Johnny Cash stars as Jesse Hallam an impoverished and uneducated mine worker who is forced to move to the big city of Cincinnati so that one of his children can have the surgery she so desperately needs. In order to be able to look after his family he needs to find a job, in order to get a job, he must first learn to read and write. This is the story of one man's personal battle against his own pride to do what's necessary to achieve the best for himself and his family against all the odds.