cada123

I had never known about The Nat King Cole Show until I tripped across this gem on BET Jazz. I was absolutely floored to hear Nat King Cole's piano performance on one of the shows! I already knew he was the greatest and smoothest of singers. That he also had the ability to play really fine piano was a revelation. He was technically flawless, and clearly enjoying himself.

The show also featured guest stars, some of them who became famous and remain so today, and some who were "up and coming" but have since faded. Regardless of fame, the quality of performance throughout is truly wonderful. It is obvious that a lot of thought went into this production.

I was so sorry to hear of the show's demise after a short run. The reason is particularly distasteful (ie, its being ahead of its time for having a black man in more than a subservient role). This must have been a real disappointment to Mr. Cole and his fellow black performers, arrangers, composers, etc. I can only imagine how it must have been for them, to live under that cloud of discrimination.

Nat, you are still the greatest, after all these years. "You'll never know how much I care!"

In events occuring before the time line in the story, Homer meets and gets to know his double, Jack Sommersby, in a Civil War prison. When Jack dies, Homer decides (for reasons barely hinted at) to impersonate Jack and take up his life where it had left off before the war six years earlier.

Viewers who have trouble accepting this story's basic premise and its subplots must not understand denial, the strongest defense mechanism of all. Laurel believes the returning soldier to be her missing husband because she wants to -- as does her son, and indeed the whole town (with a few menacing exceptions). This new guy is nicer than the other one. He is good to his wife, his kid, and his poor struggling neighbors, inspiring them all to work together to save the community at large from certain starvation if things do not change. In short, they all *need* this Jack Sommersby; therefore, he must *be* Jack Sommersby.

When folks are in denial -- does anybody not believe in mass hysteria? -- discrepancies are often overlooked, and reality is suspended. If that is hard to swallow, then consider that some folks were well aware of Homer's impersonation (if not his true identity), but chose to ignore it because it was in their best interests to do so.

The courtroom situation is another area where viewers have remarked on non-reality. But this may be chalked up to historical artifact. With today's high levels of movie/TV courtroom drama, and even genuine courtroom TV, this century's viewing audiences are far more sophisticated than the actual participants of court proceedings of the mid-19th Century, even among many lawyers and judges of the era. I had no trouble believing the courtroom of a small, largely uneducated community might have gone just the way it did in this movie... ...except for one thing, where all belief is suspended: the black judge, presiding over a southern courtroom, just after the Civil War. If there actually were any black judges in existence then, my guess would be that, like the few practicing black MD's, they were restricted to cases involving blacks, Native Americans, etc -- and not the trial of a white (and formerly rich) landowner.

Yet this plot device does not get in the way of my enjoyment of the movie over all. The judge strives mightily to be impartial, even with those townspeople who would not be so with him. Their rabid hatred of his race cries out for justice; therefore, the judge appears to provide it, with almost comic relief, precisely at a point when the tension demands it.

A haunting, well-told tale for those who appreciate depth of character over high-paced action for its own sake.

Some films are diminished by predictable story lines. This is not one of them. Rather, the very fact that one could almost call out what was going to happen, scene after scene, was in some strange way suspenseful: would I guess right? Yes! Oh, I am so glad!

Maybe this was due in part to the unfamiliarity of seeing Roma Downey playing the heavy for a change. Then again, it was not only her scenes where this happens. She came across as believable, once I got over the fact that here, she's no angel. It was nice to see her with a character that has a bit of growing to do. Another definite plus: the boys from the home played off each other nicely. I got the impression that these young actors truly cared about each other, as much as their characters did.

This is not a movie to get one's teeth into. It is a bit of a schmaltzy tear-jerker, with which to warm your soul on a cold winter evening. It is comfortable and delightful, with just the right touch of romance and the Christmas spirit.