ENTITIES AT WORK ON ‘OUT ON A LIMB’

There have been some intriguing screen credits over the years but none, I dare say, to equal two that will appear on producer Stan Margulies’ five-hour ABC miniseries of Shirley MacLaine’s book “Out on a Limb.”

For among the cast credits of the show, scheduled to air in November, you will read: “Trance-channelers Kevin Ryerson and Sture Johanssen played by themselves.”

Trance-channelers?

“People through whom ‘entities’ from the spirit world choose to speak,” Margulies explained the other day. “These two men were both featured in Shirley’s book, so we have used them in the series.”

Now whether you dismissed MacLaine’s book about her spiritual revelations as naive nonsense or were riveted by it, clearly it should make for watchable television. Trance-channelers, after all, are not that thick upon the ground.

Margulies, the Emmy-winning producer (for “Roots”), goes further. “It will,” he boasts, “make extraordinary television. A first.”

When Margulies was approached to do the series that, among other things, describes MacLaine’s out-of-body experience in Peru, he said, cannily: “I don’t know enough about the subject to say I believe but I’m not stupid enough to say it isn’t possible.”

Then, having hedged his bets, he plunged into the project with great enthusiasm.

“One of the things I like best about Shirley,” he said, “is that she doesn’t ask that you take a blood oath that you believe everything she’s written. She just asks that you think about it.”

Before he’d had a chance to do much thinking, MacLaine invited him to her ocean-front house at Malibu to attend a session with trance-channeler Ryerson. Intrigued, Margulies went along with Bob Butler, who had been signed to direct the series (which is co-written by MacLaine and Colin Higgins).

“I’d never attend such a session before, so naturally I was interested,” Margulies said. “Three ‘entities’ came through the night Kevin channeled. Shirley asked them questions; so did her daughter Sachi. Realizing it was my chance to test the water, I said: ‘There are three people here (MacLaine, Margulies, Butler) who will spend a lot of time together during the next six months. I’m curious to know if we ever worked together in a past life?’

“Within 15 seconds, the ‘entity’ said yes. We had been together, he said, in ancient Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Ikhnaton (husband of Nefertiti). That stopped me cold. For I had just spent two years working on a projected miniseries about the Pharaoh Ikhnaton with Carmen Culver (who scripted the miniseries ‘The Thorn Birds,’ which Margulies produced). Now how did this man know that?”

Later, Margulies arranged a camera test for Ryerson. During the test, he asked MacLaine to assist Ryerson from a chair while he was channeling. “She was forced to return to her chair,” he said. “Later she told me the energy expended by the ‘entity’ was so powerful it completely drained her.”

He also attended a trance channeling session in Sweden with Sture Johanssen, again in the company of MacLaine. This time when the “entity” came through, the batteries of the sound man’s recorder went out. Again, it was explained to him that this was because of the energy emanating from the “entity.”

None of this will be news to anyone who has experience of psychic phenomena. And skeptics, of course, will claim that Margulies was naive to be surprised that the name Ikhnaton came up. Since the pharaoh was part of Margulies’ recent experience, this could easily be “read” by any competent psychic.

“But,” Margulies said, “those three examples were sufficiently dramatic to make me think. I am not yet a convert, understand, but I confess I am doing more reading about the subject than before.”

Margulies and his team leave for Peru on Wednesday to re-create for the cameras MacLaine’s reported out-of-body experience. They will be away about three weeks and be centered at Cuzco, a town that, at 11,000 feet, ranks as the third-highest in the world.

MacLaine, of course, will be with them. So will actor John Heard, playing the role of David, who originally accompanied MacLaine on her spiritual odyssey. Heard is the man who caused a small stir last month when he suddenly left the set and flew off to New York, citing “personal reasons.” All Margulies will say about this curious incident is: “His leaving had nothing to do with his work on the series. He was back within a few days and I was glad to have him.”

Arrangements for filming in Peru--the authorities there have closed off Machu Picchu for a day to allow the unit to work--were finalized last September when Margulies and Butler flew to Lima to scout locations.

“Something curious happened on that trip,” Margulies said. “We had been told by Shirley that, on the long drive from Lima to a place called Huancayo, there were two signs--one reading: ‘Highest railway point in the world,’ the other, ‘Flying saucers do exist. UFO contact point.’

“We wanted to see those signs for ourselves, so our party, made up of four Americans and two Peruvians, set out on the 11-hour drive.”

“I remember we passed a sign which read ‘Elevation: 14,000 feet.’ The next thing I remember I was telling one of the Peruvians: ‘It’s dark. We won’t be able to see those signs.’ He looked startled. We had already stopped at those signs, he said, examined them carefully and then driven on. Yet I had no memory of it; nor did the other three Americans. No doubt my doctor would say it was due to oxygen deprivation at high altitude. But why did it affect all four of us? I found that extraordinary.”

Had he told MacLaine about this?

“Of course.”

What did she say?

“She laughed. She said, ‘The entities are at work.’ ”

Now, Margulies said, he is looking forward to making film history by having the first Hollywood “wrap” party in the Andes, though he guesses there will not be much alcohol consumed. At 11,000 feet, even one drink can send you flying.

An astute and highly professional film maker, Stan Margulies is clearly intrigued by all that has happened since shooting began. How seriously he is taking it all is hard to fathom. And having related the events that took place, he did allow himself one chuckle.

“When we were sitting in on the trance-channeling, I think we used extraordinary restraint in dealing with those ‘entities,’ ” he said. “None of us asked what our ratings share would be next November.”