Out on a Limb

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Shirley MacLaine stars as herself in this TV movie, a powerfully candid recreation of the passionate love affair and spiritual adventure that took the actress to some of the world's most exotic locales--and to the innermost reaches of her very being. Shirley, feeling something lacking in her life, finds herself increasingly drawn toward the idea that there is more to living and the world around her than what we generally acknowledge. Delving deeper into the study of metaphysics and religion via books, various kindred spirits and firsthand observations, Shirley, although an inveterate skeptic, becomes more and more absorbed in the infinite possibilities open to humankind. After visiting many of the world's most exotic cities on her journey, Shirley finds herself in Peru with a fellow seeker named David Manning. Manning shares some of his knowledge with Shirley which aids in her search for cosmic enlightenment which once again turns inward, leading her to a previously unimaginable out-of-body experience. It's not long before her extraordinary spiritual explorations foster a growing belief in reincarnation, the possible existence of extraterrestrials and most importantly, the immorality of the human soul.

[edit] Side Notes

The composite character of David Manning in the movie and book is partially based on Shirley MacLaine's meeting's in Switzerland with UFO Contactee Billy Meier.

Charles Silva has claimed that he is the main inspration for the David character. Silva told his story in a book called "Date with the Gods" in 1977. When he showed it to actress Shirley MacLaine, she asked him to take her to Peru. Their adventures together lasted the next five years, after which MacLaine wrote her famous best-seller, "Out on a Limb." In that book, and in her 1987 ABC TV mini-series of the same title, she says a character named "David" took her to Peru, taught her about reincarnation and astral projection, and told her about his friend from the Pleiades. Silva says MacLaine broke her promise to tell what she really learned from him about coming events on earth, including geological changes, political upheavals, and alien landings. He says she was pressured to leave all that out of her book by powerful friends, including Bella Abzug and David Rockefeller.

So Silva decided to go on a lecture tour and tell his own story. In his promotional material, he called himself "The Real David from 'Out on a Limb'." Not surprisingly, his lectures and seminars drew large crowds.

It wasn't long, however, before Silva got a letter from Bantam Books, the publisher of "Out on a Limb," warning him that he was illegally using copyrighted material in his lectures. He shot back an angry reply, asking if anyone at Bantam was aware that he had published all this material himself in 1977. Going on the offensive, Silva hired a lawyer and filed suit against Bantam, MacLaine and ABC Pictures.

Silva claims that Shirley MacLaine signed an affidavit which says that he is David.

Silva considers that affidavit a victory. But his legal struggle with MacLaine, he thinks, may have caught the attention of other powerful people who didn't want his story to be validated in so public a fashion.

He started lecturing again. And then, in 1991, he found himself under suspicion of child molestation. "I couldn't believe it," he says. "Somebody charged me with first degree molestation of a six year old child." Silva says he thinks the molestation charge against himself, and the similar charge against well-known UFO researcher Wendelle Stevens, were both set-ups. "If you rob a bank, some people might consider you a hero," Silva says. "But if you molest a child, everybody sees you as the scum of the earth. It is the lowest of the low. It totally discredits you."

In Silva's case, it got him deported.

[edit] See also

• Billy Meier