MORMONS & FILM:
The First Century

TMA 315R
Winter, 2009

Dr. Gideon Burton
Brigham Young University
4155 JFSB
801-422-3525
Gideon_Burton@byu.edu

• BYU Studies 46.2 (2007), "Mormons and Film"
• Assigned works of criticism
• Blogs on Mormon film and culture:
  Trevor Banks: http://ldscinema.blogspot.com/
  Gideon Burton http://gideonburton.typepad.com
  A Motley Vision http://www.motleyvision.org/
  By Common Consent http://www.bycommonconsent.com/
• Reference: Mormon Literature & Creative Arts database

Required Work:

• Screenings (in class on Thursdays; outside of class 2 hrs/week)
• Response Blog (Responses to films, readings, and the LDS Film Festival)
• Citizenship
  • Attendance at LDS Film Festival (January 21-24)
• Creative Work (negotiated with instructor, choice of such things as...)
  • Entries for the Mormon Film Studies wiki
  • Film Review (2-3 pages, submitted to one of various venues)
  • Research Paper (8-10 pages)
  • Create a short Mormon film
    

Note on films: Films listed include both those that will be screened each week in class (about half of each class period will be spent watching films) and those from which you may choose that week to watch as part of the requirement to watch 2 hours of films outside of class each week during the semester.

Note on readings: Unless otherwise indicated, readings are from the BYU Studies special issue on Mormons and Film (46.2 [2007]).

Segments representing periods and types:

• Trapped by the Mormons (First Wave exploitation film, 1922)
• One Hundred Years of Mormonism (First Wave institutional film, 1913)
• Clawson Films (First Wave actualities, 1920s)
• Brigham Young: Frontiersman (Second Wave mainstream film, 1940)
• Windows of Heaven (Third Wave BYU Motion Picture Studio film, 1963)
• The Faith of an Observer: Conversations with Hugh Nibley (Fourth Wave independent documentary film, 1985)
• Legacy (Fourth Wave institutional, Visitor Center film, 1993)
• God's Army (Fifth Wave independent film)

Complete films:

• A Trip to Salt Lake City (Edison, 1905)
• Latter-day Saint Leaders, Past and Present (compiled 1948)

• Gideon Burton, "Establishing Shot: The Scope of Mormon Cinema" (pp. 4-11)
• Randy Astle, "A History of Mormon Cinema" (pp. 12-21)

• A Victim of the Mormons (Denmark, 1911)
• A Mormon Maid (1917)
• Trapped by the Mormons (1922)
• The Covered Wagon (James Cruze, 1923)
• One Hundred Years of Mormonism (Institutional, 1913)

• Randy Astle, "A History of Mormon Cinema: The First Wave" (pp. 22-43)
• James D'Arc, "The Mormon as Vampire..." (pp.164-87)

• Brigham Young: Frontiersman (Zanuck, 1940)
• Wagon Master (John Ford, 1950)
• Corianton: A Story of Unholy Love (independent LDS theatrical film, 1931)

• Randy Astle, "A History of Mormon Cinema: The Second Wave" (pp. 44-75)

• Come Back, My Son (BYU MPS, 1954)
• How Near to the Angels (BYU MPS, 1956)
• The Search for Truth (BYU MPS, 1962)
• Windows of Heaven (BYU MPS, 1963)
• Man’s Search for Happiness (BYU MPS, 1964)
• Johnny Lingo (BYU MPS, 1969)

• Randy Astle, "A History of Mormon Cinema: The Third Wave" (pp. 76-95)

• Paint Your Wagon (Paramount, 1969)
• Pioneers in Petticoats (BYU MPS, 1969)
• For Time or Eternity (BYU MPS, 1969)
• The Church in Action (BYU MPS, 1971)
• Ice Cream and Elevators (BYU student film, 1971)
• Cipher in the Snow (BYU MPS, 1973)
• The First Vision (BYU MPS, 1976)
• The Phone Call (BYU MPS, 1977)
• Where Jesus Walked (BYU MPS, 1978)

• Randy Astle, "A History of Mormon Cinema: The Fourth Wave" (pp. 96-125)

• Brigham (Independent LDS theatrical release, 1977)
• Mormon Women and Depression (Independent for TV, 1979)
• Joseph Smith: The Man (BYU MPS, 1980)
• The Mouths of Babes (T.C. Christensen, 1980)
• Mr. Krueger’s Christmas (Kieth Merrill,1980)
• Perilous Journey (John Linton, 1984)

• The Faith of an Observer: Conversations with Hugh Nibley (BYU MPS, 1985)
• How Rare a Possession: The Book of Mormon (BYU MPS, 1987)

• The Best Two Years of My Life (1983)
• Together Forever (BYU MPS, 1988)
• Nephi and the Brass Plates (1989)
• Saturday’s Warrior (1989)
• A Matter of Principle: Polygamy in the Intermountain West (1990)
• The Mountain of the Lord (LDS MPS, 1993)

• Legacy (LDS MPS, 1993)
• Faith in Every Footstep (1997)
• Legacy West (1997)
• Wagon Train: Journey of the Modern Pioneers (1997)
• Woman, the Pioneer (1997)
• Fourth Witness: The Mary Whitmer Story (1997)
• Eliza and I (1997)

• Thomas J. Lefler and Gideon O. Burton, "Toward a Mormon Cinematic Aesthetic: Film Styles in Legacy" (pp. 274-304)

• American Prophet: The Story of Joseph Smith (1999)
• Deseret (1995)
• Leroy (2002);
  other Fit for the Kingdom films
• The Smith Family: A Portrait of Love (2002)

• Dean Duncan, "A Manifesto for 'Fit for the Kingdom': A Proposal for a Mormon Documentary Series" (267-73)
• Randy Astle, Review of Angie (pp. 324-30)

• God’s Army (2000)
• The Other Side of Heaven (2001)
• The Book of Mormon Movie Vol. 1: The Journey (2003)
• Jack Weyland’s Charly (2002)
• The Best Two Years (2004)
• States of Grace (2005)
• New York Doll (2005)

• Randy Astle, "A History of Mormon Cinema: The Fifth Wave" (pp. 126-54)
• Eric Samuelsen, "Finding an Audience, Paying the Bills: Competing Business Models in Mormon cinema" (pp. 209-229)

• A Story of Faith: The Founding of Snowflake, Arizona (2000)
• Closure (2000, Final Cut video)
• A Pioneer Miracle (2003)
• Roots and Wings (2002)
• The First Vision (2004)
• Only Once (1998)
• The Field is White (2002)

• Douglas Thayer, "Greg" (packet)

• Advise and Consent (1962)
• They Call Me Trinity (1971)
• The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976)
• Family Plot (1976)
• Melvin and Howard (1980)
• Raising Arizona (1987)
• Orgazmo (1997)
• Heaven or Vegas (1999)
• SLC Punk! (2000)
• One Night at McCool’s (2001)
• Chicago (2003)
• Angels in America (Tony Kushner-HBO, 2004)
• South Park (2004)
• Big Love (HBO, 2005)
• The Mormons (PBS-Helen Whitney, 2007)

• Review of Helen Whitney's The Mormons (pp. 305-320)

• Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess, 2004)
• YouTube videos as assigned