1917’s A Mormon Maid was a rude introduction to popular motion pictures supposedly about Mormonism. Heavily advertised and extremely popular, it played for months in the United States, and was exported to Europe where it also played well. (If you are not familiar with A Mormon Maid, the above link includes a brief synopsis of its plot, with other interesting details reported by Randy Astle.)
One of the methods used to advertise the movie to the public was this small sheet, folded to create four pages, distributed by movie theater owners in the towns where the film was being shown.
As always when discussion might veer toward the sacred, discretion in comments is very much appreciated.
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Well, i’m glad to know there won’t be any danger of bias here, then!
It looks like The God Makers meet Birth of a Nation.
Wow, thanks for finding this. I’ve been a fan of this movie since I discovered it through a post here on Keepapitchinin. I absolutely adore it, for its idiosyncratic outsider’s view of Mormonism and its striking images. Unfortunately, the DVD copy I have is pretty faded and the Internet copies are even worse. Seeing crisp still images like these are a real treat.
The synopsis is quite dramatic!
I did not know this movie existed and now I desperately need to see it. Maybe a Trapped by the Mormons double-header?
It is indeed a “fact tragedy” but not quite in the way they mean.
I like Melyngoch’s idea. We could throw in “Corianton: A Story of Unholy Love” and make it a marathon.
I wonder, seriously, if Frank Cannon was consulted for his “expertise” on Mormonism by the filmmakers.
Full movie here —
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZ3FNaVYRTs
Interesting to note that Cecil B DeMille was the Director General of this early film.
What an amazing find! If you can share where you found it (or if I’ve missed that bit), please do. If not, totally understand.
I see a new costume theme for our next High Priests Group barbeque.
I generally do not share my sources publicly — too often my work has melted into the publications of others without any sort of acknowledgment when I do. It’s pretty cool, though, isn’t it?
[Edit: I just realized this could be interpreted as my thinking John would do that! I don’t believe that at all. What happens is that people finding goodies by googling but who don’t know me or Keepa don’t feel at all obligated to credit me. It’s drive-by strangers, not friends and regular readers, who do that!]