The Avenging Angel (1995) (TV)

Director:

Craig R. Baxley

Writers (WGA):

Gary Stewart (novel)
Dennis Nemec (teleplay)

Release Date:

22 January 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

A Blazing Western Adventure (Video Australia)

Plot:

Miles Utley is a professional Mormon commando/bodyguard who is forced to turn renegade and to question his faith as he investigates a scandal involving assassination and land speculation.

Plot Keywords:

Mormon | Religion | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Tom Berenger	...	Miles Utley
James Coburn	...	Porter Rockwell
Fay Masterson	...	Miranda Young
Kevin Tighe	...	Benjamin Rigby
Jeffrey Jones	...	Brother Milton Long
Tom Bower	...	Bill Hickman
Leslie Hope	...	Liza Rigby
Daniel Quinn	...	Alpheus Young
Andrew Prine	...	Andrew Pike
Lisa Banes
Drew Snyder
Tracey Ellis
Charlton Heston	...	Brigham Young
Patrick Gorman	...	Jonathan Parker
Miles Feulner	...	Josh Heaton

Runtime:

91 min | UK:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | UK:12 (video premiere) | Iceland:16

Company:

Esparza / Katz Productions

Trivia:

The film is not entirely fictitious: Brigham Young was president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and he did have a home in St. George.

Quotes:

Utley: You know, Alpheus, the problem with polygamy is that when you've had 27 wives and 56 children, one's just bound to turn out as dirt-stupid and pig-ugly as you.

Fictitious yet not entirely untrue

Yes this film was based on a fictitious figure yet cannot be written off as untrue. There was an organization known as the Danites and no Joseph Smith did not immediately disband them and condemn them, in fact, he attended some of the meetings. He did disband them once he saw the true scope of activities and he excommunicated the band leader Joseph Avaard, however, Orrin Porter Rockwell, who is portrayed in the movie, was indeed a member of the Danites and was Joseph and Brigham's personal body guard. I feel the movie was more about Porter than Miles Utley and Bill Hickman was also real. In fact, Miles was about the only character who was made up. The attempts against Brigham's life were real and the internal leadership struggles were real. The Mountain Meadow Massacre is a perfect example of the type of nervous hair trigger leadership that prevailed in the early days of the church after the martyrdom of the prophet and the cowardly murder of P.P.Pratt in Arkansas. Though Grigham was exonerated for the attack on the Arkansas wagon train, the crime was perpetrated by leaders of the local church concerned about the wagon train proceeding to California, raising a militia and returning bent on sacking the outlying Mormon communities. They mercilessly murdered men women and children thinking the general leadership would condone the act but were seriously flawed in their judgment. This movie gives us a glimpse into the paranoid mentality of the epoch and I think it is well worth the time to watch.