Cbs Witch Hunt: 'innocent Blood' A Four-hour Miniseries

CBS is bringing back to the small screen the horrifying tale of the Salem witch trials. Two-time Emmy winner Kirstie Alley, Oscar and Emmy winner Shirley MacLaine and Alan Bates are set and Gloria Reuben is in negotiations to star in "Innocent Blood: The True Story of the Salem Witch Trials," a four-hour miniseries produced by Alliance Atlantis in association with Spring Creek Prods.

Maria Nation (CBS' "Season for Miracles") has written the original script. Four-time Emmy winner Joseph Sargent (HBO's "A Lesson Before Dying") will direct the project, scheduled to begin production April 30 in Canada. Originally, the idea was to shoot the mini in Nova Scotia in a village used for the movie "The Crucible," which also looks into the Salem witch trials.

The producers of "Innocent Blood," however, ultimately opted to build their village a couple of hours outside Montreal. The interiors will be shot in Toronto.

The project will be executive produced by Alliance Atlantis' Peter Sussman and Ed Gernon and Spring Creek's Paula Weinstein.

"Innocent Blood" is based on the real events surrounding one of the most famous witch hunts of all time — the 1692 series of investigations and persecutions in Salem Village, Mass., that caused 19 convicted "witches" to be hanged and many other suspects to be imprisoned.

Alley will play the central character of Ann Putnam, the wife of one of the most influential men in Salem, who is still roiling from the death of her baby son when her young daughter Annie becomes one of the "possessed" village girls. Ann at first joins the afflicted girls and accuses innocent women of being witches but soon realizes the horror she has helped cause and takes steps to end the witch hysteria.

Alley called the script "haunting." "It is beautifully written," she said.

MacLaine will play nurse Rebecca, a saintly, devout woman who gives Ann support after the loss of her child and who is also denounced as a witch.

Reuben will play Tituba, a good-natured slave to the family of the village minister and one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft after the minister's daughter and nieces begin to have strange fits and symptoms. She also is the first accused witch to confess in a desperate attempt to avoid further punishment.

Bates will play independent thinker Sir William Phipps, the new governor of the colonies, who tolerates the raging witch trials until his wife is fingered as a witch. He then puts a quick end to the hysteria.

"We are assembling what I consider to be a world-class cast," Gernon, executive vp movies and miniseries at Alliance Atlantis TV Prods., said about the casting process, still in progress. "Kirstie Alley blows me away with her instincts about the time and about the people, and to be reunited with Shirley is spectacular because nobody approaches historical characters with the same kind of intensity and authenticity that Shirley brings to us." MacLaine co-starred in the Alliance Atlantis "Joan of Arc" mini for CBS.

Even though this is not the first screen adaptation of the Salem witch trials story, Gernon believes this is the first attempt to tell the story for what it truly was. "This is not about witchcraft; this is about the suspicion of witchcraft and, on some deep, deep level, about men's inherent fear of women and women's instincts," he said.

In their effort to stay as close to the real events as possible, the producers have received CBS' full support "to tell the true story no matter how gritty, no matter how dark that may be."

After the entire village is crushed by the oppressive idea of Puritanism, which preaches that no one person should stand out, one woman — Ann Putnam — "begins essentially America as we know it today," Gernon said. "Individualism was born as a result of what happened in the Salem witch trials. It was like the necessary evil that we had to pass through in order to break with the old country and start a new idea."

Alliance Atlantis' TV production credits include the miniseries "Nuremberg" for TNT, "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" for ABC and the upcoming ABC telefilm "When Billie Beat Bobby."

Alley won Emmys for her turns in the NBC comedy "Cheers" and the telefilm "David's Mother." Her credits include also the NBC sitcom "Veronica's Closet," the CBS miniseries "The Last Don" and the features "Drop Dead Gorgeous" and "For Richer or Poorer."

Alley, who will next star in the CBS miniseries "Blonde," about the life of Marilyn Monroe, is repped by WMA and manager Jason Weinberg.

MacLaine won an Oscar for "Terms of Endearment." Her long list of acclaimed performances also includes "Irma la Douce" and "The Apartment."

On the small screen, MacLaine recently co-starred with Joan Collins, Debbie Reynolds and Elizabeth Taylor in the ABC telefilm "These Old Broads." Her TV credits also include the special "Gypsy in My Soul," for which she won an Emmy in 1976. She is repped by Mort Viner.

Reuben received two Emmy nominations for her role on "ER." Last year, she starred in the miniseries "Sole Survivor" and toured with Tina Turner as her backup singer. She will next be seen in the Showtime miniseries "Feast of All Saints." Reuben, who has written several songs and is looking into releasing an album, is repped by WMA and manager Emily Gerson Saines.

Bates was nominated for an Oscar for "The Fixer." His recent credits include the miniseries "Arabian Nights" and "In the Beginning." He is repped by ICM.

Zorianna Kit contributed to this report.