Hallmark's Hall of Fame is noted for making television films since the 1950s, featuring high-profile celebrities and a wide variety of stories. This particular TV film is considered one of their best, and it's not too hard to see why. There is something unique about this tale, not just its story but in its very execution, something that would be hard to see nowadays.
Based on a novel by GD Gearino, this TV film tells the tale of a boy, Sammy Ayers, who arrives in a new town all by himself. People mistake him for being deaf and dumb, so he goes along with this assumption for about two decades. Such a premise would serve as a ground for tense drama and thrills at the revelation of dark and horrible secrets, but that's not where the story leads. Instead it portrays a slice of life within the small-town community, and Sammy serves as silent confidant throughout the years, earning reliability and confidence from the townspeople. He doesn't really get a chance to reveal his true ability until he gets involved in a scam that almost causes a lot of ruin to the town.
The premise of maintaining a facade of deafness for two decades is unusual, but not impossible. Superman has been hiding behind the glasses and clothes of Clark Kent for most of his life and that went down more or less successfully. And it also helps that the person in particular is a stranger and later resident at a small American town in the 1940s-60s, when things were quieter and friendlier and more uncomplicated. Superman's America, to go back to the previous analogy: the American county country, where people were decent and honest and content.
That's the main strength and appeal of this piece: it is a love letter to gentler easygoing times, when people were more or less fundamentally good. There isn't anything too horrible or bad to this story: the worst that happens is the loss of Sammy's mother and a church getting burnt down from a scam. The antagonist isn't antagonistic himself, he's just a spoiled rich boy denied his inheritance and trying to con people. That may put people off as unrealistic or underdeveloped, but in today's workaholic "rat race" era such an ambiance and setting would definitely be a welcome change or desire.
The performances themselves are solid and dependable. Matthew Modine stands out as the title character who stays hush, letting his face and gestures do the talking. The supporting cast do their roles justice and give dependable performances, but a clear scene-stealer would be the inimitable James Earl Jones as Archibald Thacker, the sly trader who gets wind of Sammy's secret but sees he hasn't said anything so keeps his mouth shut too.
Overall, it's a nice little story. It's not really anything deep or ponderous, but just a simple feel-good folktale set amidst the golden fields of America. And sometimes that's where we need to go for a good time and a solid rest.
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