Meurtre à Coweta County

Being from Coweta County myself, the setting of this story portrayed this quaint southern county in a very convincing way. Johnny Cash embodies the character of a Coweta County sheriff with wonderful aptitude, and holds together the story in a brilliant manner. And with Andy Griffith in the mix, nothing can go wrong. As a required assignment for high school freshman in Coweta County, I enjoyed this movie very much the first time I watched it five years ago, and it is still a very nice watch today.

So, if you're looking for a good cinematic portrayal of southern life, this is a good pick for you.

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.

Andy Griffith gives one of the best performances of his career as the socio-pathic John Wallace who is as evil as Griffith's other great character, Will Stockdale, is good. Johnny Cash makes a serviceable lawman. (Good casting: I'm afraid that if Mr. Griffith had played the lawman and Mr. Cash the villain, this would have been a poorer movie.) There are also great minor characters such as the witches. (Yes, witches--or conjurers as they might prefer.) I never thought of it before, but this movie probably echoes "Macbeth" even if it does not quite parallel it.

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.

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")