J.T.

I saw this movie when I was about 10 and it had a profound effect on me. Growing up in a white, middle class neighborhood, I had very little exposure to people of different races and cultures. Seeing how a boy about the same age as I lived so differently prepared me in a small way in dealing with people from different backgrounds later in life. When I saw how JT got so much happiness from a simple thing like adopting a kitten and caring for it really made me appreciate what I had and put things into perspective for me. I think this movie made in 1969 would still hold its own today. If anyone from PBS or Nickelodeon reads this, there are a lot of 30- and 40-somethings out there who would love to see this re-released and watch it with their children. If this ever happens to come on in your area, DON'T MISS IT and make copies of it.

I can't add much about this great hour of T.V. that hasn't already been covered in the other posts. But maybe a few memories. The strongest being the line from the show that was featured in the T.V. ads.

Grandma: What you want for Christmas... Child?

J.T.: I want me this cat I found.

I'll never forget those sentences as long as I live. For some reason, my sister, a childhood buddy and I thought it was the funniest thing and it became our catchphrase for a while. To this day, I can go up to them and say, "What you want for Christmas... Child" and get the right response. And I remember J.T. buying the tuna, bopping to the transister radio he found (stole?) and keeping the cat in a stove in an abandoned building.

I feel fortunate to have taped this on CBS the last time they showed it around Christmas of 1991. I think about 4pm on a Sunday afternoon. It wasn't even listed, I just heard an announcer say it was coming up and I had a blank tape loaded and hit record.

Keep your eyes peeled in used bookstores. I was lucky enough to find a hardback book of J.T., illustrated with on-set B&W photographs, taken I think by Gordon Parks. The writer was Jane Wagner. The same one who later worked with Lily Tomlin.

If you want to see the original opening of The CBS Children's Film Festival- go to this site: (email me for the link) They have a clip of it you can see online.

Questions?/Comments? * This Has Been e-mail From: "Dr. Mark" Hill * The Doctor Of Pop Culture /*/ e-mail to: drmark7@juno.com

Absolutely loved this film! I haven't seen it in 30 years but still remember the feelings it provoked. I still remember "I want me this cat I found"! I wish they would show it on television again. Networks show so many horrid Christmas shows over and over again, but an excellent film such as this seems to have been forgotten. I am going to Contact Carrousel Films to see if they have the movie in DVD now. From what others have said it's not cheap - but it's worth a lot to me to see this masterpiece again. Thank you so much to those who found where to buy this move. I don't know many who have seen this film so I plan on sharing it with those close to me.

There are no words fulsome enough to describe "JT." I remember seeing it many years ago, the first time it was shown. Seldom had I been moved so much by anything. Apparently scores of other viewers felt the same way, because it was run again a week later. I remember that Doris Day (a great animal lover) introduced this second showing, saying that the first had been "a happening." And so it was. JT, a little black boy being raised by his mother and grandmother, trying to bring him up right despite all the odds against him, finds a purpose in his life when he finds, adopts, and cares for a scroungy black and white alley cat. "JT" has a kind of double ending, the first so tragic, so sad, and the other hopeful. One gets the impression that JT will finally grow up, because of the responsibility he took for the cat and that the cruelty of his life, the fate of the cat, will make him a man that his mother and grandmother can be proud of. I always associate "JT" with Christmas and, thankfully, I taped it. Watch "JT" if you ever get the chance. Trust me--you will cry--

They showed this movie to us in school when I was 7 or 8 years old and it was just so sad. Having grown up in a rough part of Chicago I connected with the settings and characters in the film right away and this film has stayed with me for the last 38 years. The film pulls you back and forth between joy and sorrow. between anger and sympathy. It will pull at you heart only to be devastated at the climax of the story. Even the villains in the film seem to realize what they have done and they suddenly go from being characters to hate to just people playing their role in the urban jungle. There are some very valuable lessons to be learned from this film for people of all ages and I would recommend it to anyone.