Brigham Young (also known as Brigham Young – Frontiersman) is a 1940 American biographical historical drama Western film starring Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell and Dean Jagger that describes Young's succession to the presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after founder Joseph Smith was assassinated in 1844. The supporting cast features Brian Donlevy, Jane Darwell, John Carradine, Mary Astor, Vincent Price, Jean Rogers and Ann Todd.

Plot

In frontier-town Nauvoo, Illinois in 1844, the main body of the church are forced to leave Illinois, choosing to settle temporarily in Nebraska. They then travel by wagon train to the Great Basin.

Cast

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|+Uncredited (in order of appearance)

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|Lee Shumway||member of anti-Smith mob

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|Charles Middleton||member of anti-Smith mob

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|William Haade||skeptic at Mormon trial

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|Blackie Whiteford||courtroom spectator

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|Murdock MacQuarrie||courtroom spectator

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|Charles Halton||prosecutor at Mormon trial

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|Eddy Waller||man announcing discovery of gold

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|Paul E. Burns||man discussing gold rush

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|Frank Shannon||man discussing gold rush

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|Edmund Elton||man reacting to excitement regarding gold rush

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|Herbert Heywood||man joking about California gold rush

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|David Kirkland||Mormon elder

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|Frank Mills||agitator in newspaper office

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|Cliff Clark||Mormon disputing Brigham Young

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|Bob Kortman||Mormon disputing Brigham Young

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|Hank Worden||Mormon supporting Brigham Young

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|Jody Gilbert||heavyset woman caught in current during river crossing

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|Tom London||member of raiding group attacking Mormons

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Cast notes

Ninth-billed Jean Rogers played Dale Arden in the 1936 serial Flash Gordon and its 1938 follow-up Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars. Her co-stars in the two serials, Charles Middleton, who played Ming the Merciless and Frank Shannon, who played Dr. Zarkov, have uncredited bit parts in this film.

Production

Parts of the film were shot in Lone Pine, California, in the plains west of Parowan Gap, and in Utah Lake for the seagull scenes. The Salt Lake City sequences were filmed in California, while the trek across Nebraska and Wyoming was shot in southern Utah.

Reception

Michael and Harry Medved included Brigham Young in their 1984 book describing film financial failures, The Hollywood Hall of Shame, stating "Twentieth Century-Fox tried to emphasize its star power and to downplay the religious elements (eventually re-titling it Brigham Young, Frontiersman), but the picture still failed, even in Utah."

See also

  • List of American films of 1940
  • George D. Pyper

References

  • Brigham Young Souvenir Program Reprint. MSS SC 388; 20th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts; L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University.