Windows of Heaven (1963)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Judge Whitaker

Writers:

Richard Neil Evans (writer)
Scott Whitaker (writer)

Genre:

Short | Drama

Plot:

As 85-year-old President Lorenzo Snow struggles to vanquish the two million dollar indebtedness of the Mormon church in 1899...

Plot Keywords:

Tithing | Drought | Carriage | Promise | Mormon

Cast

Francis L. Urry	...	President Lorenzo Snow
John B. Fetzer	...	President Daniel McArthur
Rowena Miller	...	Mary McArthur
Lethe Tatge	...	Sister Snow
Alonzo J. Morley	...	George F. Gibbs (secretary to Pres. Snow)
Grant Graff	...	Matt Henry (Senior Telegrapher)
Charles C. Wood
Richard Keddington	...	Brother Gage
Jay G. Baumgardner
Floyd Hunt
Blaine R. Andrus
Uriel B. Todd
Haskell Shurtliff
D.H. Edwards
Roland L. Olson

Runtime:

50 min | 32 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Ely, Nevada, USA

Company:

Brigham Young University

Trivia:

The greatest challenge of the makeup artist, 'Joseph Hadley', was to transform 'Francis Urry' from a middle-aged man to appear as Lorenzo Snow, who was about 30 years older. Wetzel O. Whitaker recounts in his memoirs, "Pioneering With Film" that from his very first scene in costume and makeup (Beehive House in Salt Lake City), Urry assumed a shuffling gait and stooped figure and stayed in character through the end of the production whenever he was made up as President Snow, "Actually he was a man about my age, but so convincing was he that I found myself assisting him up and down stairways--and he allowed me to do it !"

Quotes:

[After George F. Gibbs, the secretary to Pres. Snow has been asked to arrange for President Snow's trip to St. George, known as "Utah's Dixie" due to mild weather]
George F. Gibbs (secretary to Pres. Snow): Oh by the way, that's certainly a terrible drought they're having in St. George... driest season in many years according to reports. I do hope you don't dry up and blow away down there president.
President Snow: You ought to know me better than that George, it takes more than a little "Dixie" hot air to melt this Snow.

Disney-esquire version of story from Mormon History

The script of the movie comes from a well documented chapter in Mormon history. The movie itself (especially the original long version) has a very Walt Disney sappy happy happy feel. That's because the lead production people WERE Walt Disney alumni. The director, Wetzel Whitaker, was a Walt Disney pioneer who had worked for the studio for over 40 years.

Is it dated? Oh yes. In so many ways including the horribly bad fake beards it looks like something from 1963, which is when it was made. Kennedy was in the White House. The top movies were Lawrence of Arabia, Lilies of the Field and To Kill a Mockingbird.