English: "Stronghold".
Español: "Un Grito En La Oscuridad"  ["A Cry In The Dark"].
Español: "Un Rezo En La Oscuridad"  ["A Prayer In The Dark"].
Portuguese: "Reféns Do Medo"  ["Hostages Of Fear"].
Italiano: "Tra La Vita Vita E La Morte" ["Between Life And Death"].
Deustch: "Dark Prayer - Tödliche Bedrohung" ["Deadly Threat"].
Français: "Ange De L'Enfer" ["Angel From Hell"].
Svenska: "När Livet Gör Ont: En Bön i Mörkret" ["When Life Goes Wrong: A Prayer In The Dark"]
Slovĕne: "Molitev V Temi" ["Prayer In The Dark"].
Pôrtugues: "Um Grito Na Noite" ["A Cry In the Night"]
Chinese []:
Japanese []: "".
	Premiere: USA Network, Wednesday, 2 April 1997 / 9:00 P.M. Re-broadcast: Saturday, April 5 and Saturday APril 12, 1997. Director: Jerry Ciccoritti. Teleplay: Andrew Laskos, based upon the novel "Stronghold" by Stanley Ellin. CAST: • LYNDA CARTER [ Emily Hayworth ]. • TERI POLO [ Janet Hayworth ]. • COLIN FERGUSON [ Jimmy Flood ]. • PHILIP GARRETT [ Digby ]. • SILVIO OLIVIERO [ Lester ]. • KARL PRUNER [ Marcus Hayworth ]. • LINDSAY CONNELL [ Deborah ]. • MATTHEW BENNETT [ David ]. • EUGENE ROBERT GLAZER [ John Dolan ]. • LESLEY KELLY [ Bobby ]. • DAVID BOLT [ Uri Steinman ]. • DAN LETT [ Herb Hill ]. • THOMAS HAUFF [ Ray McGrath ]. • CHRISTINE REEVES [ Ellen ]. • SOO GARAY [ Rachel ]. • DAVID GOW [ Henry Farrow ]. • JEREMY HARRIS [ Mike ]. • BERNARD BROWN [ Armored Guard ]. • FRANCES HYLAND [ Anna ]. • ARTURO FRESOLONE [ Santiago ]. • DON FRANCKS [ Ken ]. • JO HUTCHINS [ Teller ]. Credits: Executive Producer: Andrew Laskos. Producer: Julian Marks. Music: David Michael Frank. Editor: George Roulston. Production Designer: Gerry Holmes. Director of Photography: Ron Stannett, CSC. Production Manager: Noella Nesdoly. First Assistant Director: Bil Spahic. Second Assistant Director: Ken Smith. Casting: Penny Musarra. Assistant Production: Artürs Rüsis. Production Controller: Carl R. Dixon. Stunt Coordinator: John Stoneham Jr.. Costume Designer: Ann Tree Newson. Wardrobe: Anita Simard. Make-Up: Lisa Brown. Hair Stylist: Regan Noble. Script Supervisor: Maddalena Di Gregorio. Lightning: Roger Bate. Set Decorator: Nigel Hutchins. Property Master: Adrian Hardy. Key Grip: Sean Boudreau. Special Effects: Block Jolliffe. Location Manager: Glenn Carter. Production Coordinator: Eric Beldowski. Post Produc-tion Coordinator: Jennifer Davis. Transportation Coordination: Matthew Wolchock. Assistant Production Coordinator: Susan A. Wahler. Assistant Editor: Todd Farrell. Music Editor: Barry Moran. Sound Supervising: Dome Audio Video & Fx - James Porteous, MPSE. Re-recording Mixers: James Porteous, Cory Mandel. Lenses & Cameras: Panavision. © 1997 Power Pictures. Dover Road Productions in association with Wilshire Court Productions and Paramount Pictures Television. Awards: Julian Marks for Best Feature Film - Santa Clarita International Film Festival 1997.

