Featuring never-before-seen footage, this documentary delivers a startling new look at the Peoples Temple, headed by preacher Jim Jones who, in 1978, led more than 900 members to Guyana, where he orchestrated a mass suicide via tainted punch. Jackie Speier, Aide to Congressman Leo Ryan: On the night of the 17th, it was still a vibrant community. 2007 | TV-14 | 1 hr 44 min | FEATURE FILM. Tim Carter, Peoples Temple Member: I had been in the Temple for just a few months. “Stanley Clayton, up, front, center.”, Janet Shular, Peoples Temple Member: He would ask people, “What do you think we ought to do with them? Bryan Kravitz, Peoples Temple member He was talking better this and better that. Come and I’ll give you a bed?” “But I’ve got nothing but a pension.” “Go and leave your pension behind,” who else will tell you that? As many others did. Bryan Kravitz, Peoples Temple Member: I decided not to go to Vietnam, and I was just at the point of what am I going to do with myself? The margin of victory was probably no more than 4,000. He had a bed. Janet Shular, Peoples Temple Member: The first time I visited Peoples Temple, I drove at the urging of a friend — a co-worker — to Redwood Valley. I would never have imagined that 24 hours later, they would all be dead. I’m not able to say…But I do know it’s real. Susana Fernandes And I’m sitting there petrified because I’m like, “Is this what it’s leading to, that I’m supposed to get to?” And I’m thinking, “hmmm.” But I played it off like, “Okay, I’m being cool. Deadwood . Well having a funeral for it was a little strange, killing the animal was very strange. 2006. Traditional People file by us slowly and take the somewhat bitter drink. Want to watch 'Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple' on your TV or mobile device at home? Katie Marsh, Kounterattack Design, Audio Restoration People were being taken to airports. Laura Johnston Kohl, Peoples Temple member Watch Jonestown An American Tragedy (Season 2018, Episode 71318) of Dateline or get episode details on NBC.com Hue Fortson Jr., Peoples Temple member Laura Johnston Kohl, Peoples Temple Member: We had no other radio or T.V. On-screen text: On November 18th, 1978, in Jonestown, Guyana, 909 members of Peoples Temple died in what has been called the largest mass suicide in modern history. He was taking drugs. And you’re seeing in the distance, housing complexes, that are being built. When we came back, something had happened. Deborah Layton, Peoples Temple Member, Author, Seductive Poison: The membership increased substantially as he procured more and more Greyhound buses and fixed them up, and every summer he began this cross-country tour. We lie flat on the tarmac at that moment. Female Peoples Temple Member (archival): I wished I could. Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2017. Jim Jones realizes the walls are closing in and plans his final stand. Tim Carter, Peoples Temple Member: That response to him was spontaneous. But I was at a point where I didn’t know how much more time I was going to be alive. Mike Touchette, Peoples Temple Member: When I first went into Jonestown, it was just a footpath in the rainforest. Jim Jones Jr., Peoples Temple Member: And he was kind of left to his own devices. Hurry my children! Jim Jones was head of the cult, "The People's Temple" that had its start in California. Rev. Jim Jones (archival): Some people see a great deal of God in my body. Fielding McGehee, Relative of Peoples Temple Member: He chose Ukiah in northern California — about 90 miles north of San Francisco — because there was an article in Esquire Magazine that said that Ukiah was one of the nine places in the world that in the event of thermonuclear attack, people would survive. I said this is got to be a perfect way to live. This docudrama was well done, although I've seen other actors portray Jones a little better. So we have to be even stronger. Marcia Smith and Noland Walker, Additional Camera It’s the church’s duty to have a place of protection for its people. Published by Universal MCA Music Publishing (Singing, archival): Something got a hold of me, oh yes indeed. KQED Fielding McGehee, Relative of Peoples Temple Member: Eventually, the rhetoric ratchets up enough that she is shouted down. With Vernon Gosney, Leslie Wagner-Wilson, Tim Carter, Jim Jones Jr.. Docuseries looking back on the Jonestown Massacre on the 40th anniversary. Rebecca Moore lost her two sisters and nephew. ❤, Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. The Fall of the I-Hotel, courtesy of Curtis Choy/Chonk Moonhunter We realized these people catch up from people from Jim Jones, they’re very close lieutenant to Jim Jones. Hailed as “surreal and heartbreaking” (The Village Voice) and “chilling” (San Francisco Chronicle), the 90-minute American Experience film features first-hand recollections of former Peoples Temple members, including some who narrowly escaped death in those frantic, final days in the South American jungle; relatives of those who died; and candid interviews with Jones’s son, Jim Jones, Jr. “We wanted the story to be told in the voices of the people who lived through it,” explains Nelson. The wind came up and it just — torrential rain. He really understood it. They didn’t ask anything. On-screen text: 909 Peoples Temple members died at Jonestown. I’m right now making a call to Russia. By Christmas, do you want to be gone?! It was very quiet. Very powerful and I recommend all to watch this and learn something from it. By this time, her face is red, her body’s almost red from embarrassment, and I noticed something. Hue Fortson Jr., Peoples Temple Member: He said, “If you see me as your friend, I’ll be your friend. Nobody joins something they think is going to hurt them. Composed by George M. Cohan Senior Woman (archival): I was just wondering whether I could go or not. Get the solution together.”. I certainly do. Vernon Gosney, Peoples Temple Member: I went and I spoke to the Congressman in the pavilion. Annie and I were sent out to go on a walk. Jim Jones (archival, subtitles): There’s a little town in Indiana. The remote Guyana outpost of cult leader Jim Jones' Peoples Temple, Jonestown … They looked in people’s faces. Janet Shular, Peoples Temple Member: People were brought up front and asked — had to tell who they had slept with and who they had sneaked off to a restaurant with. This New York Times Critic's Pick tells the story of the people who followed cult leader Jim Jones to the remote jungles of Guyana, South America, in a misbegotten quest to build an ideal society. Marshall Kilduff, Journalist: In San Francisco, Jones walked in on a sort of a wild kind of party, where there was a lot of new faces and new sources of power. If you came in as a stranger and didn’t know anything about the politics, you were thinking you were entering an old-time religion service. Jim Jones Jr., Peoples Temple Member: I was the first Negro child adopted by a Caucasian family in the state of Indiana. I never shall forget what he’s done for me. Laura Johnston Kohl, Peoples Temple Member: My week kind of ran like this — I’d work my regular job on Mondays, you know, eight to five. I can’t see a post about this documentary that’s been on BBC4 the last 2 nights. S1 streaming until 6 Jan 2021 S2 episodes 1-10 streaming until 8 Jan 2021. 17 November 2018 . Peoples Temple welcomed people of every race and ethnicity. When it comes to documentaries about cults, Jonestown: ... Messiah on Trial is – a follow-up to The End of the World Cult (so watch that one first!). 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