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The Alibi (2005)
Main character (played by Steve Coogan) crosses paths with a high-minded assassin (played by Sam Elliott) who calls himself "The Mormon." Enci plays a "Mormon wife" in this movie. Also starring Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Selma Blair, James Brolin, John Leguizamo, James Marsden, Jerry O'Connell. Screenplay by Noah Hawley.
Slipstream (2005)
Directed by David Van Eyssen. Written by Phillip Badger. "Winston Briggs" (actor Vinnie Jones) and "Bonnie" (actress Tamsin MacCarthy) are two bank robbers who cross paths with time machine inventor (Sean Astin, best known as "Sam Gamgee" from The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and FBI agent Sarah Tanner (Ivana Milicevic) in this direct-to-video/DVD science fiction feature. In two separate scenes, Winston and Bonnie discuss their admiration for the last scene in the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They mention Butch Cassidy three times by name, although no mention is made of the fact that Butch was a lapsed Latter-day Saint. Interestingly enough, "Sarah Tanner" (the film's female lead character, second-billed after Astin), shares her name with real-life Sarah Tanner, the wife of President N. Eldon Tanner, an Apostle who served in the First Presidency of the Church from 1963 until 1982. This is almost certainly a coincidence.
Last Days (2005)
$454,711 U.S. box office. Written and directed by Gus Van Sant. Adam Friberg and his brother Andy Friberg have a small supporting role as oddly matching Latter-day Saint missionaries (named Elder Friberg #1 and Elder Friberg #2 in the cast list), who visit the protagonist, played by Michael Pitt. In this rock and roll story set in Seattle, Pitt plays a musician whose life and career is reminiscent of Kurt Cobain's. (Whether or not this means that the real Kurt Cobain met with Latter-day Saint missionaries, I don't know.) This movie was nominated for a Golden Palmes at the Cannes Film Festival.
Hustle & Flow (2005)
$22,125,461 U.S. box office. Written and directed by Craig Brewer. Terrence Howard stars as "DJay", hip black would-be rap star. DJ Qualls (who is white) co-stars as a somewhat nerdy musician whom DJay mistakenly thinks is a Latter-day Saint missionary when he first meets him.
Jiminy Glick in La La Wood (2005)
$36,039 U.S. box office. Directed by Vadim Jean. Written by Martin Short, who stars in the title role as an obese and obnoxious film critic. Jiminy Glick has twin sons named "Matthew Modine," named after prolific Mormon movie star Matthew Modine. These names humorously illustrate Glick's quirky obsession with movies and celebrities. "Matthew Glick" is played by Landon Hansen. "Modine Glick" is played by Jake Hoffman.
Inside Deep Throat (2005)
$683,852 U.S. box office. The primary figure in this documentary is Harry Reems, now reformed from the days when he starred in the taboo-shattering "adult" film "Deep Throat." Reems lives in Park City, Utah where he sells real estate and has become a Christian. Although about 90% of Christians in Utah are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Reems himself is not LDS. He identifies himself as a born-again Christian/Evangelical.
The Jacket (2005)
$6,303,762 U.S. box office. Directed by John Maybury. Screenplay by Massy Tadjedin. Story by Tom Bleecker and Marc Rocco. Starring Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley. The premise of this movie is largely the same as Jack London's 1915 novel, which was published as The Jacket in England and The Star Rover in the United States. Chapters 12 and 13 of the book (comprising 15% of the book's total length) focus entirely on Latter-day Saints. Despite the prevalence of LDS characters and themes in the book that inspired it, this movie has no overt LDS references.
Millions (2004)
$6,583,149 U.S. box office. Directed by Danny Boyle. Screenplay by Frank Cottrell Boyce. British family film about two British young boys who find millions of pounds (lost by bank robbers) and decide to spend it altruistically before the impending switch to the Euro. The film is replete with overt religious themes and imagery, including appearances by Catholic Saints. The boys live next to three Latter-day Saint missionaries, to whom they give some of the money.
The Aviator (2004)
$102,610,330 U.S. box office. Leonardo DiCaprio stars in this epic biopic about billionaire industrialist Howard Hughes, a man who identified more closely with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints than with any other religious denomination, although he was never a member of the Church. Hughes married devout Latter-day Saint actress Terry Moore during the time period shown in this film. Later in life he surrounded himself with an all-Latter-day Saint cadre of bodyguards, as well as a number of LDS advisors. Hughes' famous "Mormon will" was the subject of the Jonathan Demme movie "Melvin and Howard," but the will was eventually ruled unusable by a Nevada court. "The Aviator," directed by Martin Scorsese, focuses on Hughes' role as an aviator and his pivotal role in developing the American aviation industry. The film omits references to the various important Latter-day Saint connections in his life, but countless reviewers and articles written at the time the film was released mentioned these connections.
Finding Neverland (2004)
$51,680,613 U.S. box office. Johnny Depp stars as J.M. Barrie, the turn-of-the-century English writer who was inspired by real-life Mormon actress Maude Adams to create the character of Peter Pan, and cast her in the lead role for the play's first U.S. production. The movie fictitiously invents alternative events leading to the creation of Peter Pan, and neglects to show Adams' pivotal role.
Flight of the Phoenix (2004)
$21,009,180 U.S. box office. Song playing during the film's opening credits is Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere," which mentions majority Latter-day Saint cities Rexburg and Cedar City. Details
Last Shot (2004)
$463,730 U.S. box office. Alec Baldwin plays an FBI agent who recruits a budding filmmaker (Matthew Broderick) to pretend to make a film as part of a sting operation to catch Mafia members. Alec Baldwin suggests an idea for a movie about two FBI agents - one good and one bad - with the twist being that both are Latter-day Saints.
Without a Paddle (2004)
$58,156,431 U.S. box office. The whole plot of this film revolves around three twenty-something buddies searching for the unrecovered treasure of Latter-day Saint folk hero D.B. Cooper.
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
$44,530,254 U.S. box office. Although the cast and crew were predominantly Latter-day Saints, including the director, writers, producers and title character/star, this is not a movie about overtly Latter-day Saint characters. Yet the setting is Preston, Idaho, an area where the majority of people are Latter-day Saints. One can presume that many of the characters in the movie are LDS, although nothing overtly identifies them as such. Minor LDS references include the LDS-style "pseudo-swearing," various pictures seen on the walls of homes, and the "Rick's College" T-shirt worn by Napoleon in one scene. ("Rick's College" is the former name of BYU-Idaho, a university owned by the Church, at which over 98% of the students are Latter-day Saints.)
