Watch Soldier Jack or the Man Who Caught Death in a Sack

Adapted from an Appalachian Jack Tale set in the late 1940s, this tale follows a World War II veteran named Jack who, in return for an act of kindness, receives two magical gifts: a sack that can catch anything and a jar that can show whether a sick person will recover or die. Jack becomes a national hero when he rescues the president's daughter from a serious illness by capturing Death in his magic sack. However, after many years without Death in the world, Jack realizes that he has upset the natural order and releases Death to save humankind from perpetual old age and misery. An excellent discussion-starter on living, aging, and dying.

"It is bad form to gush over a film. Particularly a children's film. Particularly when it's a folktale. Particularly when words like "appealing," "delightful," and "suitable for audiences of all ages" spring to mind during viewing. "Soldier Jack," Tom and Mimi Davenport's latest and most ambitious production, might just be the most intelligent children's live-action film since Disney's Old Yeller....It takes a lot of work to make what seems to the viewer a flawless film telling a seamless story. To be honest, most people who make children's films take shortcuts that would never be tolerated by adult audiences. I think photo directors Tom Kaufman and Arnie Sirlin, and editors Marcia Neidley Lynch and Randy Hort have surely examined every frame with a critical eye. The unfailing attention to period details by Rosemary Pardee Holz (costumes) and Doug Ball (sets), and the unusual work of Barbara York and Frank Rogers (makeup) add believability to an unbelievable tale. Music and narration respectively by Bill Mansfield (banjo) and Gary Slemp and Julian Yochum create mood and offer storytelling at its best. An uncredited bluesy-spiritual theme rendered on the piano unifies the action throughout the film and unde