In the Line of Duty: Manhunt in the Dakotas (1991) (TV)

Director:

Dick Lowry

Writers (WGA):

James Corcoran (book)
Michael Petryni (teleplay)

Release Date:

12 May 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller | Action

Plot:

Gordon Kahl is man who feels that the U.S. government doesn't care about the American farmer, so he retaliates by not paying taxes...

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Based On Book

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Rod Steiger	...	Gordon Kahl
Michael Gross	...	Agent Richard Mayberly
Gary Basaraba	...	Leland Winters
Christopher Rich	...	Scott Faul
Amy Wright	...	Karen
Beth Fowler	...	Joan Kahl
Henderson Forsythe	...	Doc Martin
Brad Sullivan	...	Dan Krebs
Tony Higgins
Dan Ziskie
David Hart	...	Chief Larry Douglas
Michael Dolan	...	Earl Mackie
Madison Arnold
Kristin Griffith
Randal Patrick	...	Carl Greenwood

Also Known As:

In the Line of Duty: The Twilight Murders
Midnight Murders

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Patchett Kaufman Entertainment

Trivia:

Beth Fowler's TV debut.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Throughout the film the city name Medina is pronounced muh-dee-na, the correct pronunciation is muh-dye-na.

Quotes:

Mayberly: You all right?
Leland Winters: Yeah. It was Gordon Kahl, son Yorie, Scott Faul, Wilbur Lundy, guy named Lester Tompkins, all members of the Posse. Kahl did the most damage.
[angry]
Leland Winters: He shot Bob Cheshire point blank. He executed him.
Mayberly: You're sure it was Kahl?
Leland Winters: Hell, yeah. I talked to him at the clinic after.
Mayberly: [surprised] What?
Leland Winters: The ambulance took us all to Doc Earns' clinic in Medina and there he was.
Mayberly: All of you were there?
Leland Winters: It's the closest doctor. Yorie was there and I guess Kahl came to see how he was.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Followed by Ambush in Waco: In the Line of Duty (1993) (TV)

TV movie about a foreshadowing event in 1983.

The Gordon Kahl incident, Medina, North Dakota on Sunday, February 13, 1983, was a forerunner to the James and Steven Jenkins incident, Ruthton, Minnesota in September, 1983, the whole mid-1980s farm crisis, and even Ruby Ridge and Waco. Gordon Kahl was a promoter of Posse Comitatus, and had a considerable following in North Dakota. Eventually, push came to shove. Kahl went down to the Arkansas Ozarks. But the FBI went in and got their man. The movie is based on a book written by James Corcoran who covered the news story for the Fargo Forum. The Georgia filming location suffices for North Dakota in winter? Not quite. There was a Dodge Ramcharger in the actual slaying incident. There was a small undercurrent of Posse Comitatus in North Dakota and Minnesota in the 1980s and early 1990s. They are a neo-Nazi sort of group. I think maybe an anti-Big Brother undercurrent would be a good thing if not taken to extreme extremes, but not a racist one.