''The Dark Secret of Harvest Home'' is a 1978 American

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

horror- thriller

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

, produced by

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Universal Studio Group, a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It serves as the network television production arm of NBC; a predeces ...

and directed by

Leo Penn Leonard Francis Penn (August 27, 1921 – September 5, 1998) was an American actor and director and the father of musician Michael Penn and actors Sean Penn and Chris Penn. Early life Penn was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the son of Russi ...

, that aired January 23–24, 1978 on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. The screenplay was based on the 1973 novel '' Harvest Home'' by

Tom Tryon Thomas Lester Tryon (January 14, 1926 – September 4, 1991) was an American actor and novelist. He is best known for playing the title role in the film ''The Cardinal'' (1963), featured roles in the war films '' The Longest Day'' (1962) and ''I ...

and is largely faithful to the original material.

Cast

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

as Widow Fortune *

David Ackroyd David Ackroyd (born May 30, 1940) is an American actor, who first came to prominence in soap operas such as ''The Secret Storm'' and '' Another World''. Early life On May 30, 1940, Ackroyd was born in East Orange, New Jersey; he moved to Wayn ...

as Nick Constantine *

Joanna Miles Joanna Miles (born March 6, 1940) is an American actress. She received two Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Laura Wingfield in the 1973 film production of Tennessee Williams' ''The Glass Menagerie''. Early life and education Miles was born in ...

as Beth Constantine *

Rosanna Arquette Rosanna Lisa Arquette (; born August 10, 1959) is an American actress. She was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Emmy Award for her performance in the TV film ''The Executioner's Song ( ...

as Kate Constantine *

René Auberjonois René Murat Auberjonois (; June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019) was an American actor and director. He was best known for portraying Odo on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He first achieved fame as a stage actor, winning the Tony Aw ...

as Jack Stump *

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

as Justin Hooke *

Norman Lloyd Norman Nathan Lloyd (' Perlmutter; November 8, 1914 – May 11, 2021) was an American actor, producer, director, and centenarian with a career in entertainment spanning nearly a century. He worked in every major facet of the industry, including ...

as Amys Penrose * Stephen Joyce as Robert Dodd *

Linda Marsh Linda Marsh (born Linda Cracovaner; February 8, 1939) is an American actress of film, stage, and television. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Elia Kazan's 1963 film ''America, America''. Early years Marsh was ...

as Maggie Dodd *

Michael Durrell Michael Durrell (born Sylvester Salvatore Ciraulo; October 6, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. He began his career in the role of attorney Peter Wexler on the CBS soap opera ''The Guiding Light''. In 1969, he appeared on Broadw ...

as Ty Barth * Steve Gustafson as Jimmy Minerva *

Michael O'Keefe Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor, known for his roles as Danny Noonan in ''Caddyshack'', Ben Meechum in ''The Great Santini,'' for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Bes ...

as Worthy Pettinger * Grayce Grant as Mrs. Pettinger (Worthy's mother) *

Martin Shakar Martin Shakar (born January 1, 1940) is an American theatre, film and television actor. He was born in Detroit, Michigan to an Armenian/Assyrian family from Adıyaman, Turkey and lives in Brooklyn, New York. A life member of The Actors Studio ...

as David Adwell * Laurie Prange as Sophie Hooke * Lina Raymond as Tamar Penrose *

Tracey Gold Tracey Gold (born May 16, 1969) is an American actress and former child star known for playing Carol Seaver on the 1980s sitcom ''Growing Pains''. Acting career Tracey Gold became an actress at the age of four, first appearing in a Pepsi print ...

as Missy Penrose * Bill Balhatchet and Kathleen Howland as Fred and Asia Minerva

Release

The miniseries originally aired on NBC in 1978, and reran in March 1979.''

Card Sharks ''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. The game features two contestants who attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a row o ...

'' episode that aired March 27th, 1979 It was also shown on

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

in 1992, in two parts. This two-parter was the full 3-hour, 48-minute version. It was later broadcast in a slightly truncated version, running just about 3 hours, on the

Sci-Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

at some point in the mid-1990s. Many bootleg copies are taken from this source. ''The Dark Secret of Harvest Home'' has been released on video; this version is more heavily edited, running only 2 hours long. The chapters to this series are: *Part 1: Ploughing Day, Planting Day, Agnes Fair, Choosing The Young Lord, The Day Of Seasoning *Part 2: Tithing Day, Sheaving Tide, Husking Bee, Corn Play, Kindling Night, Harvest Home

References

External links

*
The Obscurity Factor : Bette Davis & Rosanna Arquette in The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978)
1978 American television series debuts 1970s American television miniseries Films about neopaganism Films based on American horror novels Films directed by Leo Penn Films scored by Paul Chihara Folk horror films NBC network original films Television shows based on American novels {{US-tv-prog-stub