Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones

Synopsis

The film traces Jim Jones from a 1960s idealist helping minorities and opposing racism to his later move to San Francisco, where he becomes preoccupied with nuclear holocaust. He relocates hundreds of followers to Guyana. Congressman Leo J. Ryan investigates reports of people held against their will, leading to the depiction of the Guyana tragedy.

Characters

The movie’s portrayal of Jones’s family directly mirrors his real-life relatives. Clayton and Jean Richie draw from Timothy and Grace Stoen, while David Langtree is based on Larry Schacht, with altered details and traits from other Temple members mixed in. Most characters are composites of multiple people. Larry King resembles Larry Layton, who was involved in killing Congressman Leo Ryan.

Reception and awards

A 1980 Time magazine review was mostly positive but criticized the film for spending too much time on earlier parts of Jones's life, stating there was no point in recounting the minutiae of a madman's life if after four hours it remained impossible to understand how Jones became a sex-and-drug-crazed megalomaniac or why his followers accepted his behavior. The review noted how Powers Boothe captured the minutiae of the character but lamented that the writer had not made the role more complex.

Boothe won the 1980 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Special; he was the only nominated actor in any category to attend the ceremony during a Screen Actors Guild strike, remarking in his speech, "This is either the most courageous moment of my career or the stupidest." The film was also nominated for Emmys for Outstanding Achievement in Film Sound Mixing, Outstanding Directing in a Limited Series or a Special, and Outstanding Drama or Comedy Special, and for an Eddie Award for Best Edited Episode from a Television Mini-Series by the American Cinema Editors.

Did You Know?

• James Earl Jones appears in the film as spiritual leader Father Divine.
• The final scenes use dialogue from the Jonestown death tape (FBI Number Q 042).
• The film was shot in Puerto Rico and Georgia instead of Guyana.