The Pride of Jesse Hallam

TV Movie
1981
1h 37m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Johnny Cash in The Pride of Jesse Hallam (1981)

Jesse Hallam, an illiterate coal miner from Kentucky, moves to Cincinnati so that his daughter may receive spinal surgery. Determined to support his family in the city, he decides he must le... Read allJesse Hallam, an illiterate coal miner from Kentucky, moves to Cincinnati so that his daughter may receive spinal surgery. Determined to support his family in the city, he decides he must learn how to read and write as an adult, and resolves to graduate from high school.Jesse Hallam, an illiterate coal miner from Kentucky, moves to Cincinnati so that his daughter may receive spinal surgery. Determined to support his family in the city, he decides he must learn how to read and write as an adult, and resolves to graduate from high school.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

363

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
Uncredited actor Lare Roberts' 1972 Mustang Convertible used in son chase scene.

Quotes
Parker: [Mr. Parker tries to restore order in the remedial reading class, which is near pandemonium] Would you please turn off that radio and take your seats?
Jesse Hallam: [Jesse gets up and sits each student down himself, grabs the radio and shuts it off. After everyone is quiet, he turns to address the class] You want to do what I've been doin' all my life - runnin' away from words? Well, that's up to you, but you got to know... it's a poverty trade. And right here and now you could be diggin' youself a hole in the bottom of a mountain that you're never goin' to climb back up out of. Well, not me - and not my boy. We're goin' to high school and we're goin' to graduate and nobody or nothin's goin' to stop us. We're going to learn to read.

Soundtracks
Moving Up
Sung by Johnny Cash
Written by Johnny Cash

User reviews12

Review

Featured review

6/10

The prison of illiteracy

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.