Catwoman (2004)
$40,198,710 U.S. box office. This setting of this big-budget comic book movie was Salt Lake City, Utah, according to countless reports in the entertainment press prior to the movie's release. Apparently pre-release information provided by the production studio specified Salt Lake City as the setting, although overt references to Salt Lake City have apparently been removed from the film. It is not entirely clear why Salt Lake City (the world headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) was specified as the setting for the story, as none of the characters are overtly Latter-day Saints and nothing in the film seems Utah- or LDS-related. The original "Catwoman" character from the "Batman" comic books was a resident of the fictional city of Gotham. One possible explanation is that the character of the movie's villain ("Laurel Hedare", played by Sharon Stone) was based on real-life anti-aging advocate/entrepreneur Heather Bird, a Latter-day Saint woman from Salt Lake City. Details
Around the World in 80 Days (2004)
$24,008,137 U.S. box office. Although the original Jules Verne has an entire chapter devoted to Latter-day Saint, this film starring Jackie Chan only shows Utah briefly. Details
Bush's Brain (2004)
$11,927 U.S. box office. Documentary about Karl Rove, widely regarded President George W. Bush's closest and most important political advisor. Rove grew up primarily in Utah. Documentary mentions his time at Olympus High School. One photo shows him wearing a "Y" baseball cap apparently from BYU. Documentary states that Rove attends an Episcopalian church in Washington, D.C. The LDS Church is never mentioned by name, although it is widely believed that Rove has a Latter-day Saint family background or ancestry.
A Boyfriend for Christmas (2004)
TV movie. Directed by Kevin Connor. Written by Roger Schroeder. Broadcast several times during Christmas season on Hallmark Channel. No overtly Latter-day Saint characters, but the story is set in Salt Lake City. The skyline is shown a number of times, and the Salt Lake Temple can be seen. Story begins with a girl who asks Santa for a boyfriend for Christmas. On Christmas morning she receives a note promising delivery within 10 years. Ten years later, it's almost Christmas. The girl-turned-woman doesn't believe in Santa, as she still hasn't a boyfriend. But Santa comes through in the end to grant her wish.
Dancing with Gaia (2004)
Direct-to-video feature-length film written by Matt Stratton and Dallas Trinkle, directed by Stratton. Comedic mockumentary about Zoe, a modern dance instructor and hippie who seeks to bring the spirit of the earth-goddess Gaia to people through a big swing dancing performance. Assembles an eclectic group of people to help her, including a number of Latter-day Saints.
Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)
$138,614,544 U.S. box office. A joke about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Also, Steve Martin paraphrases famous saying by Pres. David O. McKay. Details
Fat Pizza (2003)
AUD 3,457,127 Australian box office gross. Pip Mushin and Phillip Scott have bit parts as injured Latter-day Saint missionaries in this politically incorrect Australian comedy from writer/director Paul Fenech. Movie pokes fun at every minority imaginable, including ethnic, racial and religious minorities, plus GLBTs, the handicapped, and more.
Phantasm's End (2003)
The year is 2012. There are only three U.S. states left. Between New York and California is the wasteland known as the Plague Zone. Since many people are dead, the Tall Man is able to make thousands of dwarf slaves for his planet daily in the Mormon Mausoleum.
Poolhall Junkies (2003)
$562,059 U.S. box office. Filmed and set in Salt Lake City, Utah. A key scene in which the protagonist meets his benefactor (Christopher Walken) is framed with the Salt Lake Temple in the background. Details
Don: Plain & Tall (2003)
Charlie Jett plays a Latter-day Saint character in this low budget feature-length comedy about a computer whiz. Writer/director Scott Peters has written and/or directed for many science fiction TV series, including: The 4400; Animorphs; Ghost Stories; Goosebumps; The Outer Limits; Tracker; Highlander.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
$164,606,800 U.S. box office. Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the biography of real-life impersonator Frank W. Abagnale Jr. (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). In his autobiography (on which the film is based) and in a documentary featurette that accompanies the DVD release of the film Abagnale claimed that he was a sociology professor at Brigham Young University (BYU), where over 90% of faculty members are Latter-day Saints. Details
Chicago (2002)
$170,684,505 U.S. box office. During a musical number an inmate's song reveals why she is incarcerated: she murdered her Mormon boyfriend (played by Scott Wise). Details
Two Weeks Notice (2002)
$93,354,918 U.S. box office. Sandra Bullock makes a joke about Utah and the 19th century Latter-day Saint practice of polygamy. Details
Roughing It (2002)
TV movie adaptation of Mark Twain's classic book. Also titled "Mark Twain's Roughing It." Directed by Charles Martin Smith. Teleplay written by Steven H. Berman. James Garner stars as Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. "Mark Twain." Twain's experiences with and observations about Latter-day Saints comprise 6 out of 79 total chapters in Roughing It (chapters 12 through 16, and 25), plus two of the three appendices.
Little Secrets (2002)
$405,182 U.S. box office. The main character, Emily, has a crush on a "middle-aged composer" -- none other than Kurt Bestor, the celebrated Latter-day Saint composer and songwriter. Emily has a poster of Bestor on her wall, and there is one in the studio where she takes lessons. In one scene she watches a concert on television in which Bestor is conducting a symphony playing his composition "Innovations."
Stray Dogs (2002)
Direct-to-video/DVD release. Directed by Catherine Crouch. Adaptation of the same-titled play by Mormon playwright Julie Jensen. The play is set among Latter-day Saints in rural Southern Utah, where Jensen grew up. But the director set the film version among Protestants in the Deep South, where she grew up. Thus, the actual film does not have LDS/Utah references. Plot outline: A mother must choose between love and devotion to her sons and unborn child or staying with her sexy, maniacal husband and his patriarchal sister, who respectively fulfill her physical and emotional needs. Starring Guinevere Turner, Bill Sage, Dot Jones and Zach Gray.
