Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Kim Darby & William Shatner in The People (1972)

So often TV movies are wonderful trash - fun to watch, but campy and without depth. This film is the rare exception. Melodye Amerson (Darby) leaves a complicated life in the city behind to live among an isolated group of people in a rural valley as their school teacher. Upon arrival she finds the children hard to reach and the townspeople closed and uncommunicative. As she tries to make progress with the kids she begins to discover a remarkable truth about the community that sets them apart. Instead of giving in to their fear of her knowledge of their secret, the people find the courage to accept her and grow into their gifts.

This lovely film, produced by Francis Ford Coppola and based on a series of books by Zenna Henderson, has warmth and a gentleness that is uncommon in popular entertainment. Look for a restrained, likable William Shatner as a country doctor. It's available on DVD, though the transfer is very poor quality, according to most of the reviews. It's also above, available in full on YouTube, uploaded by TVTERRORLAND.

Obscurity factor: 8 (on DVD & YouTube, largely forgotten)

7 comments:

  1. Another favorite! The young Propagatrix spent many happy hours reading Zenna Henderson, but didn't get to see this until two years ago. Wish it had become a series.

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  2. It's such a sweet little film.

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  3. Honestly, I made it through 45 minutes. I'll try to finish. Director John Korty is best known for the iconic TV movie, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman." This film definitely reflects Coppola, during that time period. The transfer is rough, but the style is rather intentionally primitive.

    Kim Darby has a web site (her name dot com) - including a resume, and letter of recommendation...(??) She was quite popular for a few years, back then - certainly an actor that I remember from my childhood.

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  4. She did have a moment and was even in a film that became a cult classic - Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (1973). It's odd that she disappeared almost completely.

    The transfer is rough, but the content is quite charming. It's worth pushing through.

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  5. Not to mention the original "True Grit"...that was supposed to propel her to stardom. Her 1969 film, "Generation," sounds interesting...

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  6. Of course! I forgot she started out as a child star...

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  7. Don't forget Kim's amazing performance as John Cusack's mother in BETTER OFF DEAD. She gets about 85% of the film's most quotable lines.

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