilight of Alis career. He retired in 1979, but emerged again in 1980 to challenge Larry Holmes for his fourth championship. He lost badly, and in a subsequent fight, with Trevor Berbick, which contributed to the Parkinsons syndrome that marked his final years. He retired for good in 1981.
But overall the film highlights the comic and endearing moments in this odd-couple relationship. Highlights include Cavett in boxing shorts sparring with the champ at his training camp and being hoisted aloft by Ali and Joe Frazier who look like they are about to make a wish.
Cavett clearly idolized his guest a story about how Ali stayed over at his house is revealing and touching. And Ali appreciated Cavett for being allowed to speak freely on his show and appear as a guest even following a defeat. Youre my main man because only your show invites me after I get whipped, Ali tells Cavett.
Youre my main man, Cavett says, repeating Alis words with awe and wonder nearly 50 years later.
Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes debuts Feb. 11 at 9 p.m. on HBO. It will also be available on HBO On Demand, HBO NOW, HBO GO, and partners streaming platforms.
Go to http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/ali-and-cavett-the-tale-of-the-tapes.
Peter Keough can be reached at petervkeough@gmail.com.
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Ali and Cavett when they were kings - The Boston Globe