Vanilla Sky (2001)
$100,614,858 U.S. box office. Directed by Cameron Crowe. Adapted from the Spanish film by Alejandro Amenabar and Mateo Gil. Starring Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Kurt Russell. In the famous opening scene, in which Tom Cruise finds himself completely alone in a deserted Times Square (New York City), a few shots prominently show the sign of a Marriott Hotel behind Tom Cruise. (The hotel is part of the worldwide hotel chain founded and owned by devout Latter-day Saints). The Marriott Hotel sign can first be seen at 3 minutes, 16 seconds after the start of the film. Three different Marriott Hotel signs can be seen in succession behind Tom Cruise, during a 17-second segment (ending 3 minutes, 33 seconds after the start of the film) of Times Square scene. In a scene in which Tom Cruise is being wheeled to surgery on a hospital gurney, he sings part of the song "One of Us," including the song's most famous line, "What if God was one of us?" The song can soon thereafter be heard as part of the soundtrack. This song was written by Eric Bazilian and the recording heard on the soundtrack was performed by Joan Osborn, neither of whom are Latter-day Saints as far as we know.
Training Day (2001)
$76,261,036 U.S. box office. Denzel Washington (who won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role) calls his police partner (Ethan Hunt) a Mormon for refusing to use illegal drugs. Details
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001)
$30,059,386 U.S. box office. Part of the movie takes place in Utah, where police attempt to apprehend Jay and Silent Bob, who are fugitives with a stolen orangutan. Attempting to escape, Jay dresses the orangutan in human clothes and tells the police (including Judd Nelson as a Utah sheriff): "We're gay, and this is our adopted love child. We're not from around here. Don't make us go back to our liberal city home with tales of prejudice and bigotry from in the heart of Utah." Details
America's Sweethearts (2001)
$93,607,673 U.S. box office. One of the reporters who interviews Catherine Zeta Jones' character on her "junket" is a Latter-day Saint from Utah. Details
Dead Room (2001)
British anthology horror/thriller film featuring at least 5 interrelated segments, each about a different occupant of Room No. 2 in a London flat. Welch filmmaker Julian Boote, one of the film's writer/director/producers, plays a "Mad Mormon."
Peroxide Passion (2001)
Feaure length independent film with production budget of $850,000. Romantic comedy. Directed by Monty Diamond. Written by David Atkins. Starring James Tupper, Lorri Bagley, Frank Martin, Jon Avner, Billy Campion, and Aasif Mandvi. Filmed partially in Utah. Made by Terence Michael Productions, based in New York City. Shot in 35mm. 84 min. Has been shown at many film festivals, including Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival, Woodstock Film Festival, Planet Indie Film Festival in Toronto, The Hollywood Film Festival, San Francisco Film Junkie Festival, Worldfest Houston International Film Festival, Brooklyn International Film Festival, Greenwich Connecticut Film Festival. The film did not have a general theatrical release and is not available on video or DVD. Jed (James Tupper) is a poor guy from Jersey City who is so distraught after his wealthy fiance Ashley (Karen Travis) dumps him at the altar that he decides to kill himself. Jed's suicide attempt is interrupted by a beautful woman named Mimi (model-turned-actress Lorri Bagley). Mimi's obsession is to get her songs to her favorite crooner, Johnny Pompano, Jr. (Jerry Grayson), who's about to make his big come-back in Salt Lake City with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Jed immediately hates Mimi, who is nothing like Ashley, the woman he is still obsessed with, and wants nothing to do with her. But then he receives a postcard from Ashley, saying she has run off to Salt Lake with the a Latter-day Saint guy named Steve (Frank Martin). Despite their mutual animosity, Jed and Mimi set off on a road trip to Salt Lake City in pursuit of their obsessions, while trying not to fall in love with each other on the way.
Traffic (2000)
$124,107,476 U.S. box office. Latter-day Saint Senators Orrin Hatch (Rep., Utah) and Harry Reid (Dem., Nevada) appear in the Washington, D.C. reception scene. Details
Shanghai Noon (2000)
$56,932,305 U.S. box office. Starring Jackie Chan. A Mormon pioneer family gives the three Chinese Imperial Guardsmen a ride into town on their wagon. Details
My 5 Wives (2000)
Starring Rodney Dangerfield as Monte Peterson, a rich real-estate developer, who takes possession of land in Utah, the deed to which includes the three wives of the deceased owner, who belong to a local polygamous religious group, a sort of cross between 19th Century Mormon and Amish ways.
The Song of the Lark (2000)
TV movie. Directed by Karen Arthur. Teleplay by Joseph Maurer. Adaptation of same-titled novel by Willa Cather. Latter-day Saints and/or Utah are mentioned in chapters 4, 7 and 10.
Net Worth (2000)
Filmed in and set in Park City, Utah, the story depicts a thirty day contest to achieve the highest "net worth" in a new, unfamiliar city. The characters interact with local Latter-day Saint family.
The Wild, Wild West (1999)
$113,805,681 U.S. box office. Last part of the movie takes place at the historic "Golden Spike" event in Utah, in which railroads from the East and West coasts were first connected. Many of the workers who completed the railroad, as well as other people in the crowd, are Latter-day Saints.
The Limey (1999)
$3,193,102 U.S. box office. In the screenplay, the female lead character tells male lead she was previously a star of a TV series that ran for 3 seasons, on which she played a Latter-day Saint pioneer woman. This line was changed, however. The filmed version of this scene has her saying she was on a soap opera. Also, the DVD release of this movie includes a humorous biography of the producer, which says he invested his life savings in a "Mormon turtle farm." Details
Stranger Than Fiction (1999)
Murder mystery set in Salt Lake City.
Man on The Moon (1999)
$34,580,635 U.S. box office. Recreates a real event from comedian Andy Kaufman's life in which he included in his act at Carnegie Hall a large choir which he claimed was the actual Mormon Tabernacle Choir. But they were simply similarly-dressed impersonators, who were actually from a local New York City choir.
Absence of the Good (1999)
TV movie. Directed by John Flynn. Starring Stephen Baldwin, Tyne Daly, Rob Knepper, Shawn Huff, Allen Garfield, Silas Weir Mitchell, Frank Gerrish. Salt Lake City detective Caleb Barnes (Stephen Baldwin) is still dealing with grief brought on by the death of his young son when he is assigned to track down a psychotic killer who is terrorizing the city.
Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill (1999; V)
Direct-to-video comedy/documentary in which British transvestite Eddie Izzard takes his show to San Francisco to give a brief history of pagan and Christian religions. A joke about King Henry VIII telling the Pope about his plan to murder his wives includes a polygamy-oriented reference to Mormons.
The Craic (1999)
Den McCoy and Paul Collins appear in bit parts as Latter-day Saint character missionaries in this comedy, which as named Australian Movie of the Year by the Australian Movie Convention. Plot revolves around two Irish actors who come to Australia to hide out from IRA.
