Cheap Brigham Young: A Biography (Video) (Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell) (Henry Hathaway) Price

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Customer Reviews of Brigham Young: A Biography

Good Trek Movie
Having given up on Hollywood's latest offerings, which are over-produced, over-digitalized, over-sexed, over-cussed, and over-violent, I am now exploring movies made before my time, in a kinder, gentler era. As such, I enjoyed Brigham Young very much. Although it is true that much of the story is not historically accurate, the descriptive comments that overlay the movie explain each departure from fact, and the reasons that it was done. As I knew something about the LDS church and its history, I was not disappointed or shocked to learn, e.g., that Brigham and Joseph Smith did not meet in the place depicted in the movie. The spirit of the story is well-retained, from the early persecutions of the Mormons to the settling of the Great Salt Lake Valley. The movie is well-cast and well-acted. I especially liked Dean Jagger as Brigham, and Linda Darnell as Zina - what a surprise to learn that she was only 16 at the time! She more than holds her own in scenes with far more experienced actors.

It is not true that the subject of polygamy is mentioned only once. It is confronted several times, including as the subject of a fierce argument between Linda Darnell and Tyrone Power. Brigham admits to having 12 wives at the time of the trek (he had 27, count 'em, by the end of his life), and there are other allusions to polygamy, e.g., the frequent presence of his second wife alongside his first. The script presents the viewer with a "this is how it was" attitude. You may decide whether you approve or disapprove.

Having the comments version available after we watched the movie greatly enhanced our understanding of the history. The comments include some interesting details about location filming and casting decisions. I was amazed to learn that the locust scenes were actually filmed during a locust invasion in Nevada, and that this was a grueling experience for the cast and crew. Those are real bugs! I was also amused to hear that the depiction of Joseph Smith's murder was very controversial. It was considered extremely violent, and the director fought not to have it edited. The average TV cop show today is infinitely rougher than anything in this flick!

All in all, a very nice movie for a pleasant evening, with some popcorn and an open mind.

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An American film about an American Legend.
This is an interesting film. You have to admit that Mormonism is quite an American phenomenon, and Brigham Young is quite an American. He was one of the great trailblazers, and after seeing the 2002 Olympics, you must admit that there was something going on here beyond mere spiritual skullduggery.

This film was made with an "arm's distance" approval of the hierarchy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Indeed, for some reason, Mormon prophet David O. McKay had a quite cordial relationship with Cecil B. DeMille, and the great filmmaker willed Brigham Young University his papers.

This is quite an interesting film, and has many of the conventions of the era. Porter Rockwell is played as comic relief rather than the rough and tumble mountain man's mountain man that he was. Vincent Price makes an interesting Joseph Smith, with that eerie twinge to his voice giving a sense of mystery. Tyrone Power did a wonderful job of breathing life into a man who was larger than life, and Linda Darnell isn't overwhelmed by her role or her character.

The sets are a major part of the film. You can almost taste the trail dust. Filming on location adds to the power of the film, and the black and white gives the film an Ansel Adams feel. You see the long trails across the long plains, plus the ragged Rocky Mountains. While they were filming, there was an actual outbreak of crickets in Nevada, so they sent a camera crew out, and you are seeing the real thing!

True to all historical fiction, this film's history is subservient to the fiction. For those wanting the facts, I suggest Leonard Arrington's aptly-titled "Brigham Young: American Moses." For a sample of his theology, there is "Discourses of Brigham Young," compiled by John A Widtsoe.

The film in itself is a good, especially for the AMC and Turner Classics fans that like films that wisely omit the salacious sex, machine gun profanity, or scene after scene of computer generated effects that glitz in an attempt to cover up a feeble story line. This is good, solid Americana film that hearkens back to the days of pre-cause-oriented Hollywood.

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MORMON HISTORY INEPTLY DEPICTED
It was inevitable that sooner or later Darryl F. Zanuck would light upon the history of the Mormons for one of those grandoise movie epics on which his name is a U.S. trademark. This picture, from a story by Louis Bromfield, is actually more honest than many other Zanuck epics of the day - which really isn't saying much! The picture cost a whoppin (in 1940) 2.5 million dollars to make; you would think that they could have done more research in order to make the story more historically accurate. It's fatuous, dull and false. Its tepid love story between Linda Darnell and Tyrone Power is irrelevant, as it serves only to "gum" up the flow of action. More serious is its frightened skirting of the subject of polygamy, which for half a century kept the Latter Day Saints and the U.S. Government in state of warfare. Only once - and then in jest - is polygamy mentioned, and only two of uxorious Brigham Young's 27 wives shown (and only one is clearly designated as his wife). The migration of the Mormons across 1,384 miles of prairie and desert in search of religious freedom is a subject interesting to watch on film, however. Many of them walked on foot, were killed by Indians, died of starvation or merely perished in the brutal blizzards. Those who fought their way through mountain passes to Salt Lake Valley were determined to make a great city rise out of arid wasteland; here, at least Zanuck caught the spirit of these intrepid builders of a new world.