Brigham Young (1940)

In 1844, after the assassination of Mormon leader Joseph Smith by an angry mob in Illinois, the Mormons choose Brigham Young as their new leader and follow him to a new promised land in Utah.

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Louis Bromfield, Lamar Trotti (screenplay)

Stars:

Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Dean Jagger

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tyrone Power	...	Jonathan Kent
Linda Darnell	...	Zina Webb
Dean Jagger	...	Brigham Young
Brian Donlevy	...	Angus Duncan
Jane Darwell	...	Eliza Kent
John Carradine	...	Porter Rockwell
Mary Astor	...	Mary Ann Young
Vincent Price	...	Joseph Smith
Jean Rogers	...	Clara Young
Ann E. Todd	...	Mary Kent (as Ann Todd)
Willard Robertson	...	Heber Kimball
Moroni Olsen	...	Doc Richards
Marc Lawrence	...	Prosecutor
Stanley Andrews	...	Hyrum Smith
Frank M. Thomas	...	Hubert Crum (as Frank Thomas)

Storyline

The true story of the famous Mormon leader, Brigham Young and his battle to transport his people across the Rocky mountains to settle in Salt Lake City. The plot focuses on two of his people, Jonathan Kent and Zina Webb and the hardships they have to face along the way.

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Plot Keywords:

brigham young character | character name as title | two word title | rocky mountains | hardship | 

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Taglines:

The Great American Motion Picture !

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | History | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 September 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Brigham Young: Frontiersman

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Ranch, Malibu Creek State Park - 1925 Las Virgenes Road, Calabasas, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,700,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min 113 min (FMC Library Print) 114 min (copyright length)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the August 23rd, 1940 edition of The Post-Register, the second city to premiere this film, after the Salt Lake City premiere, was Idaho Falls. It opened at the Paramount Theatre (now the Colonial Theater) on Thursday, August 29th, 1940.

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Goofs

In the movie Joseph Smith is shown unarmed when he is shot and killed. In reality he was armed with a "Pepper" pistol.

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Quotes

Joseph Smith: Perhaps it's time to show a different kind of courage... and do something besides being killed for what we believe.

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Connections

Edited into The Unauthorized Hagiography of Vincent Price (2014)

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Soundtracks

Shimalong Joe
(uncredited)
Composer unknown
Played by a band at the party and sung by Fuzzy Knight

User Reviews

Good Historical Fiction--Great Acting!

Hollywood cannot do justice to History, but this was not a bad attempt. As a Mormon, I found it tastefully done and essentially accurate. The cast was great. Of course, many details were missing or changed, but that is the nature of history and this movie did a good job of portraying the emotions that bring history alive.