Even Stephen (1999)
Movie includes Mormon drag queens. Directed by Mary-Pat Green. Starring Bruce Vilanch.
The X-Files: Fight the Future (1998)
$83,898,313 U.S. box office. After getting blamed for mistakes related to the bombing of a federal building in Dallas, FBI Special Agent Dana Scully is assigned to transfer to Salt Lake City, Utah. The writers probably specified this location because bees are a major motif in the film, and Utah's nickname is the "Beehive State." Details
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
$10,588,521 U.S. box office. The main character is author Hunter S. Thompson's alter ego "Raoul Duke," played by Johnny Depp. On his drug-addled "gonzo journalism" trip to Las Vegas, Depp's travel partner "Dr. Gonzo" (Benicio Del Toro) picks up a teenage "Jesus Freak" from Montana named "Lucy" (Christina Ricci), who has never even tasted alcohol before. Dr. Gonzo gets her drunk and high, and Depp's character discusses other ways of defiling her. Because of Lucy's high ethical values, moral purity and prior non-use of drugs and alchohol, a reviewer mis-identified Lucy as a Latter-day Saint. But nothing in the book or movie concretely indicates that Lucy is LDS. Hunter S. Thompson's audio commentary for the DVD does include a reference to Latter-day Saints. Details
Smoke Signals (1998)
$6,719,300 U.S. box office. Movie about contemporary Native Americans. The main characters meet a fellow Native American who is running away from the Latter-day Saint family that adopted him.
The Book of Life (1998)
Budget: $35 million. Movie is apparently a satirical religious film. Minor roles include "Mormon Thug #'s 1 and 2"
Black (1998)
Spanish-language gangster drama written and directed by Hector Barca features Alejandro Espiño and Luis Montes in bit parts as Latter-day Saint missionaries.
George of the Jungle (1997)
$105,263,257 U.S. box office gross. A pair of Latter-day Saint missionaries ride through the background on bicycles in one scene set in the central African interior. Details
Contact (1997)
$100,920,329 U.S. box office gross. A terrorist attempting to thwart human contact with aliens was based in Panguitch, Utah. Details
Lost Highway (1997)
$3,796,699 U.S. box office gross. The movie's lead character suspects his wife is having an affair with Andy, one of the film's major characters. Another character observes that Andy is from Utah and notes that in Utah convicts on death row can choose between two different forms of execution. Details
Starship Troopers (1997)
In a playful spoof a brief news bulletin reports that alien Arachnids (the enemies of humans) have annahilated the "Port Joe Smith" colony established on another planet by Latter-day Saints settlers. Details
A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
$4,287,595 U.S. box office. Directed by Danny Boyle. Quirky romantic comedy set in Salt Lake City and surrounding areas in Utah (filmed on location). Stars Ewan McGregor stars as a janitor who, without really planning to do so, kidnaps Cameron Diaz, the daughter of his boss. Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo play angels sent from Heaven to ensure that they fall in love. Details
Wag the Dog (1997)
$43,057,470 U.S. box office. Directed by Barry Levinson. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro and Anne Heche. The film's star, Dustin Hoffman, and particularly the director discuss the way that this film is a satirical criticism of television, and they discuss the tremendous influence that television (which was created by Latter-day Saint inventor Philo Farnsworth) has had on the modern world. The following is a transcript from the audio commentary from the DVD release, beginning at time code 28 minutes, 4 seconds after the start of the film until time code 31 minutes, 24 seconds:
Dustin Hoffman: When I read the, uh, David Mamet script I don't recall thinking this is a roman a clef on... on Clinton. It was-- It was never about Clinton. Uh, it was never the intention. It was always-- Barry-- Barry has a, uh, has a hard-on... All-- all artists, I guess, have certain agendas they wanna fulfill. And Barry's always had a desire to attack, uh, television. He's done it in earlier films of his. He's done it in Avalon. Uh, he comes from the same generation that I do. We are the first television, and we are now witnessing maybe the fourth television generation.Barry Levinson: In the second half of the Twentieth Century... um, selling has become everything. It-- We are inundated with, you know, commercials all the time. With all these things that we need. We are sold all day long, every day. Never in the history of mankind has there been such a-- such a barrage of, you know... you know, the selling of products. Ever. So if the average person watches, you know, five or six hours of television today, that means they're watching at least an hour and a half of commercials. That's an hour and a half of "This is what you need. You need this. You need this. You need this. You need this. You oughta get this. You should get that. You should get this." An hour and a half a day. So, I mean, God knows what that does to us. Or whatever kinds of anxieties it creates, because all day long it's, "Gee, I don't have that. I should get that. I don't have that." And now you need a little help. I need Fred Astaire to help me buy, you know, some kind of vacuum cleaner. I don't just need a vaccum cleaner, I need, you know, Fred Astaire to help me with a vacuum cleaner, and John Wayne's gonna pick out some kind of beer-- You know what I mean? And so it's there all the time. It's an extraordinary phenomenon and it's less than forty to fifty years old. So, when someone says about, you know, "Well, don't you think you're being overly, you know, critical of-- of television." Because I've done several movies that deal with the issue of television and the influence on society. It's impossible to. It is-- It is-- It has played probably the biggest role in the second half of the Twentieth Century. I don't think there's anything that has come along that has affected our lives as much as television. And what does it do? How does it-- What are-- What are we now that we weren't before? How-- How's it altered our understanding, how we relate to one another, uhm, in so many ways... I have no idea, but I know that its astoundingly influential, and I grew up, you know, uhm, or I shouldn't say that I grew up, I should say at the age of six I saw it come into my house, you know, this box with a test pattern, and it's evolved into what it has today. And I-- I've just been taken by, uhm, how powerful it truly is.
Sekten (1997)
Lars Brygmann has a small part as a Latter-day Saint in this award-winning thriller from director Susanne Bier. Made in Denmark. Languages: Danish and Swedish.
Broken Arrow (1996)
$70,645,997 U.S. box office. Much of the movie takes place in Utah and revolves around Christian Slater trying to prevent John Travolta's character from using a nuclear bomb to hold Salt Lake City for ransom.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)
$63,118,386 U.S. box office. The title characters travel through and briefly stop in Utah. Details
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
$33,328,051 U.S. box office. Geena Davis asks Samuel L. Jackson, "What are you, a Mormon?" Jackson answers, "Yes, I am a Mormon." Details
Space Jam (1996)
$90,463,534 U.S. box office. Latter-day Saint professional basketball players Shawn Bradley and Danny Ainge are in the movie; one line mentions Bradley's mission for the Church.
