A wandering ballad singer in the Appalachians meets an ugly bird-type creature, is transported back in time, finds himself involved in the Devil's work.
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Title: The Legend of Hillbilly John (1972)
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Cast
| Cast overview: | |||
| Severn Darden | ... | Mr. Marduke | |
 |
Hedges Capers | ... | John |
|
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Sharon Henesy | ... | Lily |
|
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Honor Hound | ... | Himself |
| Sidney Clute | ... | Charles | |
| Denver Pyle | ... | Grandpappy John | |
|
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White Lightnin' | ... | Themselves |
|
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William Traylor | ... | Reverend Millen |
| Harris Yulin | ... | Zebulon Yandro | |
| Susan Strasberg | ... | Polly Wiltse | |
| Alfred Ryder | ... | O. J. Onselm | |
| R.G. Armstrong | ... | Bristowe | |
|
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Chester Jones | ... | Uncle Anansi |
| Val Avery | ... | Cobart | |
| Percy Rodrigues | ... | Capt. Lojoie H. Desplain IV | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
A wandering ballad singer in the Appalachians meets an ugly bird-type creature, is transported back in time, finds himself involved in the Devil's work. Written by frankfob2@yahoo.com
Taglines:
from ghostly hark mountain this eerie story of witches ... voodoo ... devils ... monsters See more »Certificate:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
February 1974 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Ballad of Hillbilly John See more »Filming Locations:
North Carolina, USACompany Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Color (Metrocolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Silver John is a fictional character from a series of fantasy stories by American author Manly Wade Wellman. Though fans refer to him as Silver John or as John the Balladeer, the stories call him simply John. He is an example of the loner hero. The stories are set in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. The historical period is never explicitly indicated, but appears to be the middle 20th century. The film's plot incorporates two of the John stories: "The Desrick on Yandro" and "O Ugly Bird". See more »Frequently Asked Questions
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This little-known curio is better than I expected. I hadn't heard of the source books (Manly Wade Wellman's "Silver John" pulp fictions) before, because they were presumably mostly a Southern regional phenomenon, but now I'm very curious to check them out. The episodic progress, drawn from a couple of Wellman's stories, chronicles the folksy fantastical adventures of a wandering Appalachian troubadour, which include tangling with the Devil and a Ray Harryhausen-like winged monster. The last and least adventure has John managing to somehow free the oppressed black slaves, a "White Savior" scenario that doesn't play too well now. (It probably didn't in 1972, either).
Offbeat and filled with pleasant music, "Hillbilly John" probably had a hard time finding an audience at the time, as it was so out of step with popular taste of the era, and it's certainly been largely forgotten since. But given a cast of mostly imported Hollywood veterans (Severn Darden, Denver Pyle, Harris Yulin etc.) and a director who'd mostly toiled in network TV, it's surprisingly flavorful and "authentic" feeling within its folkloric context. (Though he worked on a lot of major series, John Newland's best-known works were probably the TV-movie thrillers "Crawlspace" and "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.") Hedges Capers, a handsome young man with a fine voice who never quite hit the bigtime as a recording artist, is appealingly natural in the title role. Sharon Henesy is a weak point as the ingenue, seeming a classic 70s example of casting "somebody's girlfriend" (rather than a talented actor)...but then all she's allowed to do is gaze adoringly at John and hope he'll quit his wanderin' ways, so it's not really her fault she seems superfluous.
Despite its low budget, "Hillbilly John" is fairly well-crafted, although its neglect over the years was reflected in the fact that the YouTube dupe I saw seemed to be from an old VHS tape, and was accordingly low-quality. The nighttime sequences (of which there are many) were very murky. Alas, obscure old indie features like this are highly unlikely to get "restored" to pristine quality, so you take what you can get. Anyway, this is hardly a forgotten classic, but it's an ambitious oddity that is quite enjoyable and merits rediscovery.