PREMISE: Emily Hayworth (Lynda Carter) is very much a woman of the 90's, holding down an important job at a bank while juggling duties as a wife, mother, and soon-to-be grandmother. She is also a devout Quaker who once opened her home in friendship and aid to a troubled young man.      A decade later, the same troubled man returns, but this time with a dangerous agenda: to steal, and perhaps even to kill. Will the non-violent principles of the Quaker faith prevail against the greed and evil of the 20th century world? A USA Original Movie.

	A Quaker community's life of love and devotion in upstate New York is shattered when prisoners Jimmy Flood (Colin Ferguson), Digby (Phillip Jarrett) and Lester (Silvio Oliviero) mastermind a prison break and return to the community where Jimmy was raised. They plan.to extort $4 million from the head of the local bank, pious Quaker wife and mother Emily Hayworth (Lynda Carter). Emily and her husband Marcus (Karl Pruner) had given Jimmy a home when his abusive father asked for their help years before.
	One of the Hayworth daughters, Janet (Teri Polo), has a rebellious nature and doesn't believe she belongs. in the community. Her sister Deborah (Lindsey Connell) and husband David (Matthew Bennett) are dealing with their own familial problems. Now expecting their first child, Deborah and David would like to break with family tradition and build a home of their own.
	All family problems are temporarily forgotten when Jimmy and his gang invade the Hayworth home and demand $4 million at gunpoint in exchange for the family's safety.
Emily tells him that she can deliver $1 million without drawing too much attention at the bank, but that $4 million is another matter. Jimmy refuses and threatens that if Emily doesn't return within a designated time with the money, he will begin to massacre the family. It also becomes evident Jimmy and Janet had a past relationship, and that Jimmy believes his return to the Hayworth home and his soon-to-be wealth might mean a new future for him and Janet.

Emily drives into town and then calls an emergency meeting of the Quaker Friends and tells them of the dire situation she is facing. The community rallies to her side and they come up with a plan to try and solve the impasse in a non-violent way.
The Friends cut off all electric power to the house. As time passes and Emily does not return with the money, the ex-cons start to argue among themselves. The other two accuse Jimmy of ruining the plot and revolt against him. Jimmy is shot and, in desperation, sets off an explosion that almost takes Emily's life. He handcuffs himself to Janet and drags her to the dock where he has left a boat for their escape. Emily follows and is able to get Janet away from Jimmy. When Sheriff Dolan (Eugene Robert Glazer) arrives and tries to shoot Jimmy, Emily stops him, knowing that Jimmy's wounds are too severe to allow him to get away. Emily and her family have been true to their beliefs of solving problems without violence.
Their beliefs are tested when Jimmy Flood, a young man who the family had taken into their home as a teenager,
returns after escaping from jail. Jimmy escaped with two other convicts, who now hold the members of the Hayworth family hostage until Emily can deliver $4 million from her bank.
"Some people panic when crisis comes and some people just become like an arrow on a bow -- going straight for the target to solve the problem," says Carter. "Those people are very focused, which is the way I am in my personal life and the way that my character, Emily, is in the story." Carter was compelled by the powerful message of nonviolence in the film as well as the family relationship. "The strength and power of the script was very appealing. There's a lot of action in the film, but there's also a lot of restraint because of the strong non-violent beliefs of the Quaker community. The subtext is fascinating as well. Emily is a progressive Quaker, the pillar of her community, the head of a bank, but she doesn't have a clue about her own childrens' feelings, hopes, and desires."
The Quaker way of life is one that is not too familiar to the majority of Americans. "A Prayer in the Dark" is based on Stronghold, a book written by Stanley Ellin, himself a Quaker. Carter researched the Quakers before she began filming. "I went to a Quaker enclave," she says. "I found that they answered questions, but were very protective about what goes on in their lives. They don't try to bring new people into their flock, but keep their own counsel and practice non-violence as a way of life. They have a calmness and an inner peace that comes from a strong faith in God. To me, it seems they have examined their souls and have come to terms with who they are."
Carter says that the character of Emily portrays that spirituality. "Emily became a real person to me," Carter continues.' "I played Emily as a very restrained person, which is a challenge for me since I'm not usually very restrained. Emily has very strong faith and that faith has given her a real peacefulness. She believes everything is fine with her family; not until Jimmy Flood enters their home does she find out her family's ties are not as strong as she thought.
"The real power of this film," says Producer Julian Marks, "is that Emily's situation is a real test of her faith in God and the Quaker principles of non-violence. Many people aren't tested so they don't know what they would do in any given situation. There's a line in the script that sums up what Emily is facing when she says `my test has come, it's here.' "
Jerry Ciccoritti directed the teleplay written by Andrew Laskos and based upon the novel "Stronghold" by Stanley Ellin. "A Prayer In The Dark" is a USA Pictures Original presentation in association with Wilshire Court Productions, Inc., Power Pictures and Dover Road Productions.
USA Network is cable television's leading provider of original series and feature movies, sports events, children's animated programs, off-net television shows and blockbuster theatrical films. USA Network is seen in more than 70 million U.S. homes as well as overseas. The USA Network web site is located at http://www.usanetwork.com.