The Frighteners (1996)
$16,553,635 U.S. box office. Directed by Peter Jackson. The movie briefly shows an image of Juliet Hulme, the New Zealand teen who was the main character in Jackson's previous movie "Heavenly Creatures," and who had since joined the Church and become one of the world's best-selling Victorian mystery writers. Details
Unabomber: The True Story (1996)
TV movie. Directed by Jon Purdy. Written by John McGreevey. True story of infamous serial bomber Theodore J. Kaczynski, known as "Unabomber" (played by Tobin Bell). Theodore Kaczynski (also known as Ted Kaczynski) was not LDS, but many of his victims lived in Utah, including a number of Latter-day Saints. The movie was filmed in Utah. Latter-day Saint actors in the cast include: Scott Wilkinson, Michael Flynn, Tayva Patch, Donre Sampson, Marcia Dangerfield, Kevin Rahm, and Christy Summerhays.
The Siege at Ruby Ridge (1996)
TV movie (CBS). Directed by Roger Young. Written by Lionel Chetwynd (who also wrote the screenplay for the 1976 movie "Goldenrod," based on the novel by Latter-day Saint author Herbert Harker). IMDb.com: "Dramatization of the controversial 1992 attack by federal agents on the Idaho home of Randy Weaver, a white seperatist. The ten-day siege, begun over a minor gun charge, resulted in the deaths of Weaver's son, wife and dog, and a U.S. Marshall. The incident caused major public outcry against the FBI and U.S. Marshals." Laura Dern, Randy Quaid, Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce star as the Weavers. Bob Gunton has a supporting role as Colonel Bo Gritz, the Latter-day Saint third-party Presidential candidate and former Green Beret commander who was sent to negotiate with the Weavers on 28 August 1992. On August 30 Gritz returned to the cabin with a body bag to fetch the corpse of Vicki Weaver. On August 30 Gritz finally convinced Randy Weaver to surrender, thus averting a full-out assault scheduled for later that day.
Precious Find (1996)
Jenny DuBasso has a small role as a Latter-day Saint character in this B-movie science fiction flick.
Da san yuan (1996)
Paul Fonoroff has a small part as a "bearded Mormon" in this Chinese (Cantonese) romantic comedy from writer/director Hark Tsui.
Mrs. Ford's Variety Hour (1996)
Jason Smith plays the "Token Mormon" in this low-budget production.
Cannibal! The Musical (1996)
Direct-to-video release. Also titled "Alferd Packer: The Musical." Written and directed by Trey Parker while he was in college. $125,000 budget. Alfred Packer was Colorado's only convicted cannibal. He was a mountain guide who acquired a taste for human flesh when he was the only person to survive when a party of Latter-day Saint pioneers he was guiding got stuck in the mountains during bad winter weather.
Crazy Horse (1996)
TV movie (Turner cable). Directed by John Irvin. Written by Robert Schenkkan. Robert Pike Glymph plays a Latter-day Saint character listed in cast credits as "Mormon Man."
Casino (1995)
$42,438,300 U.S. box office. As they arrive for a meeting in Kansas City, Nicky Santoro (played by Joe Pesci) calls John Nance (played by Bill Allison) a Mormon. Also, the "Senator" character played by Dick Smothers [of the famed "Smothers Brothers" musical comedy duo] in the film was based in part on real-life Nevada senator Harry Reid, a devout Latter-day Saint. Details
Panther (1995)
$6,834,525 U.S. box office. Anthony Griffith stars as real-life Black Panther minister of information Eldridge Cleaver. Written and directed by Mario Van Peebles. Rated R. A dramatized account of the story of The Black Panther Party of Self-Defense. Cleaver's membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not addressed in this film. Details
My Antonia (1995)
TV movie. Directed by Joseph Sargent. Emmy winner. Teleplay written by Victoria Riskin. Based on the same-titled novel by Willa Cather, which mentions a bull named "Brigham Young" in Chapter 13 of Book 1.
The Getaway (1994)
$15,545,115 U.S. box office. Kim Basinger talks to a businessman in a bus station. When she asks him where he's from and he says "Utah", she asks if he's a Mormon, and he claims that he isn't.
The Sum of Us (1994)
$766,000 U.S. box office. Australian movie. Russell Crowe plays a GLBT man whose father has a stroke. Two Latter-day Saint missionaries who know his father knock on the door, having come to help. But Crowe insults them and chases them down the street.
Slaughter of the Innocents (1994)
HBO movie (cable). Police procedural/thriller set mostly in Utah (Salt Lake City, Provo, other locations) about an FBI agent who tracks down a serial killer (a Protestant religious fanatic) with the help of his gifted pre-teen son.
Point Break (1991)
$43,218,387 U.S. box office. The lead character (played by Keanu Reeves) is an FBI agent named "Johnny Utah." In the screenplay, Johnny Utah asks his co-worker, Special Agent Angelo Pappas (played by Gary Busey) about their case. Pappas tells him to let other agents handle it. Apparently referring to their Latter-day Saint supervisor in the FBI (played by John C. McGinley), Pappas says: "Forget about it, kid. They're ghosts. Let the... yuppie Mormon affirmative action a--holes handle it." Details
The Rapture (1991)
$1,277,401 U.S. box office. Written and directed by Michael Tolkin. Starring Mimi Rogers, Darwyn Carson, Patrick Bauchau, Marvin Elkins, David Duchovny. Mystery/thriller primarily about religious and spiritual themes, but also touching upon the title's physical ecstasy-related meanings. Mimi Rogers plays a woman who experiences a religious conversion and joins a peculiar Christian group soon after a pair of missionaries knock on her door and give her a Bible. The missionaries are not explicitly identified as Latter-day Saints, but their appearance, behavior and manner of dress is based exactly on LDS missionaries, although they share a "End Times" message that seems more Evangelical Protestant-leaning.
China O'Brien (1990)
A former cop uses her martial-arts expertise to clean up her Utah hometown after her father is brutally murdered. Shot on location in Utah.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
$197,171,806 U.S. box office. The opening scenes, featuring Indiana Jones as a young teen, take place in southern Utah. Indiana is a Boy Scout. Given the time period, all or most of the other Scouts in his troop, as well as the sheriff, are no doubt Latter-day Saints.
