Harvest of Fire
Harvest of Fire
PG | 21 April 1996 (USA)
Harvest of Fire Trailers

In a small Amish community, three barns are burnt down almost simultaneously. FBI agent Sally Russwell is sent in to investigate this possible hate crime. What she finds however is a community that little trust for outsiders or "The English" as they call them. However, in her investigations, Agent Russell makes friends with one entrepreneurial widow, Annie Beiler who has her own curiosity about this stranger. Together, Annie introduces Russell in-depth to this close knit community bearing many appealing attributes. However, as Sally's investigations continue, she discovers secrets that reveal uncomfortable truths about the religious community that are linked to the arson attacks.

Reviews
Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.
ksf-2 "Harvest" opens with the gathering of an Amish group at what seems to be a wedding. After a few scenes, we flash back to the wedding party, and they spot a local barn burning. The village rushes about to save the barn and animals, but then we see more and more barns burning. FBI agent Sally Russell (Lolita Davidovich) gets assigned to the scene, and stops to speak with the local sheriff ( J.A. Preston) to get information and get started. Of course, she meets up with the Amish and makes a couple blunders, but they seem to smile and brush it off. Then she's off to the local bar to poke around and stir things up there too. Stuff happens... more stuff happens. Sally spends more time with the Amish, and befriends Annie, and they educate each other on the ways of their different worlds. Slow, mild, simmering story. Not a whole lot of excitement here. We learn a bit about the beliefs of the Amish people, but there are definitely mistakes made here and there in authenticity. There are a couple possible suspects in the fires, but no-one slips up and gives themselves away ahead of time....we'll all have to wait for the ending. And all those commercials, since it's on the Hallmark Channel.Directed by Arthur Seidelman, who was nominated for two Emmies back in the 1980s. He also directed a bunch of "Murder, She Wrote" episodes.
Dick Silbar I considered the first two-thirds of the film fairly interesting, as I didn't know much about Amish customs. However, the resolution of who did the barn burnings (which I won't reveal here) struck me as very false, contrived, and unbelievable.
Billy This is a film that is beatifully done in every sense. Its direction, its acting (Patty Duke is marvelous), its music, its writing, just everything. It's as gorgeous as looking at one of the amish's quilts. From Hallmark Hall of Fame, this was the year's second highest-rated tv movie.
David Goudsward Let me put this delicately - this ain't exactly an ensemble piece. If you take away the meaningful dialogue between Lolita Davidovich and Patty Duke, you end up with about 15 minute of film left, including footage of 4 barns burning down.And, perhaps it's due to my proximity to the Pennsylvania Amish area, but I really thought it was a tad condescending to the audience to have the Sheriff explain and pontificate on the Amish customs every time he and the FBI agent head out to investigate.