Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) (TV)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

William A. Graham

Writers:

Charles A. Krause (book)
Ernest Tidyman (writer)

Release Date:

15 April 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

The story of the People's Temple cult led by Jim Jones and the events involving its move to Guyana and its eventual mass suicide.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Guyana | Cult | Commune | Mass Suicide

Awards:

Won Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations

Cast

Powers Boothe	...	Rev. Jim Jones
Ned Beatty	...	Rep. Leo Ryan
Irene Cara	...	Alice Jefferson
Veronica Cartwright	...	Marceline 'Marcy' Jones
Rosalind Cash	...	Jenny Hammond
Brad Dourif	...	David Langtree
Meg Foster	...	Jean Richie
Michael C. Gwynne	...	Larry King
Albert Hall	...	Otis Jefferson
Linda Haynes	...	Karen Bundy
Diane Ladd	...	Lynette Jones
Ron O'Neal	...	Col. Robles
Randy Quaid	...	Clayton Ritchie
Diana Scarwid	...	Sheila Langtree
Madge Sinclair	...	Mrs. Jefferson

Also Known As:

The Mad Messiah

Runtime:

192 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16

Company:

Konigsberg Company

Trivia:

The dialogue used in the mass suicide/murder scene near the end of the film was taken almost word-for-word from an audiocassette found in a portable tape recorder under Jim Jones' chair. The tape recorder had weak batteries and was running at a much slower than normal speed, allowing the entire event to be recorded.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in House on Haunted Hill (1999)

Soundtrack:

Welcome

Powers Boothe's Tour de Force

Certainly this is the best work Powers Boothe has done and he deservedly got an Emmy for it. As an aside, I can recall the awards night because there was a Screen Actors Guild strike or something and nearly all of the nominees failed to attend the ceremonies. But when Boothe's name was called out as a winner, he defiantly strode up to the podium to get his trophy.

People may want to read the book "Raven" which is a biography about Rev. Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple; this TV movie can only scratch the surface of the demonic goings-on in the Temple without demanding more censorship than a TV show could allow, at least back then.

Boothe is hypnotic as Jim Jones and you get the sense that he wasn't always whacked out and loony. A particularly good scene is when Jones stands in front of an abandoned synagogue in the black-ghetto part of town. The only white man there, he's soon surrounded by obviously skeptical blacks. "Will you pray with me?" Jones asks, and the bystanders do as Jones gives a heartfelt prayer that God will lift their burdens. The bystanders are impressed and in a short time the Peoples Temple is prospering.

Boothe perfectly recreates the candence and timbre of Jones' preaching and phony faith-healing and his lustful disposition towards the women of his congregation. Jones's sexual exploits don't end there and he later has an affair with drug-addicted Brad Dourif, as well (in fact, Jones had sex with plenty of his male followers). The end of the movie where the cult members all commit suicide is very frightening. All the more so because nearly all of the dialogue is exactly what was spoken---Jones had been tape recording his harangues and the tape ended probably not long before he was killed himself. By the way, Jones never took the cynanide-laced kool-aid, he was shot which led many to believe that Jones had no intention of going off into the hereafter but was planning his escape when one of henchmen decided to have Jones join his "flock".