Audience Member
They romanticized some of the most corrupt men in the history of Mormonism. They made it look like the Mormon leaders were innocent, harmless, victims. They were tyrannical, corrupt, lying sociopathic men who were not only terrorizing the populace of the places they moved to, they ruled the unfortunates who were lured into their church with an iron fist and if they tried to escape from the cult, they were murdered. Joseph Smith's death was pure fiction. He died with a gun in his hand, trying to shoot his way out of jail. Women and young girls were sex slaves and raped by Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and the other leaders. Joseph Smith and the other leaders were Freemasons that planned on destroying the liberties of each territory they gained control of. They were trying to spread socialism. At least that got a mention in the movie, but they failed to show how Smith and Young got filthy dirty rich stealing the money of their "brothers" and leaving them in abject property. This movie is disgusting. Most members didn't follow in blind obedience. They were mostly threatened and beaten into submission.
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
05/26/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Overall, I liked this movie. Although it has quite a few historical inaccuracies, it captures the true spirit of the Mormon Trek westward, and Brigham Young's major role in that period of history. Dean Jagger delivers an excellent performance as Brigham Young. I also enjoyed the performances of the other major actors and actresses, including Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Vincent Price, and John Carradine. The story, and many of the characters, reminded me of the Ten Commandments movie with Yul Brynner and Charlton Heston which came out 16 years later. Brigham Young being the obvious parallel with Moses, the Mormons being parallel to the children of Israel, and Angus Duncan being parallel with Dathan (the doubter/naysayer), etc. Regarding the part near the end when Brigham Young doubts himself and is ready to "confess" to the people that he "lied" to them about it being the Lord's will that he be their leader and that they settle in the Salt Lake Valley, though that is not historically accurate, I did appreciate that they portrayed the seagull miracle as a refutation of Brigham's doubts, with the people being convinced by the miracle that he really was under God's direction. That is an example of how the writer & director still captured the spirit of that period of history, though not following it accurately in the details. For that, and for the excellent portrayals by the various players, especially Dean Jagger, I rate the movie as a good one overall. I also don't expect historical movies to be very accurate, in general, for many reasons. Major reasons include the need to make it entertaining & dramatic, to fit within the allotted screen time, to simplify some of the more complex events in much of history, etc. The light screen coverage of polygamy is a good example of this. That was not meant to be a major focus of the movie, which is a good thing, as it would have sidetracked the main gist of the story, and there wasn't time to spend on delving into that very complex, controversial, and largely misunderstood concept in Mormon history.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/12/23
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Audience Member
loosely told (historically inaccurate bio-pic
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
s r
Largely dramatized, but fascinating to think they made a major film about the topic at the time.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
As a fairly by-the-numbers film in the western/pioneer genre, this movie is decent enough. It certainly does have a number of scenes, particularly at the beginning, that are deeply stirring as you watch the horrible injustices that were committed against the early Mormons while the authorities turned a blind eye, simply because they did not agree with their religion. This is a dark chapter of American history that we do not spend enough time talking about in schools, and this movie does shed some light on what actually happened during that period.
At the same time, the film is chock full of historical inaccuracies. I'm not sure if that's because of a desire to whitewash history or simple ignorance on the part of the writers on all but the most superficial aspects of early Mormon history, but there are a lot of important things left out of this story, and much of what is depicted is just plain wrong. The martyrdom of Joseph Smith is almost completely wrong, from the events leading up to it to his actual death itself, which is not consistent with how it is described in Doctrine and Covenants 135. Polygamy is talked about in whispers and joked about a bit but never actually seen. And worst of all, Brigham Young is portrayed as a liar, who claimed to have received a revelation to move the saints out west but who in reality made the whole thing up. I'm not sure if the people who made this film realized how deeply offensive such a suggestion would be to Mormons (aside from RLDS "Mormons" of course)...which is probably why the movie did not do as well in Utah as expected.
As a film, it's fine, but if you're looking for something that accurately depicts the story of how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints came to be what it is today, this is not it.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Indians can't be any worse than some Christians I know
The Mormons that reside in Illinois are constantly under the attack by the locals that do not understand their beliefs. The leader of the Mormons, Joseph Smith, is killed for speaking on behalf of his religion. The successor, Brigham Young, elects to move the Mormons to California where many seek hope and wealth. Unfortunately, there are great mountains between California and the Midwest. Young elects to settle in the mid west which is low on resources but high in abundance of space for his people to settle. Young will need to face climate, weather, and non-believer obstacles if he ultimately hopes to become successful.
"Joseph Smith, a half educated boy just like you and me."
Henry Hathaway, director of True Grit, Hangup, Shoot Out, Nevada Smith, Circus World, From Hell to Texas, Rawhide, Kiss of Death, China Girl, Go West Young Man, and Johnny Apollo, delivers Brigham Young. The storyline for this picture is interesting and educational. I thought the end was creative and unpredictable. The cast delivers perfect performances and includes Vincent Price, Tyrone Powers, Linda Darnell, John Carradine, and Dean Jagger.
"Looks like we burned our bridges behind us."
Brigham Young grabbed my attention when I saw it starred both Vincent Price and Tyrone Powers. Price was barely in this film, and Tyrone Powers plays a sub character, but the film was still entertaining and well paced. I recommend giving this picture a shot if you're a fan of movies from this era.
"Time to go wolf hunting."
Grade: B+
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/19/23
Full Review
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