Brigham Young (1940)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Louis Bromfield (writer)
Lamar Trotti (screenplay)

Release Date:

27 September 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | History | Romance | Western

Plot:

The true story of the famous Mormon leader, Brigham Young and his battle to transport his people across...

Plot Keywords:

Rocky Mountains | Hardship | Mormon | Brigham Young | Trial

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Tyrone Power	...	Jonathan Kent
Linda Darnell	...	Zina Webb - The Outsider
Dean Jagger	...	Brigham Young
Brian Donlevy	...	Angus Duncan
Jane Darwell	...	Eliza Kent
John Carradine	...	Porter Rockwell
Mary Astor	...	Mary Ann Young
Vincent Price	...	Joseph Smith
Jean Rogers	...	Clara Young
Ann E. Todd	...	Mary Kent (as Ann Todd)
Willard Robertson	...	Heber Kimball
Moroni Olsen	...	Doc Richards
Marc Lawrence	...	Prosecutor
Stanley Andrews	...	Hyrum Smith
Frank M. Thomas	...	Hubert Crum (as Frank Thomas)

Also Known As:

Brigham Young: Frontiersman (UK) (USA) (promotional title)

Runtime:

113 min (FMC Library Print) | 114 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #6329) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Moroni Olsen was the only principal cast member who was a Mormon. Dean Jagger was not a member of that church when he portrayed its leader, but he did join some 32 years later.

Quotes:

Brigham Young: Indians can't be any worse than some Christians I know. But just the same, until we find a little more about them, we mean to trust in you, Lord, and keep our powder dry.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Religulous (2008)

Soundtrack:

Come, Come Ye Saints

It's inaccuracies aren't that inaccurate

As another LDS viewer, I also like the film and find its hollywoodization of facts far less disturbing than say those of Stone's JFK. That said, I feel inclined to re-correct three facts that another LDS viewer pointed out. 1) While Joseph Smith was falsely imprisoned many times during his life, at the time of his murder he was under arrest, pending trial, for an offense he DID commit -- namely his ordering the destruction of the press of an opposition newspaper in Nauvoo. 2) While the slender 2/3rds majority of Nauvoo mormons did side with Brigham after Joseph's murder, roughly a third did not and scattered to the winds. And the issue of succession was by no means decided upon Joseph's death. It was nip and tuck, with several contenders vying for the crown, until Brigham's legendary 'immaculate impersonation' speech at conference. 3) I thought Vincent Price's portrayal of Joseph Smith was pretty good -- charismatic and visionary, somewhat other-worldly, but what do you expect.