	Perhaps best known for her role as Wonder Woman (1976-'81 on ABC and later CBS), Lynda Carter has diversified as an actress by starring in numerous television series and movies. She is a talented singer and dancer and has hosted award-winning variety specials as well as produced a number of television movies.        Most recently, Carter completed production on an upcoming CBS movie, Family Blessing, and starred in Hawkeye, a frontier adventure series set in 18" century North America, "'with Lee Horsley. She also starred in two television movies, Secret Between Friends (NBC) and She Woke Up Pregnant (ABC).       Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Carter began singing in a number of high school musicals, and then traveled with a nightclub band. In the '70s, she won the Miss World USA crown and moved to Los Angeles where she concentrated on an acting career.
Other credits include the 1984 NBC series Partners in Crime with Loni Anderson and the television movies Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess (CBS), Danielle Steele's Daddy (NBC) and Posihg (CBS). Under the auspices of her own production company, Lynda Carter Productions, Carter produced the television movies Born To Be Sold (NBC) and The Last Song (CBS), among others.

Through the '80s, Carter starred in numerous specials which displayed her singing and dancing talents including the Emrny-winning Lynda Carter Celebration and the Emmy-nominated Lynda Carter: Body and Soul. The programs were translated to the stage for audiences in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Reno, Atlantic City, The London Palladium and The Sporting Club of Monte Carlo.
Carter is also involved in charitable causes including the Susan G. Komen Foundation (for breast cancer education and research) from which she received the Jill Ireland Award for Volunteerism. She is also involved in a number of charities benefiting children.
She has been honored by the Hispanic Women's Council as "Hispanic Woman of the Year," by the London based International Academy of Beauty as "Most Beautiful Woman of the Year," received Mexico's Ariel Award as "International Entertainer of the Year," received the "1985 Pinnacle Award for Volunteerism" and the "1995 Partner in the Arts Award," and was named the Birmingham-Southern College's "Gala 12 Honoree."
Additionally, Carter hosted the Lynda Carter/Maybelline U.S. Women's Hardcourt Championships tennis tournament, is currently the spokesperson for Lens Express and produced her own home video "Lynda Carter: Secrets to Perfect Make-up."
Carter resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband, lawyer Robert Altman, and their two children.

