The Pride of Jesse Hallam

Mr Cash has always been a champion for the down trodden who is more disadvantaged in this world than the illiterate. I have seen many movies and this one hits home not for me but for my grandfather he was illiterate but he had a heart of gold no one did more to form my views of right and wrong more than he. When he passed I felt like an orphan ever since even though I have both parents today at 42. He passed in 76 he never learned to read and was dependent on the aid of his wife as the character in this movie was. This movie inspires you to go and help people learn to read I could not imagine a life not able to read it removes most of the con men out our way.Yet so many today know how to read they still follow the pied piper just like the fairy tale makes you wonder because the illiterate would see right through these politicians we have today. I remember my grandfather yelling "you crook" at the television when President Nixon resigned 8-09-1974 I was 6 rarely did he get upset hardly ever did he talk negative of another.

I was much moved by The Pride Of Jesse Hallam and with the performance of Johnny Cash as the prtagonist. Having known at least one illiterate person in m life I know what a trap that is to the mind.

Cash who didn't need reading skill to work in the coal mines of Kentucky's Mecklenburg County is a fish out of water when he moves to Cincinnati because his crippled daughter Chrystal Smith needs an operation on her spine. Just about every cent he's earned goes to pay for surgery and he has to find work.

An assistant principal at his son Ben Marley's new school played by Brenda Vaccaro hekps considerably even with getting him a job at her father's produce warehouse. Eli Wallach as the immigrant owner from Italy and Cash the man from the Kentucky hills form quite a friendship. Cash and Wallach have some great scenes together.

Whether you are a Puerto Rican kid raised in a group home whom I knew or a miner from rural Kentucky illiteracy is a terrible affliction. Roy Gomez whom I knew loved comic books and a very sharp woman who worked at an attorney's office was the first one who observed he loved those comics because the pictures told the story for him. I only wish he had lived long enough to remedy the situation as Johnny Cash does in The Pride Of Jesse Hallam.

The last scene is an unforgettable one. This is one really good film and a soundtrack with some Johnny Cash songs don't hurt either.

I saw this DVD as a double-feature with "Five Minutes to Live," another B-movie made by Johnny Cash, in the impulse-buy section at Wal-Mart. It was only $1, and I had never heard of either of these movies, but I said, "Why not? It's only $1, and I love Johnny Cash." I brought it home, and immediately put it in the DVD player. From the very beginning, I was so captured by it! Cash did an excellent job at this character, and I even found myself getting teary-eyed during his job-searching scenes. I recommend EVERYONE see this movie! It can really hit close to home, and make you consider what life would be like in his position.

There are 25 million functional illiterates in the United States, and this film made for television is purportedly based upon events in the life of one of them, Jesse Hallam, portrayed here in typically wooden fashion by Johnny Cash, primarily about Hallam's troubles after moving to a large city (Cincinnati). Hallam, a miner since 14 from the Coal Fields sector of Western Kentucky in Muhlenberg County, has no choice but to leave his country home when his young daughter requires spinal surgery in the Ohio metropolis, paid with cash in advance obtained from the sale of his property after his wife's death. He pits his native intelligence and work ethic against the problem of not being able to read or write, and discovers that in order to support himself and his two children, he must become literate; scenes involving the methods used in developing his new skills are the most engrossing of the production. Brenda Vaccaro plays Marion Galucci, vice-principal of the high school which Jesse's son Tom attends, doing her best with an underwritten role as Hallam's mentor, and one must appreciate the spirited performance of veteran Eli Wallach as her father Sal, employer and sponsor of the erstwhile coal miner. Adequately helmed by television director Gary Nelson, the work's stature rises from fine camera-work by Gayne Rescher, while Cash sings several appropriate songs on the sound track, which features some excellent instrumental performances, including deft banjo work by Oscar Scruggs.

I am a musician & I've always loved Johnny.. so this was a given.. I just now saw it on country music channel...& just happened to be reading (Johnny Cash the man in Black) his biography... gave me chills! I would Highly recommended...for any fan of JC & anyone who likes a good solid movie!... My mom loved it too... I am a BIG horror fan, but music movies are always cool! True to form, Johnny plays a REAL person. He's been through it all, drugs, divorce, the hard life on the road, & it shows in his performance here. He is a natural actor (as are most musicians, not all though), He really made it nice, I'm going to buy this if I can find the DVD!