Guyana: Crime of the Century

• 4.75 Drama
• 1979-09-20
• 107 minutes mins

This horrific dramatization of the Guyana tragedy traces the steps of Reverend Jim Jones, a highly charismatic, but profoundly paranoid clergyman, who after years of evangelism and good deeds, begins his own church in the mid-western United States. When Jim Jones becomes increasingly obsessed with the belief that the CIA is "a wicked enemy" who is out to get him, he emigrates with his congregation to Guyana, where he plans to create a utopia. But Jim Jones' utopia consists of a society where he demands his followers turn their minds, bodies and possessions over to him, one that is rife with orgies, physical violence, mental torture, and sexual abuse of children and adults. Ultimately, Jim Jones' paranoia reaches a fevered pitch that culminates in him taking savage action against his own congregation. (VCI Home Video)

Starring:

Stuart Whitman (Rev. James Johnson) John Ireland (Dave Cole) Joseph Cotten (Richard Gable) Bradford Dillman (Dr. Gary Shaw) Gene Barry (Congressman Lee O'Brien) Jennifer Ashley (Anna Kazan) Yvonne De Carlo (Susan Ames) Nadiuska (Leslie Stevens) Tony Young (Ron Harvey) Robert DoQui (Oliver Ross)

Director:

René Cardona Jr.

Writer:

René Cardona Jr. Carlos Valdemar