Jon Brewer's documentary traces the life and singing career of Nat King Cole, with the help of several contributors including his widow and children, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Buddy Greco, Harry Belafonte and a host of others. We learn a lot about Cole's phenomenal talent both as a singer and pianist; and how, as his career progressed, he minimized his talent as a pianist so as to concentrate on his singing career. We also learn something of the difficulties he faced as an African American trying to prosper in a segregated society; on several occasions, while playing gigs in major centers like Las Vegas, he was forced to stay in squalid colored-only hotels, while the Euros enjoyed the benefits of first class accommodation. In the end Cole was rewarded with his own national television series on NBC; but it only ran for one season, as many stations in the South refused to broadcast it. Cole showed what was possible for an African American, so long as they were sufficiently talented, but he did it in an unaggressive way; what emerges most tangibly from Brewer's film is that he was a gentleman in all senses of the word. Although the film is ninety minutes long, we do not learn much about Cole's character; nor is there sufficient attention given to his contributions to the Civil Rights movement. There are rather too many adulatory comments from the participants, and not enough time given over to historical analysis. Some kind of dating would have been useful as well; we are not told when the television series was broadcast, nor are we really given much information about other significant dates in Cole's career. NAT KING COLE - AFRAID OF THE DARK is certainly watchable, but it is something of a disappointment content-wise.