Seduction in a Small Town (1997) (TV)

Director:

Charles Wilkinson

Writers (WGA):

Ned Welsh (treatment)
Bill Phillips (teleplay)

Release Date:

9 February 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Paul Jenks and his wife Sarah left California with their lovely son David and dumb daughter Ivy and started a farm in his native small town...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Melissa Gilbert	...	Sarah Jenks
Dennis Weaver	...	Sam Jenks
G.W. Bailey	...	Pat Carter
Brian McNamara	...	Paul Jenks
Joel Palmer	...	David Jenks
Joely Fisher	...	Sandy Barlow
Ashley Doty	...	Ivy Jenks
Valerie Ann Pearson	...	Willa Jenks
Stephen Hair	...	Reverend Mike Burke
Shawna Lori Burnett	...	Laura Nash
Maureen Thomas	...	Lavonne Burke
Stephanie Mills	...	Alice Tuller
Donna Larson	...	Kristen Hadley
Christine MacInnis	...	Judith Dowd
Greg Lawson	...	Deputy Boyd
Liese McDonald	...	Deputy Herbert
Thomas Peacocke	...	Judge Dennison
Bartley Bard	...	George Sherwood
Lindsay Burns	...	Dr. Roberts
Valerie Planche	...	Brenda Curtis
Hal Kerbes	...	Dr. Berthold
Babs Chula	...	Jesse Pence
Judith Buchan	...	Verna Taylor

Directed by
Charles Wilkinson

Writing credits (WGA)
Ned Welsh		(treatment)
Bill Phillips		(teleplay)

Produced by
Mark Bacino	....	producer
Allen S. Epstein	....	executive producer
Jim Green	....	executive producer
Diane Jeanné	....	producer
Ned Welsh	....	producer

Original Music by
Richard Bellis

Cinematography by
Michael Slovis

Film Editing by
Lenka Svab

Casting by
Victoria Burrows

Production Design by
Ken Rempel

Art Direction by
Robyn Ayles

Set Decoration by
Laura Cuthill

Costume Design by
Lindsay Jacobs

Makeup Department
Iloe Flewelling	....	hair stylist
Gail Kennedy	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Linda Rogers-Ambury	....	unit production manager (as Linda Chapman)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Markowitz	....	first assistant director
Mark Wallace	....	second assistant director
Richard Worden	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Alfred A. Arndt	....	construction coordinator
Jason Eskeland	....	property master

Sound Department
Gordon Durity	....	sound effects editor
Gordon Durity	....	sound re-recordist
Philip Hunter	....	dialogue editor
Gael MacLean	....	supervising sound editor
Geo Major	....	boom operator
Ron Osiowy	....	sound mixer
Chris James	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Rob Sheridan	....	special effects
Robert Sheridan	....	special effects coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
T.C. Chapman	....	gaffer (as Tracey Chapman)
Guy W. Elliott	....	lamp operator
Danny Heather	....	first assistant camera
Martin Keough	....	lamp operator
Brian A. Kuchera	....	key grip (as Brian Kuchera)
Cameron MacDonald	....	camera operator (as Cam MacDonald)
Hans Maxwell	....	generator operator
Chooch Paglaro	....	24 frame video operator
Christopher G. Sprague	....	best boy electric
Susan Strembitsky	....	second assistant camera (as Sue Strembitsky)

Casting Department
Scot Boland	....	casting associate

Music Department
Ed Kalnins	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Arnold Holmes	....	transportation coordinator
Bruce Milward	....	hair/make-up/wardrobe driver

Other crew
Aviline Adshead	....	craft service
Karen Bédard	....	script supervisor
Anne Michele Delavigne	....	production coordinator
Jean Edmunson	....	personal assistant: Ms. Gilbert
Lynn Elston	....	production auditor
Jamie C. Green	....	assistant to producer
Bill Kuchera	....	location manager
Tracy Long	....	production coordinator
Roma Roth	....	location manager

Production Companies

• Green/Epstein Productions

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1997) (USA) (TV) (original airing)

Other Companies

• William F. White International  grip and lighting equipment

Also Known As:

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Green/Epstein Productions

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Showbiz Today: Episode dated 8 February 1997" (1997)

Not a work of art, but...

This is a political movie in reaction to the child-abuse hysteria that swept this country during the eighties and early nineties, only this time the good guys are the parents and bad guys are the social workers and the accusers. You don't have to guess who's who when Melissa Gilbert plays the mother, nor when Dennis Weaver plays the grandfather. This is Little House on the Prairie circa 1997 versus Big Brother (as played by the social welfare system). We can depend on TV MOW's to reflect the current PC position, even if they have to make a 180 degree turn from what they were spouting just a few years ago.

Joely Fisher does an excellent job as the evil woman who makes the false accusations and tries to frame the mother out of jealousy. Brian McNamara gives a not-so-strangely Michael Landon- ish portrayal of the father despite the scraggly beard, while Dennis Weaver is something close to wonderful in a bit part as the grandfather. Gilbert, looking solid and healthy, is steady but without finesse in a part big enough for a great actress.

When we see the cop cars and the social welfare people drive up and haul off the family's two children, we know this is about war in American, the family against the larger community. Unfortunately there are few shades of gray in the script: the family is clearly innocent and victimized. Nonetheless, since MOWs always reflect the zeitgeist and of course pander to their audiences, telling them what they want to hear, this movie is clear and welcome evidence that the public has finally seen that the social welfare industry has been given too much power: the crucial point being that it is horribly wrong to allow children to be taken from their parents without due process of law. With this movie it might be said that the tide has turned and the justice system and the public have awaken from their long, self-induced nightmare of hysteria. One hopes so.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)