The People (TV 1972)

A young woman is assigned to teach school in a secluded valley whose inhabitants appear stern, secretive and anti-pleasure. Following two children who disappear to play in the woods, she ... See full summary »

Director:

John Korty

Writers:

Zenna Henderson (books), James M. Miller

Stars:

Kim Darby, William Shatner, Diane Varsi

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Kim Darby	...	Melodye Amerson
William Shatner	...	Dr. Curtis
Diane Varsi	...	Valancy Carmody
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Sol Diemus
Laurie Walters	...	Karen Diemus
Johanna Baer	...	Bethie
Chris Valentine	...	Clement Francher
Stephanie Valentine	...	Talitha
Jack Dahlgren	...	Kiah
Andrew Crichton	...	Thann
David Petch	...	Matt
Dorothy Drady	...	Dita
Mary Rose McMaster	...	Maras
Anne Walters	...	Obla
Tony Dario	...	Bram

Storyline

A young woman is assigned to teach school in a secluded valley whose inhabitants appear stern, secretive and anti-pleasure. Following two children who disappear to play in the woods, she finds that this is actually a community of extraterrestrials with mild paranormal powers who are attempting to repress and deny their heritage for fear of arousing prejudice and hatred in their human neighbors. Based on a series of novels by the late Zenna Henderson.

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Plot Keywords:

school | children | isolated community | arizona | unsold tv series pilot | 

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 January 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aquele Povo

Filming Locations:

Nicasio, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Zoetrope, Metromedia Producers Corporation (MPC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This movie marks the reunion between Kim Darby and William Shatner since they stared together in the Star Trek episode "Miri" in 1966.

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Connections

Edited into The Best TV Shows That Never Were (2004)

User Reviews

A guiltless pleasure

I saw this when it first came out (I was at an SF Con at the time) and then later in a re-run. Considering the budget constraints of 1970s TV Sci-Fi movies, they did an impressive amount of story telling, mixing two of the first 'People' stories to re-cast the tale for non-fans. The cast gives good performances (Shatner is not the ham he usually is), the 'special effects' are limited to wires and a series of crayon drawn pictures which tell the background very effectively. This is actually the second 'People' filming -- Science Fiction Theater ripped off the same story for one of its episodes. Zenna Henderson's People stories were collected by NESFA Press and can be found at Amazon.com and elsewhere.