Around the World in 80 Days (1989)
TV miniseries. Directed by Buzz Kulik. Teleplay written by John Gay, based on the 1872 novel by Jules Verne. This major television miniseries stars Pierce Brosnan as inventor/adventurer "Phileas Fogg", with Eric Idle as his manservant "Jean Passepartout", Julia Nickson-Soul as "Princess Aouda" (who joins their party in India after being rescued from becoming a Thugee sacrifice) and Peter Ustinov as "Detective Wilbur Fix." This is a long adaptation of Verne's original work that faithfully visits most of the locations in the book, yet it completely skips the chapters from the book that take place in Utah. This miniseries entirely omits chapter 27, in which a Latter-day Saint missionary on the train details the history of the Church. In the miniseries, Fogg and his party travel directly from San Francisco to Omaha, Nebraska. Instead of meeting the missionary on the train, Fogg and his party encounter Jesse James.
Raising Arizona (1987)
$22,847,564 U.S. box office. Coen Brothers comedy starring Nicholas Cage. The last line of the film is a voiceover, with the main character thinking: "If not Arizona, then a land not too far away. Where all parents are strong and wise and capable. And all children are happy and beloved. I don't know. Maybe it was Utah." Details
Australian Dream (1987)
85 minutes. Written and directed by Jackie McKimmie. Australian-made movie, filmed in Brisbane, Queensland, and released on video in Australia. Released on video in the United Kingdom as "Outrageous Party." Leigh Biolos (credited as Leigh Biolas) and Sam Pinkerton have bit parts as Latter-day Saint missionaries. Noni Hazlehurst stars as suburban housewife "Dorothy Stubbs," whose massive 35th birthday party is central to the film's frequently raunchy plot. The party's theme is "Come as Your Favourite Fantasy." While Dorothy acquiesces to an intimate moment in the kitchen with her husband Geoff (actor Graeme Blundell), Latter-day Saint missionaries come knocking at the door.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
$109,713,132 U.S. box office. Trying to explain Spock's odd behavior to a 1986 American, Capt. Kirk tells her, "Back in the sixties he was part of the Free Speech movement at Berkeley. I think he did a little too much LDS." Details
Witness (1985)
$65,500,000 U.S. box office. There are not actually any references to Latter-day Saints in this movie, which stars Harrison Ford as a police detective who spends time with the Amish of Pennsylvania. But in many foreign language versions of this movie (including Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Romanian, and early Polish versions, among others), every instance of the word "Amish" is translated as "Mormon," which has led to many contemporary Europeans confusing the two faiths.
Vrak (1984)
Bulgarian/Czechoslovakian film. Directed by Ivo Toman. Screenplay by Jan Fleischer, Ivo Toman and Atanas Tzenev. Adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's novel The Wrecker, which mentions Utah in Chapter 6 (titled "In Which I Go West").
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
$14,929,552 U.S. box office. In a song about certain Catholic beliefs, a few other religious groups are mentioned: Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Taoists and Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Latter-day Saints are mentioned twice in the song. Details
The Innocents Abroad (1983)
TV movie. Directed by Luciano Salce. Teleplay written by Alfredo Silveri and Dan Wakefield, based on the same-titled novel by Mark Twain, which has minor Latter-day Saint characters (Mr. Adams, his wife and children).
The Cherokee Trail (1981)
TV movie (CBS). Also known as "Louis L'Amour's The Cherokee Train." Directed by Kieth Merrill. Teleplay by Kieth Merrill and Michael Terrance, based on story Louis L'Amour. Tom Williams plays a Latter-day Saint character. In the late 19th Century, Mary Breydon, a widow, and Peggy Breydon, her daughter manage a stagecoach stop on The Cherokee Trail. The story is told from the perspective of Peggy, looking back on her adventures.
Pray TV (1980)
Rosemary Lovell has a small role as a Latter-day Saint wife in this comedy about religion starring Dabney Coleman.
Airplane! (1980)
$83,500,000 U.S. box office.
Chapter Two (1979)
$30 million U.S. box office. Neil Simon wrote this big screen adaptation of his own popular play. A man tells his brother he has met a great girl, and describes her. His brother asks, "She's not a Mormon, is she?" It is also worth noting that Latter-day Saint author Jack Weyland has stated that watching this play is what inspired him to write his groundbreaking novel Charly, which revolutionized LDS literature and was eventually adapted to a feature film in 2002. Further research pending. Details
Down in the Valley (1979)
Low-budget Utah independent film made by Mort Rosenfeld.
Andy Kaufman Plays Carnegie Hall (1979; V)
Comedy concert video features Kaufman's re-creation of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
Battlestar Galactica (1978)
The premiere episode of this big-budget science fiction series was recut and released in theaters as a feature film. Created by Latter-day Saint television writer/producer Glen A. Larson, the episode features numerous allusions to Latter-day Saint belief, ritual, and culture.
Airport '77 (1977)
$30,000,000 U.S. box office. Directed by Jerry Jameson. Starring Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant, Jimmy Stewart. Soon after the luxury airliner takes off, the young boy and his nanny are seen playing the videogame "Pong" on a table-style console. "Pong" was created by Nolan Bushnell, a Latter-day Saint, and the man regarded as the father of video games.
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976)
Famed detective Sherlock Holmes meets psychoanalysis founder Sigmund Freud in this movie. Holmes observes and comments on Freud's copy of the Book of Mormon. Details
Guardian of the Wilderness (1976)
Theatrically released, and later shown on television as "Mountain Man." Written and produced by Latter-day Saint filmmaker Charles E. Sellier Jr. Robert Keith has a small part credited as "missionary." Based on the true story of Galen Clark, the man who created Yosemite Park.
Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
This Disney movie is about an orphaned boy and girl who learn that their psychic powers stem from the fact that they are actually aliens whose ship crashed on Earth after their race fled their dying home planet. The movie is an adaptation of the same-titled children's book by Alaxender Key. But the book is almost certainly inspired by the "People" stories written by author Zenna Henderson. The culture and religious beliefs of Henderson's "People" were inspired in part by her background growing up as a Latter-day Saint in Arizona. Details
Against a Crooked Sky (1975)
A teenage Latter-day Saint boy living in the Wild West risks his life to track down and rescue his sister, who has been captured by Indians.
Airport 1975 (1974)
$47,285,152 U.S. box office. About two-thirds of movie takes place in (or in the skies above) Utah. Plot is about a damaged passenger which must make an emergency landing in Salt Lake City. There are multiple overt jokes and references about Latter-day Saints. Details
Harry in Your Pocket (1973)
The Salt Lake Temple is shown in this Salt Lake City-filmed movie about pickpockets, starring James Coburn.
