Soldier Jack or The Man Who Caught Death in a Sack

Back in the 1970's and 80's,Tom and Mimi Davenport made a series of short films based on several of the Brother's Grimm fairy tales.

The films were shown regularly on PBS in the late 80's and early 90's. If you're a product of Generation X such as myself, you'll remember many of these shorts.

All of them were finely crafted. The acting, editing, cinematography etc. Everything is really well done. They capture the essence of the fairy tale being told perfectly.

"Soldier Jack" however, I feel is probably their best work. It has the perfect blend of humor, scares, and moral messaging all wrapped up nice and neat for the viewer.

Currently you can rent this tale along with others on Prime or catch it for free from the Folkstreams website. It's really worth checking out. I just watched it recently after hunting for it for literal decades for the title eluded me. And it still holds up - so it's not just nostalgia or rose colored glasses swaying my opinion.

Frankly, these films and the style of filmmaking that went into these shorts - is truly a lost art. I put "Soldier Jack" right up there with the other lost art - the "Made for TV" movie - that were so expertly made by the likes of people such as Dan Curtis.

If you want to see a good folktale check this short out. If you want to see a style of filmmaking lost to time, that's another reason to check it out. In any case, you're in for a real treat.