	Television audiences know Ten Polo best from her co-starring role as Michelle Capra, married to Cicely physician Phil Capra (Paul Provenza) in the quirky CBS series Northern Exposure. This followed four years of filming and television work that took her to locations around the world.
	Born in Dover, Delaware, she was attending the School of American Ballet in New York by age 13. Subsequently, she was signed with a modeling agency and worked in commercials. She was soon working in television in the ABC daytime drama, Loving.
Her first major television production was the 1989 adaptation of Phantom of the Opera, in which she starred as Christine. The film, which also starred Burt Lancaster, was filmed in Paris, "three months that changed my life," Polo says. In 1990, Polo starred in the television mini-series People Like Us with Connie Selleca, Dennis Farina and Ben Gazzara.
Her first feature film, Born To Ride, was filmed in Yugoslavia and starred John Stamos. It was quickly followed by the cult favorite, Mystery Date with Ethan Hawke, Passed Away with Bob Hoskins and Maureen Stapleton, Golden Gate with Matt Dillon and House Of The Spirits with Meryl Streep, Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons. Polo's most recent film was Shockwave, á science fiction thriller with Charlie Sheen. Polo currently resides in the state of Washington.

Canadian native Colin Ferguson's television credits include episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark, a CBS pilot Texas Graces, and a game show entitled On The Spot. He has also starred in the feature film Rowing Through and such theatre productions as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Rumors, Julius Caesar, Oliver and The Importance of Being Ernest. As one of the founders of the Second City Ensemble in Detroit, he played integral roles in such productions as Kervorkian Unplugged. Ferguson currently resides in Toronto.

Prior to his role in A Prayer in the Dark, Phillip Jarrett was a veteran of numerous movies of the week including Escape Clause, Sins of Silence, Spider & The Fly and Convict Cowboy. Other television credits are Due South, FX, Top Cops, Matrix and My Secret Identity. Feature film roles include Short Circuit II, Car 54 - Where Are You?, FX2 and Virus. Jarrett received Dora and Chalmers Award nominations for his theatrical performance in Forever Free. Born on the island of Jamaica, Jarrett moved to Canada at age 8.

	Canadian-born Silvio Oliviero has recently been seen in two of HBO's major made-forcable films, Gotti and Rebound. Other small screen credits include Due South, Robocop: The Series, Tek War, Secret Service, Maniac Mansion, Counterstrike, Top Cops, The Hitchhiker and Night Heat. Oliviero has also been seen in such feature films as Johnny Mnemonic, Life With Mikey, Married To It and in lead roles in A Whisper To Scream, Graveyard Shift and Graveyard Shift II. Oliverio currently resides in Toronto.

Toronto resident Karl Pruner can currently be seen in the Disney Channel series Ready or Not and has appeared in episodes of Due South, Tek War, Kung Fu - The Legend Continues, Forever Knight and Top Cops. Theatre credits include Pride & Prejudice, Julius Caeser, Henry V and Hamlet.

	No stranger to television movies, Lindsey Connell recently starred in A Town Torn Apart for NBC, The Clinic for Showtime and Beyond Reality for USA Network. Other television credits include many projects for the CBC and a featured role in the cult series Forever Knight. Connell has appeared on stage in The Haunting of Elijah Bones, Especially Babe and The Crucible. Connell, who studied at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, the British American Drama Academy and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, currently resides in Toronto.

Matthew Bennett has had guest-starring roles in numerous television series including FX, Due South, Kung Fu - The Legend Continues, The X-Files and The Commish, as well as appearances in several movies, among them Mothers Day and Tears & Laughter - The Joan & Melissa Rivers Story. His feature film credits include Far From Home - The Adventures of Yellow Dog and The Man Who Wouldn't Die. Theatrical performances include roles in Lone Star and Spectre. Bennett currently resides in Toronto.

