Johnny Cash

Rare photographs and powerful performance clips highlight the gritty realities of life on the road in this release featuring twenty-two immortal classics including "Ring of Fire", "A Boy Named Sue", "I Got Stripes", and "All Over Again". ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

For little cowboys and cowgirls who want to have a hootenanny with some of their favorite country and western tunes, Elmo and his cousin Elmer are joined by such guitar-strumming luminaries as Garth Brooks, Allison Krauss, Lee Ann Womack, and even the Man in Black himself, Johnny Cash in this collection of Sesame Street clips that's sure to have toddlers tapping their toes. . ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

James Mangold's Walk the Line tells the life story of country music legend Johnny Cash (Joaquin Phoenix), focusing primarily on the long courtship he had with June Carter (Reese Witherspoon). The film is structured as an extended flashback opening with Cash readying to take the stage at his historic Folsom Prison Concert. The film touches on his childhood, relating a horrific early incident from his life and establishing the troubled relationship he would have with his father (Robert Patrick). Cash joins the military and leaves home. During his time in the armed services he begins writing songs and romances a hometown girl (Ginnifer Goodwin). After the end of his duty he settles down and attempts to begin a music career, but his wife has trouble adjusting to his dreams. Cash auditions for Sam Phillips (Dallas Roberts), signs to Sun Records, and soon finds himself on tour with a roster of young soon to be legends that includes Elvis Presley (Tyler Hilton) and Jerry Lee Lewis (Waylon Malloy Payne). On this tour he meets June Carter, the daughter of the famous Carter family, and they take a liking to each other although she refuses any serious advances from him. Cash gains world wide fame thanks in part to the inspiration he gets from June, but eventually his marriage crumbles and he develops a serious drug addiction. The film is based on Cash's autobiographies. Phoenix and Witherspoon performed all of their own singing in the movie, just as Sissy Spacek and Beverly D'Angelo did in Coal Miner's Daughter a quarter-century before. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Some of the most famous names in country music are captured in rare performances on this home video release. Compiled from appearances on the annual Music City News Awards broadcast and the later Nashville Network Viewers Choice Awards shows, Country Legends Live features unique renditions of great country hits that have not been seen since the original television specials were aired. Country Legends Live includes Johnny Cash ("Sixteen Tons"), Hank Williams Jr. ("Born to Boogie"), Randy Travis ("Forever and Ever, Amen"), Reba McEntire ("One Promise Too Late,") and many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Man in Black may be gone, but his songs live on in this collection of seldom-seen television appearances showcasing Johnny Cash at his very best. Featuring 17 classic Cash tunes including "Give My Love to Rose," "Big River," and "You're the Nearest Thing to Heaven," this classic collection is a must-have for any dedicated fan of the country-music legend. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Johnny Cash is, without question, one of the most powerful and important performers in the history of country music, and an artist whose influence has touched musicians as diverse as Marty Stuart, Tom Waits, and Elvis Costello. Johnny Cash: The Anthology is a two-part video tribute to the Man in Black's remarkable life and career, in which Cash and some of his close friends from the music world perform a handful of his best-known songs. Guest artists include Merle Haggard, George Jones, Waylon Jennings, Rodney Crowell, and Glen Campbell; songs include "I Walk the Line," "Big River," "Folsom Prison Blues," "Cry Cry Cry," "Ring of Fire," "A Boy Named Sue," "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down," and many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Johnny Cash was making a stunning career comeback following the release of his album American Recordings when he arrived in Switzerland for a special festival appearance, which was recorded for this home-video release. Johnny Cash: Live at Montreaux captures "The Man in Black" at the top of form, performing an outstanding set of enduring classics and new favorites. Selections include "Folsom Prison Blues," "Let the Train Blow the Whistle," "I Walk the Line," "Big River," "Delia's Gone," "The Beast in Me," "Guess Things Happen That Way," and many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

One of the greatest and most distinctive figures in American country music, Johnny Cash was also a major star in Europe, and in 1993 Cash made a stop in Dublin, Ireland, during a tour of the United Kingdom. The show was videotaped for television broadcast, and Johnny Cash: Cash in Ireland 1993 features Cash and his band performing 16 songs for an enthusiastic audience. For this show, Cash is joined on-stage by his wife and vocal partner, June Carter Cash, his longtime friend and fellow songwriter Kris Kristofferson, and his son, John Carter Cash. Selections include "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues," "A Boy Named Sue," "Long Black Veil," "Forty Shades of Green," and "I Walk the Line." ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The four legends who make up the Highwaymen appear in this performance video of a 1992 European tour. Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson pool their considerable talents and showmanship in The Highwaymen: On the Road Again, performing some of their greatest hits. In the hour-long show, Cash sings the classic "Folsom Prison Blues," Nelson sings "Always on My Mind," Jennings offers "Luckenbach, Texas," and Kristofferson does a rendition of his "Help Me Make It Through the Night." ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide

Featuring Bill Moyers as host, this PBS program examines the popularity and influence of the enduring English Christian hymn "Amazing Grace." Written by former slave trader-turned-minister John Newton and first published in 1779, the hymn has been popular across generations and has been adapted to many types of music, from country & western to gospel to bag pipes. Newton set his words to music, which this program speculates may have originated from a song he heard African slaves singing. The program includes singers Judy Collins, Jessye Norman, Johnny Cash, Jean Ritchie, and the Boys Choir of Harlem singing various renditions and discussing the helpful impact of the hymn in the lives of many people, including alcoholics and convicts. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

This 1987 documentary presents the life story of influential singer, songwriter, and musician Jerry Lee Lewis, whose pioneering brand of country-blues-boogie shook the world of rock & roll. Nicknamed "The Killer," and a cousin of notorious televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, Lewis displayed a prodigious eclectic musical talent, absorbing and reworking blues, gospel, Al Jolson, rockabilly, and Hank Williams. This biography features interviews with Lewis and a lineup of performing artists and celebrities including Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Roy Orbison, Dick Clark, and Mickey Gilley. Highlights include concert footage of Lewis performing some of his greatest hits, such as "Great Balls of Fire," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," "Breathless," and "Crazy Arms." ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

The Big Town is Chicago, circa 1957. Matt Dillon stars as a small-town crapshooter who heads to the Windy City to seek his fortune. There he becomes the pawn of two high-rolling professional gamblers, played by Lee Grant and Bruce Dern. He later gets mixed up in a revenge scheme cooked up by Diane Lane, the embittered wife of strip-joint owner Tommy Lee Jones. Before he knows what's happened, Dillon is embroiled in two torrid romances, one with Lane and the other with "nice" girl Suzy Amis; he also nearly loses his life by ending up in the middle of a deadly feud between Dern and Jones. Based on The Arm, a novel by Clark Howard, Big Town tends towards uneveness, a result perhaps of the defection of its first director, Harold Becker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide