Murder in Coweta County

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 watched this movie for the first time in high school at a time when I usually couldn't stand ANY type of TV movie. My dad was watching it and I just happened to be passing through as it was starting, and I was totally transfixed by this movie. I absolutely LOVE this movie. Andy Griffith is best known as a "good guy", but in this movie he plays one of the BEST evil, deluded, just-plain bad guys in movie history, big or small screen, in my opinion. Johnny Cash plays a very solid supporting role in the movie as the sheriff who will not rest until the crime is solved; but this film is OWNED by Griffith. If you see it listed, watch it, for God's sake, watch it. You won't regret it.

People who enjoyed Andy Griffith's tv show need to be warned. Watching his show and then watching this riveting film is like watching a fireworks display and then seeing a nuclear explosion! He plays one of the most loathsome villians you will ever see, a man without a conscience who truly believes he is above the law and can kill whoever he wants. It is one of the most frightning portrayals of a cold-blooded killer imaginable. On the other hand, Johnny Cash is one of the most likeable good guys imaginable as the honest, dogged righteous sheriff determined to bring Griffith to justice. Cash is one of the greatest singers of all time, but this film shows off his considerable acting ability as well. Its also a beautiful film to look at with its depiction of life in the South and the photography. I see this wonderful film as almost a morality play of sorts, ultimate good versus ultimate evil. One interesting footnote, there is an actress named Cindi Knight who plays the murder victim's wife, in real life she later married Andy Griffith! This film was available on video for a while, but is out of circulation. Tape it if its on tv

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.

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")