Murder in Coweta County

This little remembered made-for TV movie( based on a true story)is, in fact a taut, well acted thriller, with a rich sense of local color. Andy Griffith and Johnny Cash are, in fact very good actors, whose talents are rarely used Griffith gives what must rank as one of his greatest performances ..perhaps his most chilling since A Face in The Crowd, while Cash invests his Dogged, intelligent sheriff with quiet authority. Johnny's wife , June Carter Cash ( a fine actress, as she proved in The Apostle) is haunting as a backwoods "wise woman'( in fact, a Christian "witch")

"My momma always told me, Do what you have to do, just never let your conscience get in the way." - Wallace (Griffith). The movie is surprisingly shocking. The movie showcases both Griffith and Cash in non-typical roles; Sheriff Andy Taylor on the other side of the Law, and The Man in Black walks behind the badge. The movie is based on a true story, and most of the actors are convincing in their roles. Though the quality is rather grainy and the sound a little muffled, you will still probably enjoy it. It is similar to "All the King's Men", but only ninety minutes of your time. 9 out of 10.

Some of the other reviewers have remarked surprise at the solid, serious performances of Griffith and Cash. Few people these days are aware that both these fine performers actually first appeared in film in very serious roles, Griffith in "Face in the Crowd" and Cash in "A Gunfight" - both solid dramatic films. Both Griffith and Cash have oddly complex histories as artists and oddly complex personalities as artists - far more so than many of their fans understand.

At any rate, as a TV film, this relies very heavily on the performances of these actors, and they do very well. Cash especially is quietly forceful, as if he were always holding a loaded gun but knows better than ever to pull the trigger. His character knows that to respond to Griffith's John Wallace with a vigilante's fury would be to make much the same mistake as Wallace himself: assuming that human will, and not the law, rules our fates. Since Cash's sheriff sides with and defends the law - and ultimately depends upon it - he represents a truly American heroism, devoted to country as much as God, and to the law for which the country stands. His tearing down of the Wallace empire is thus a major historical change in the lives of the people in the two counties involved - from aristocracy to democratic republic, a change as radical as the Civil War that essentially laid the foundations for it in the South.

One note of caution: Even for a television movie, I found the first third of film a bit disturbing: Wallace's casual viciousness is truly upsetting. He's not a 'villain' because he takes delight in the suffering of others - it's just that others' lives are utterly meaningless to him, except insofar as they contribute to his happiness as tools, or can be readily removed if they become obstacles. Thus his final prayer is not hypocritical - he honestly believes that all God wants of creation is to keep John Wallace happy - a reminder that just believing in God and professing Christ does not one make one a Christian - a reminder crucially important in the current era.

NOTE: After submitting the above I discovered Johnny Cash's real film debut, as a psycho killer in "Five Minutes to Live" - release date 1965, but probably filmed 1959. Very weird performance by Cash. A very young Ron Howard also appears in a brief but important role.

I can't add anything to everyone's glowing praise for this movie and the riveting performances of Johnny Cash and Andy Griffith, I just wish it were more readily available. I was lucky enough to find a DVD copy in the short time it was released. Just to be different, mine is a personal review. My dad's family are from Heard County, GA. The conjure woman, Mayhayley Lancaster played by June Carter Cash was a friend of the family, in fact my uncle; as a young lawyer who went on to be a Circuit Court Judge for 50 years; represented Miz Mayhayley in her later years when her family tried to have her declared incompetent. She's buried in the same cemetery as my grandparents.

I know this review isn't something that will help people decide to see this movie, but others have extolled it's virtues better than I could have. It's just rare for a regular person to have a connection to a movie as good as this one, and I guess I wanted to brag about my family as well as the movie. Thank you for allowing my indulgence.

As a true crime buff I found this film a profoundly compelling story and one in which, considering the racial attitudes of the place and era, the testimony of two black men actually convicted a white and powerful land baron of murder. One of the two principal characters which are the centerpiece of this film is Andy Griffith who gives an outstanding performance as the self assured and dubious law abiding Christian John Wallace, owner of a great land empire located in Meriwether County of rural Georgia. The other is the late and legendary country western singer Johnny Cash as the fearless incorruptible southern sheriff Lamar Potts with a true craving for the principle of natural justice. When tenant farmer Wilson Turner steals one of Wallace's prized dairy cows the latter, along with three cronies, decide to enact their own justice on the perpetrator. They pursue Turner in a car chase across the county line into neighboring Coweta where Wallace corners Turner at a roadside cafe and viciously and fatally bludgeons him on the head with the butt of a gun. The witnessed crime comes under the jurisdiction of Coweta County sheriff Potts who after intensive investigation arrests Wallace and the others.

In the meantime Wallace with the coerced help of two of his black farm workers have already disposed of Turner's body by burning it and scattering the ashes in a nearby river. Confidently believing he has got away with murder because no body can be found Wallace and his cohorts are sent to trial but Potts and his lawmen have turned up evidence of bone fragments in ash deposits at the crime site and the accused are duly convicted and sentenced. Potts also shows his relentless pursuing of others involved in the crime by arresting Meriwether County Sheriff Hardy Collier as an accessory after the fact. Griffith and Cash couldn't have been more perfect choices for this film in their respective roles. The former, I have always been used to seeing as the smiling friendly character of "The Andy Griffith Show" and many other films, but whose great acting talents in this instance show he can play just as well the evil, corrupt and reprehensible individual at the expense of his popular image. Cash for his part as the slow southern drawl talking lawman demonstrates his capacity as a serious and capable actor in addition to his already established singing talents. I am led to believe he was chosen for this part because he resembled the original Lamar Potts. This is a film which deserves a greater audience than it has got and shows that with truth and honor justice can prevail for all as equals.