OSHER 790 - Mormons on the Motion Picture Screen

Examine ways members of the LDS faith have been depicted on the screen, beginning with Thomas Edison's short film A Trip to Salt Lake City (1905). Two surviving silent features, A Mormon Maid (1917) and Trapped by the Mormons (1922) will be screened in class as examples of dozens of films produced in the teens and 1920s depicting Mormons in a negative way. The first major Hollywood film to depict Mormons in a positive manner, Brigham Young (1940), and early film efforts of LDS filmmakers Ruth and Nathan Hale (of Hale Theatre fame) will be introduced. We will conclude God's Army (2000)and discuss the ways in which it challenged Mormon filmmakers to tell their own stories. Films not screened in class will be available on DVD for class members to borrow.