 SEASON 3, EPISODE 19 THE TREE OF LIFE Obstetrician Sybil Oakwood (Gale Garnett), who practices the ancient and practically obsolete all-female Druid religion, has obtained a cursed fertility statue that has given her the power to make sterile couples fertile, and the clinic's offices are filled with anxious couples. The women always bear twins, but are drugged in the final stages of labor, and wake up believing they have borne only a son. The daughters are sequestered by the nurses, and are raised in the clinic's nursery to be Druid priestesses. Every twelfth father is asked to participate in a final pre-birth ceremony near a mighty oak tree. There, the earth opens beneath him, and he is dragged under the tree's roots, with the wives left to believe that their husbands have abandoned them. Johnny becomes involved in the bizarre doings when he accidentally meets one of the mothers who believes her daughter has been stolen, and she pours out her story, begging him for help. CAST & CREW MICKI FOSTER- LOUISE ROBEY JACK MARSHAK- CHRIS WIGGINS JOHNNY VENTURA- STEVEN MONARQUE DR. SYLVIA OAKWOOD- GALE GARNETT JENNIFER- BRENDA BAZINET MATTHEW- JOHN INNES NURSE DANA- TEDDE MOORE NURSE MORGAN- BARBARA GORDON MICHAEL- ROBERT BIDAMAN SHELAGH- ASHLEIGH ANN WOOD MRS. SANDERSON- CAROLE GALLOWAY DR. CORNWALL- GRAHAM MCPHERSON NEWSIE- MARTIN DONLEVY Written by- Christine Foster Directed by- William Fruet Created by- Larry B. Williams, Frank Mancuso Jr. Supervising Producer- Jon Andersen Executive Producer- Frank Mancuso Jr. Line Producer- J. Miles Dale Executive Story Consultant- Jim Henshaw Music Composed and Performed by- Fred Mollin Director of Photography- Rodney Charters Production Designer- Stephen Roloff Director of Post-Production- Gary L. Smith Editor- Bill Goddard First Assistant Director- John Board Second Unit Director- T.J. Scott Script Consultant- R. Scott Gemmill Casting by- Walker, Berman & Associates Extras Casting- Gabrielle Iviney 1st Assistant Camera- Patrick Stepien 2nd Assistant Camera- Trevor Haws 2nd Unit Director of Photography- Richard Wincenty Sound Recordist- Bryan Day Boom Operator- Martin Lacroix Costume Designer- Marie-Sylvie Deveau Assistant Designer- Carolyn Bahen Wardrobe Mistress- Judith England Wardrobe Assistants- Luis Sequeira, Lisa Prince Make-Up Artist- Ava Stone Hair Stylist- Diane Smith Art Director- Adam Kolodziej Assistant Art Director- Robert Ballantyne Set Decorator- Marlene Puritt Lead Set Dresser- Bruce Mailing Swing Gang- David Maltese, Rex Field Art Department Trainee- Joan Parkinson Assistant Production Manager- Norman Denver Second Assistant Director- Terry Gould Third Assistant Director- Andrea Raffaghello Trainee Assistant Director- Johanne Chene Second Unit Assistant Director- Fergus Barnes Stunt Coordinator- J.J. Makaro Location Manager- Robin Rockett Location Assistant- Victoria Harding Production Coordinator- Mary Fraser Production Secretary- Natalie Capone Production Accountant- Nathalie Laporte Script Supervisor- Dug Rotstein Assistant to the Producer- Susan Perry Assistant to the Executive Producer- Ginger Reynolds Studio Manager- Aileen Bell Script Assistant- Sheri McGrath Paralegal- Pat Turner Prosthetics Designer- Francois Dagenais Special Effects by- Performance Solutions Inc. Special Effects Coordinator- Jordan Craig Visual Effects Artist- John Gajdecki Effects Assistants- John LaForet, Russ Graham Property Master- John Allen Lead Props- Frauke Illing Gaffer- Owen Taylor Best Boy- Kevin Murphy Electricians- Michael Auger, Nigel Draper Transportation Coordinator- Chris Radley-Walters Picture Vehicle Coordinator- Glen Avigdor Key Grip- Mark Silver Best Boy Grip- Ron Paulaskas Grips- Blake Ballantine, Tracy Shaw Construction Coordinator- Ron Lightfoot Head Carpenter- Joe Madziak Scenic Painter- Otto Fondan Post-Production Supervisor- Philip Stilman Post-Production Coordinator- Gary Mueller Assistant Editor- Mary Jane Patterson Post-Production Assistant- Ruth Pond Video Post-Production- Dome Productions Audio Post-Production- Master's Workshop Re-Recording Mixers- Tim Archer, Rick Ellis Dialogue Supervisor- Terry Gordica Dialogue Editors- Jon Archer, Steve Foster Sound Effects Editor- Steve Gorman Foley- Orest Sushko, Gary Daprato Series Music Available On- GNP Crescendo Records Executive in Charge of Production- Robert Wertheimer Executive Production Consultant- Rick Schwartz Copyright 1990 Paramount Pictures Corporation A Triumph Entertainment Corporation Production Produced in Association with Hometown Films All Rights Reserved |
     Nurse Dana: "All the forest is alive...the trees, the rocks...everything..." Sylvia: "Drink deeply...the life blood of our forest king..." Johnny: "Give me one good reason why those children should be there..." Sylvia: "You'll be the guest of honor...at the sacrifice of fire..." Sylvia: "Form the circle...it is time..." CORONER'S REPORT 1. Michael (Robert Bidaman)- Strangled by roots, buried alive 2. Scotty (uncredited)- Death mentioned by Melissa 3. Mr. Phillips (uncredited)- Strangled by roots, buried alive 4. Sylvia (Gale Garnett)- Crushed by falling tree TRIVIA QUESTIONS 1. The Oakwood Clinic boasted a success rate of what percent? 2. In what language did the Druids practice their chants? 3. What was the Celtic legend of the oak tree? 4. How many sacrifices were needed to sustain the tree, and how many to bloom? 5. What was significant about the Celtic Druid priests? ANSWERS 1. The Oakwood Clinic boasted a 98 percent success rate. 2. The Druids practiced their chants in Ancient Gaelic. 3. The oak was a symbol of rebirth and fertility in Celtic legend. 4. Twelve sacrifices per year were needed to sustain the tree; 13 to bloom. 5. All Celtic Druid priests were female. AIR DATE May 7, 1990 EPISODE RATING: 3 F13's take on the 'Children Of The Corn' offers a very bizarre storyline... Crazy spiritualist at the head, but the cult angle was tired by this point PROMO |
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