The Getaway (1972)
$36,734,619 U.S. box office. In a train station, Ali McGraw talks to a soldier from Utah, and asks him if he is a Mormon.
Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
$44,693,786 U.S. box office. This movie was adapted from the same-titled novel by lapsed Latter-day Saint writer Vardish Fisher. While travelling, Jeremiah comes across a man that has been burried up to his neck in the ground. Jeremiah asks the man, "Injuns put you here? The man replies, "'twern't Mormons."
Trinity Is Still My Name (1972)
This "Spaghetti Western" (made in Italy) has a brief reference to early Latter-day Saint polygamy, included for humorous intent.
Malcolm X (1972)
Academy Award-winning documentary directed by Arnold Perl, from the book by Alex Haley, features Black Panther leader Eldridge Cleaver (a Latter-day Saint convert) in archival footage.
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
$9 million U.S. box office. The exterior of the Los Angeles Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is shown in its entirety in this film from a story and screenplay by famed film critic Roger Ebert. $9 million box office gross.
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
$12,376,563 U.S. box office. Adaptation of novel by Michael Crichton. Directed by Robert Wise. A scene that begins at 1 hour, 31 minutes, 33 seconds takes place in a desert area near Big Head Pass, Utah (identified with a location caption on screen). A group of soldiers and officers in helicopter land and consult with other military technicians already on the ground. The leader of the group that landed listens to an audio tape a technician plays for him, in which he hear the final words of a pilot who died after flying over the satellite crash site at Piedmont, New Mexico.
Day of the Evil Gun (1968)
Western. Directed by Jerry Thorpe. Written by Charles Marquis Warren and Eric Bercovici. Starring Glenn Ford, Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger and John Anderson. A retired gunfighter tries to find his wife and two children who have been kidnapped by Apaches. Near the end of the film they enter a Mormon ghost town in Arizona. Sign in front of school: "Brigham Young Academy." The church steeple borrows features from the Salt Lake Temple. A man hiding out in the town explains it was abandoned by Mormons when the well dried up.
Trippa Joe (1968)
Spaghetti western made in Spain and Italy. Directed by Adalberto Fornario. Bert Sitas plays "Al," the Mormon preacher.
What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966)
Woody Allen's complete audio re-dub of a Japanese James Bond rip-off contains a reference to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Suki Yaki (lead actress Akiko Wakabayashi): "I had an idea that it was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but there's no motive..."
El Angel exterminador (1962)
Directed Luis Bunuel [Luis Buñuel], the most acclaimed Spanish director in history. Adapted from the play by Jose Bergamin [José Bergamín]. Screenplay by Luis Alcoriza. Bunuel said that the film's title was based on the Angel Moroni from Latter-day Saint history. Details
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Mary Dickson, Salt Lake Weekly wrote that the film is about "a couple of drag-racing dames whose car plunges off a bridge. The sole survivor moves to a small Utah town to escape her traumatic past and become a church organist. Little does she know that she now belongs to the clan of the living dead. The waltz of hollow-eyed zombies at the SaltAir Pavilion is a classic."
Gun Brothers (1955)
Directed by Sidney Salkow. Written by Gerald Drayson Adams and Richard Schayer. Western. 79 min. Black and white. A United Artists production. Dan White (To Kill a Mockingbird; Gone with the Wind) has a small part as "Jonathan Logan," a Latter-day Saint "minister"
The Vanishing American (1955)
Adaptation of a novel by Zane Grey. Novel is mainly about Native Americans, but also includes Latter-day Saint characters. Directed by Joseph Kane. Screen adaptation written by Alan Le May.
Ride, Vaquero! (1953)
Western set in Utah. Starring Ava Gardner and Robert Taylor. Directed by John Farrow. Written by Frank Fenton.
3 Godfathers (1948)
MGM Western directed by John Ford. Starring John Wayne. Adapted from novel by Peter B. Kyne. Three outlaws on the run discover a dying woman and her baby. They swear to bring the infant to safety across the desert. Within the first ten minutes of the film, "Mrs. Perley Sweet" (actress Mae Marsh) asks John Wayne if he came into the Arizona town by way of "the old Mormon Trail." Wayne answers "Yes," but he is probably lying.
The Big Clock (1948)
Film's main plot precipitated by protagonist's failure to go to Utah. Details
Forty-Ninth Parallel (1941)
Also known as "49 Parallel" and "The Invaders." Directed by Michael Powell. Academy Award for Best Screenplay, written by Rodney Ackland Emeric Pressburger. Oscar-nominated for Best Picture. Budget: £132,000. Starring Eric Portman, Richard George, Laurence Olivier. A small Nazi U-boat crew raids a Canadian outpost and travels through Canada, intent on invading the U.S. They meet a 16-year-old farmgirl who invites them to eat dinner in her prairie religious settlement. They ask her, "What are you, Mormons?" She answers: "Mormons? No. Hutterites."
Western Union (1941)
Directed by Fritz Lang. Screenplay by Robert Carson. With additional uncredited writing contributions by Horace McCoy, Jack Andrews, George Bruce. Adapted from the novel by Zane Grey. Starring Robert Young, Randolph Scott, Dean Jagger, Virginia Gilmore, John Carradine, Slim Summerville, Chill Wills, Barton MacLane and Russell Hicks. Based on the true story of the effort to build cross-country telegraph wires from Omaha to Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City and Utah are mentioned many times. The Western Union chief engineer in charge of the project is played by Academy Award-winning actor Dean Jagger, who played the Utah-bound prophet Brigham Young in a major movie just the year before, and who later was a convert to the Church.
Union Pacific (1939)
Budget: $1 million (IMDb.com). Directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Screenplay by Jack Cunningham, Walter DeLeon, C. Gardner Sullivan, Jesse Lasky Jr., and Stanley Rauh. Based on the novel by Ernest Haycox. Starring Barbara Stanwyck. Based on the true story of the race between the Union Pacific Railroad (from whose perspective the story is told) and the Central Pacific Railroad to complete the transcontinental railroad. The climactic scenes in the film take place at Promontory Point, near Ogden, Utah. Mormon railroad workers were crucial in completing the railroad. Ogden, Utah is mentioned many times in the film as the target point, but "Mormons" and "Latter-day Saints" are not mentioned by name in the film. The famous "Golden Spike" ceremony (10 May 1869), at which many Latter-day Saints were present, is re-enacted. The movie essentially omits mention of the Mormon railroad workers and the Central Pacific's Chinese railroad workers, and focuses on the largely Irish workforce who worked on the Union Pacific line. "The film was a big hit at the box office, prompting Paramount Studios finally to give DeMille carte blanche on future productions."