	Eugene Robert Glazer currently stars as Operations in La Femme Nikita, the new original action drama on USA Network. A native New Yorker, Glazer was born and raised in Brooklyn with his older brother. Glazer worked many odd jobs, including driving a taxi, waiting tables and construction work before moving to Los Angeles in the early `70s. He started with roles in theater and has appeared in productions of Dylan (as Dylan Thomas), The Crucible, Lunchtime and, most recently, Staccato, directed by Ron Link. His first television role was an episode of Quincy and his first co-starring role was in an episode of Charlie's Angels. Other television credits include recurring roles in the Lifetime
series E.N.G., on General Hospital, and in movies of the week Golden Will: The Silken Laumann Story, Women of Windsor and The Substitute with Amanda Donahoe. Glazer recently completed production on the film Skeletons with Ron Silver. A veteran of Eddie Murphy's directorial debut, Harlem Nights, Glazer also was featured in Stepping Out with Liza Minnelli and Shelley Winters, Hollywood Shuffle with Keenan Ivory Wayans and Damon Wayans and The Five Heartbeats. He and his wife, actress Brioni Farrell, live in California and Toronto.

Andrew Laskos has written and served as executive producer on the television movies Jack Reed-Badge of Honor, Deadly Matrimony and House of Secrets, all for NBC, and False Arrest for ABC. He has also written the television movies Nurses on the Line and Daughter of Darkness for CBS, Deadly Medicine for NBC and Passion and Paradise for ABC. Other writing credits include episodes of Beauty and the Beast, for which he also received an Emmy nomination as producer; Hotel, which garnered him a People's Choice and Media Award; Remington Steele and St. Elsewhere.

Julian Marks established Power Pictures Corporation in 1984 and has produced many movies of the week, including the highest rated movie of the year for USA in 1991, Drop Dead Gorgeous. Other television movies he and Power Pictures were behind -for USA include Hush Little Baby, Silent Witness, A Vow to Kill; Tails You Live, Heads You're Dead and Where's The Money, Noreen. For CBS, he produced In The Eyes of a Stranger, Bonds of Love, Ultimate Betrayal, Thicker Than Blood, My Breast, Double Jeopardy and Penp'als; for Lifetime, Up To Now, Night Owl, Then There Was One, Choices of the , , Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story, Dancing in the Dark, The Silence of Adultery, Deadly Love, Closer and Closer, The Haunting of Lisa and Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story; for NBC, Fight For Justice: The Nancy Conn Story, Danielle Steel's Remembrance and Cradle to Grave; for ABC, Picture Perfect and No One Could Protect Her; and for FOX, Ghost Mom. Marks served as supervising producer for David's Mother, winner of two Emmy Awards, Fatal Vows and Triplecross and the NBC miniseries Family Pictures. Power Pictures also produced the television movies The Abduction, Colour Me Perfect and Her Desperate Choice for Lifetime and Trilogy of Terror II for USA. Currently Marks and Power Pictures are in production on Scrooge starring Cicely Tyson and Melanie Darrow starring Delta Burke, both for USA.

Born and raised in Toronto, Jerry Ciccoritti spent one year at York University before calculating that the money he would spend to get his degree was enough for him to make his own film -- so he left and made Vigil, an erotic version of the Adam and Eve myth. His work as co-founder of the controversial Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Company earned him the reputation of being an actor's director. Stylish films such as Psycho Girls, Graveyard Shift and The Understudy: Graveyard Shift II showcased his command of visual technique. Ciccoritti has directed many episodes of such series as The Hitchhiker and The Hidden Room, and won Gemini Awards for his direction of episodes of Catwalk
and Due South. Recently, he directed the movie of the week Net Worth and the feature film Paris, France. He directed and was creative consultant on the mini-series Straight Up, one of the most acclaimed productions in recent Canadian television.

			RUNNING TIME:	1:31:00 [91 minutes].
			VHS:	Available on VHS in several countries: USA [6304595344], UK [VHB4469], Australia [VPA 106204], Italy [PVT 50488], Norway [739165 8062049], Germany [739165 8062049], Sweden, Argentina, The Netherlands. [Check out the "VHS/LD/VCD/DVD" section for further details ].
			DVD:	Not available on DVD.
			INFO:	The film is based on the book "Stronghold" by Stanley Ellin.
			VIDEO:	[1]  "WLV-70017.WMV". Promo spot.
			TRIVIA:	[•] This is the fourth time Lynda Carter plays a mother of a film.

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