My Darling Vivian
The fascinating, untold story of Johnny Cash's first wife, Vivian, a woman who was so much more than a footnote.
“A fascinating and affecting corrective counterpoint to the Johnny Cash mythos…setting the record straight about a complex woman too long relegated to the status of a footnote, or worse, on those rare occasions when she’s been acknowledged at all.” - Variety
In 1951, Catholic schoolgirl Vivian Liberto meets handsome Air Force cadet Johnny Cash at her local San Antonio, Texas skating rink. Their whirlwind summer romance lays the foundation for a feverish three-year-long correspondence while Johnny is stationed in Germany. Thousands of letters later, the two marry upon his return in 1954.
Within a year, a career blossoms and a family is started. By 1961, Johnny Cash is a household name, number one on the music charts, and perpetually on tour. Meanwhile, only two weeks postpartum, Vivian settles into their custom-built home in Casitas Springs, California with their four young daughters. Plagued by bobcats, rattlesnakes, all-hours visits from fans, and a growing resentment toward her husband’s absence, Vivian is pushed to a near breaking point when she and her daughters are targeted by hate groups over her perceived race.
In MY DARLING VIVIAN, meet the first Mrs. Cash as her daughters, Rosanne, Kathy, Cindy, and Tara, share with first hand, for the first time, the entire story of love, isolation, fear, heartbreak, and survival.
“An unmistakably loving and sensitive portrait…of a woman whose great love was in many ways her great undoing.” - The Wrap
Cast
Director
Language
English
Closed Captions [CC]
English captions
Country
United States
Studios
The Film Collaborative, Giant