Am I the only one who wonders why he was cast to play Leo Ryan? I mean, they went to lengths to cast Powers Booth as Jones..the likness is very similar. Ned Beatty looks nothing like Congressman Ryan.
shareNed Beatty looks homely and down-to-Earth compared to Ryan.
Jim Jones' people shot me, Mr. Luthor!
I was wondering that myself. Not only does he look nothing like Rep. Ryan, his performance is just not that strong here, considering he's generally excellent in other films. It seems like it was a quickie role for him.
shareI think he was cast for name value. While I haven't seen all of it, the other version of the film, Guyana: Cult of the Damned, has Gene Barry as Congressman "Lee O'Brien". He's much better suited for the role and looks a Hell of a lot more like Ryan than Beatty does. And he gives a much stronger performance from what I've seen of him in it.
I love to love my Princess.
Good points. Gene Barry was much stronger as the character.
shareYes he was, though part of that was due to the script of the other film. They rightly made the Congressman a second lead, whereas he was not very prominent in this film as I recall. The film was rightly a showcase for Powers Boothe, who is fantastic. Stuart Whitman and Gene Barry are written on more equal footing in the other film.
I love to love my Princess.