Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980)

The real-life story of the Peoples Temple cult led by Reverend Jim Jones and the events involving its move to Guyana and its eventual mass suicide.

Director:

William A. Graham

Writers:

Ernest Tidyman (teleplay), Charles A. Krause (book)

Stars:

Powers Boothe, Ned Beatty, Irene Cara

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Based upon the real life story of Reverend Jim Jones, a self-proclaimed prophet who founded the Peoples Temple. In the 1960s, he began as an idealist helping minorities and working against racism. After a move to San Francisco and increased power and attention, Jim Jones became focused on his belief in nuclear holocaust. He had a loyal following of over 1000 people, who had donated their entire life savings to him and to join his commune, before moving them to Guyana. When possible illegal activities came to the attention of the authorities, and once notified that some individuals are being held against their will, they began to investigate. Rather than face the charges against him, Jones committed suicide, and convinced virtually most of his followers to do the same.

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Plot Keywords:

people's temple | mass suicide | no survivors | mind control | brainwashing | 

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Taglines:

What was it about Reverend Jim Jones that made men and women alike surrender to him, both spiritually and physically? How could he blind them to his adulteries and addictions? How could he create "miracles" to steal their pride and possessions? And why would 913 people put their lives in his hands, despite everything?

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Certificate:

TV-14

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the choir sings "Welcome," the song is from a recording of the People's Temple Choir.

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Goofs

The guards' AK assault rifles have blank firing adapters attached to the muzzles.

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Quotes

Rev. Jim Jones: All my children, please come to the pavillion for one last time. Hurry, hurry my children.

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Crazy Credits

"The film you are about to see is a dramatization of the life of Jim Jones. Born - May 13, 1931 Lynn, Indiana - Died - November 18, 1978, Jonestown, Guyana. This is his story."

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Connections

Referenced in Brad Tries...: Brad Tries Manson Family Cult-a-Cola (2010)

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Soundtracks

Welcome
Performed by the People's Temple Choir

User Reviews

Powers Boothe is awesome

This is an awesome film and Powers Boothe's performance is what makes it. When it was first broadcast on CBS-TV in 1980, Time Magazine even had an article on it. The magazine didn't think much of the film in general, but it said there is one unforgettable performance in it, "a young actor named Powers Boothe captures all the rage, power, evil and charisma of "Dad" Jim Jones. It was most unusual for them to cast a young unknown actor in such an important role, but Powers Boothe proved his worth in spades! He won an Emmy for his dynamite portrayal. There was an actor's strike at the time and he was one of the only ones who showed up to accept his award, "this may be the bravest moment of my career or the most stupid" he said. This film shows Jone's rise to power in the People Temple. Originally he was a good man of God who wanted to help others, but something went horribly wrong. Boothe captures the sinister evil that was Jim Jones, but also his charisma and charm as well. Debbie Layton was one of the few people who survived the massacre in Guyana. She knew Jones very well and said that Jones was evil but he was also very clever and good at fooling people. Jones appealed to poor blacks and people without a direction in life. He promised them a better life and a utopia in "Jonestown". The final scenes of the film detailing the horrible mass suicide in November 1978 are gut wrenching. Out of 913 dead, only Jones and his nurse had not taken poison. Boothe captures Jones rhythmic, haunting preacher cadences and his words to the dying are taken from Jone's actual words. He was recording himself at the time. We must never forget this evil man and the horror he perpetrated upon the world. Those who forget the mistakes of history are only doomed to repeat them. In Search Of...had a show on Jim Jones once and at the end the host Leonard Nimoy said that there are still people who venerate Jim Jones who sleep with his picture and who believe that he is the only person who ever loved them. That is truly sad indeed. By the way, it surprised me that Powers Boothe's career never took off the way it should have after he made this incredible debut. He beat out Henry Fonda and Jason Robards to win his Emmy. He played Phillip Marlowe in an HBO series of short films and was in A Cry For Love, Southern Comfort, Red Dawn, A Breed Apart, The Emerald Forest, Extreme Prejudice and Into The Homeland, but the only really good part he played that was close to this one was when he played Soviet spy John Walker in the 1990 tv film Family Of Spies.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 January 1982 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Guyana Tragedy: The Jim Jones Story

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Konigsberg Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

192 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (CFI)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1