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)
Based on the novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin, in which Mrs. Perkins states, "If Ladd was a Mormon, I guess he could have every woman in North Riverboro that's a suitable age, accordin' to what my cousins say" (chapter 26). Not yet known whether this line is in film. Directed by Allan Dwan. Screenplay by Don Ettlinger and Karl Tunberg. Shirley Temple stars in lead role as "Rebecca." 80 minutes; black and white.
Three Godfathers (1936)
Directed by Richard Boleslawski. Starring Chester Morris. Adapted from novel by Peter B. Kyne. This film was later remade as "3 Godfathers," in which John Wayne is asked if he came into town by way of "the old Mormon trail." We do not yet know if this line was in this version.
I Married a Doctor (1936)
Adaptation of the novel Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis. The novel discusses Latter-day Saints at some length in chapter 28. Directed by Archie Mayo. Screenplay written by Harriet Ford, Harvey J. O'Higgins and Utah native Casey Robinson. 83 min.; black and white.
The Man from Utah (1934)
Directed by Robert N. Bradbury. Written by Lindsley Parsons. Starring John Wayne as "John Weston." Also starring Polly Ann Young and Yakima Canutt. Plot summary (IMDb.com): "The Marshal sends John Weston to a rodeo to see if he can find out who is killing the rodeo riders who are about to win the prize money. Barton has organized the rodeo and plans to leave with all the prize money put up by the townspeople. When it appears that Weston will beat Barton's rider, he has his men prepare the same fate for him that befell the other riders."
Man of the Forest (1933)
Adaptation of a Zane Grey novel with major LDS characters (four Beeman brothers), who may not be in the film. Directed by Henry Hathaway. Screenplay by Jack Cunningham and Harold Shumate.
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1932)
Based on the novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin, in which Mrs. Perkins states, "If Ladd was a Mormon, I guess he could have every woman in North Riverboro that's a suitable age, accordin' to what my cousins say" (chapter 26). Not yet known whether this line is in film. Directed by Alfred Santell. Screenplay by S.N. Behrman and Sonya Levien, based on stage play adaptation by Charlotte Thompson. Marian Nixon stars in lead role as "Rebecca." 75 minutes; black and white.
Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931)
Comedy starring Buster Keaton. Directed by Edward Sedgwick. Adapted from the play by C.W. Bell by Mark Swan. Near the end of the film, the hotel bellhop (Cliff Edwards) bursts into the room of "Reginald Irving" (Keaton) multiple times only to find him kissing a different woman each time. The third time, the bellop exclaims, "He's a Mormon!"
Hell's Heroes (1930)
Directed by William Wyler. Starring Charles Bickford. Adapted from novel by Peter B. Kyne. This film was later remade as "3 Godfathers," in which John Wayne is asked if he came into town by way of "the old Mormon trail." We do not yet know if this line was in this version.
Man of the Forest (1926)
Adaptation of a Zane Grey novel with major LDS characters (four Beeman brothers), who may not be in the film. Directed by John Waters.
The Vanishing American (1925)
Adaptation of a novel by Zane Grey. Novel is mainly about Native Americans, but also includes Latter-day Saint characters. Directed by George B. Seitz. Screen adaptation written by Ethel Doherty and Lucien Hubbard.
Main Street (1923)
Adaptation of the same-titled novel by Sinclair Lewis, which discusses Latter-day Saints at some length in chapter 28. Directed by Harry Beaumont. Screen adaptation by Julien Josephson. 90 min.; black and white; silent.
Man of the Forest (1921)
Adaptation of a Zane Grey novel with major LDS characters (four Beeman brothers), who may not be in the film. Directed by Howard C. Hickman.
Little Fool (1921)
Adaptation of Jack London's novel Little Lady of the Big House, in which Dick says, "You can be a Mormon or a Turk for all it matters to me. Your private acts are your private acts, and are no concern of mine as long as they do not interfere with your work or my ranch." Directed by Phil Rosen. Not yet known if line is in film. Starring Nigel Barrie. Silent; black and white.
The Star Rover (1920)
Adaptation of a time travel book by Jack London. Chapters 12 and 13 of the book (comprising 15% of the book's total length) focus entirely on Latter-day Saints and the Mountain Meadows Massacre, but this section was apparently omitted from film version. Directed by Edward Sloman. Screenplay by Albert S. Le Vino.
The U.P. Trail (1920)
Adaptation of novel by Zane Grey. Novel includes many references to Utah, and one reference to Latter-day Saints by name. Directed by Jack Conway. Screenplay by William H. Clifford. Plot summary: Ignoring public scorn in their determination to build the Union Pacific Railroad across the Wyoming mountains, young civil engineer Warren Neale and his partner Larry Red King are further challenged when Neale's girlfriend is abducted.
Marked Men (1919)
Directed by John Ford. Starring Harry Carey. Adapted from novel by Peter B. Kyne. This film was later remade as "3 Godfathers," in which John Wayne is asked if he came into town by way of "the old Mormon trail." We do not yet know if this line was in this version. Silent; black and white.
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1917)
Based on the novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin, in which Mrs. Perkins (Marjorie Daw in the film) states, "If Ladd was a Mormon, I guess he could have every woman in North Riverboro that's a suitable age, accordin' to what my cousins say" (chapter 26). Not yet known whether this line is in film. Directed by Marshall Neilan. Screenplay by Frances Marion, based on stage play adaptation by Charlotte Thompson. Mary Pickford stars in lead role as "Rebecca." 78 minutes; black and white; silent.
The Three Godfathers (1916)
Directed by Edward LeSaint. Starring Harry Carey. Adapted from novel by Peter B. Kyne. This film was later remade as "3 Godfathers," in which John Wayne is asked if he came into town by way of "the old Mormon trail." We do not yet know if this line was in this version. Silent; black and white.
The Valley of the Moon (1914)
Directed by Hobart Bosworth. Screen adaptation by Hettie Grey Baker. Based on the same-titled novel by Jack London, which mentions Latter-day Saints in Chapter 13 of Book 1 and Chapter 14 of Book 3. Black and white; silent.
"Feature Films with Major Latter-day Saint Characters" web page created 9 February 2001. This page split from original page on 11 November 2004. Last modified 31 December 2005.