"The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" concerns Grace Everdene and what became of her and exactly why her grave is separate from the cemetery. "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" concerns a certain ritual or what goes down when all womenfolk in this little community get together at night, leaving all the men at home, with all car keys taken. The film begins with New Yorkers David Ackroyd, his wife (Joanna Miles) and daughter (Rosanna Arquette) discovering an old-fashioned Mennonite-like community, where the people work the land and live without modern day conveniences. David and family like their simple life so much, they decide to make "Harvest" their "home." And, added as an bonus, writer David now something to write about for his next book with the discovery of the mysterious Grace. But he is told to let sleeping dogs lie. And, Joanna falls into the mold as a dutiful unquestioning citizen. Bette Davis is a revered senior member, known as "Widow." This is a very well-made, hypnotic and disturbing film. I saw it in two parts in two nights, which might have broken up the spell of plausibility a bit. Part 2 seemed a bit hokey, because of it. But all actors were good, even a young Tracey Gold (of "Growing Pains" fame,) as a girl who is attributed to having a strange sixth sense. Norman Lloyd had a memorable understated role, and Rene Auberjonois has a terrible fate. Don't make these people mad! By the end, though, despite its well intentions, it all seemed a bit bizarre to me, but well worth discovering if you like Bette Davis' 1970 TV movies. She had better luck in finding good movie vehicles for her career than her peers who loved to work, no matter what. This is one of the better ones.
