A Mormon Maid (1917) Online

"A Mormon Maid" is a historically interesting, if disturbing, anti-Mormon silent film. It was both a mainstream, commercial production and propaganda against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a perversion of their history. This dichotomy of "A Mormon Maid" had a strong precedent in the film that it largely imitates, "The Birth of a Nation" (1915), which was the most commercially successful motion picture ever at the time and which was also racist and distorted the history of the Reconstruction era. It seems evident that "A Mormon Maid" was hoped to piggyback on the success of D.W. Griffith's film through the misappropriation of the Ku Klux Klan into the history of the Mormons' trek to Utah—a thesis that has already been made by Richard Alan Nelson ("Commercial Propaganda in the Silent Film: A Case Study of A Mormon Maid (1917)") and others.

In "A Mormon Maid", the Hogue family is rescued from an inept Indian attack (typical of movies back then, the movie also features a bigoted, if brief, portrayal of Native Americans) by the Mormons. Their home ruined, they move to the Mormon community, where the father is forced to take a second wife and a Church Elder, Darius Burr, tries to force the virgin daughter into being his sixth-or-so wife. Of course, one of the most controversial aspects of the history of the Latter Day Saints is the former practice of polygamy, and this film fully sensationalizes it. Additionally, Burr manipulates the Mormon's leader, referred to in the film as the "lion of the lord", but a not so subtle and entirely historically unfounded depiction of the Church's second prophet Brigham Young as a patsy. (Perhaps even the filmmakers thought that depicting the Church's revered Prophet as the rapacious villain would be too unkind—although, reportedly, Young had as many as 55 wives.)

In the movie, the "Avenging Angels" enforce these forced marriages and prevent outsiders from entering the community and stop insiders from fleeing. Likewise, the Avenging Angels have some basis in reality, but their depiction in the film is almost entirely fiction. Otherwise known as the Danites, they were a Mormon fraternal and vigilante organization that, at least, fought for the Church in conflicts in Missouri, from which the Saints left for Utah. Their depiction in "A Mormon Maid", however, as dressing in white gowns similar to those worn by the Ku Klux Klan is reportedly, ahistorical. As Nelson says, there's no evidence for the film's claim that the Avenging Angels costume inspired that of the KKK. To the contrary, it seems more likely that this film's producers adopted the Klan dress so that images of the Avenging Angels here would capture some of the audience that was enthralled by the heroics of the KKK depicted in Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation". I'm guessing the addition of a spike on top of their head may've been taken from the Pickelhaube of WWI-era German military helmets. Also added, the all-seeing eye is used frequently by a different clandestine fraternity, the Free Masons, as well as by others, and although Mormons, allegedly, do have a history with Freemasonry going back to Joseph Smith, I'm unaware of the Eye of Providence having ever had this much of a significance in Mormonism. Thus, the Avenging Angels here becomes a conglomeration of hated, or otherwise secret, groups.

Another similarity between "A Mormon Maid" and "The Birth of a Nation" is the reduction of these historical battles to a fight to preserve the virginity of a young woman in the face of rapacious villains. The star of "A Mormon Maid" and the would-be wife of the film's director, Mae Murray plays the virgin much in the style of Lillian Gish in "The Birth of a Nation". The two actresses even share the distinctive feature of tiny lips. (Others have compared her unfavorably to Mary Pickford.) Unlike "The Birth of a Nation", however, "A Mormon Maid" makes villains out of its Klan.

Stylistically, this is a decent production for 1917 (although that was difficult to discern from the dark 16mm transfer to DVD that I saw). In addition to having some notable character actors from their day in the cast, the film was photographed by one of the best cinematographers of the silent era in Charles Rosher and had one of the best set designers in Wilfred Buckland, who worked regularly for Cecil B. DeMille, who himself supposedly supervised this picture. Yet, unlike "The Birth of a Nation", "A Mormon Maid" is not a groundbreaking epic of filmmaking that changed the industry and the art forever. In absence of the former film's innovations, the melodramatics of "A Mormon Maid" are all the more distracting. The Avenging Angels peering in windows and eavesdropping on conversations to advance the plot especially has a daytime soap opera feel to it, and the entire narrative is sensational. Nevertheless, this is an interesting historical document and a fairly well made production from a time when prejudices against the Mormon religion were prevalent and when even today some disregard the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as a "cult" and when many misunderstandings remain.

Report from Cinesation 2006: A MORMON MAID (****) Mae Murray and parents are taken in after an Indian attack by a Mormon community co-led by a lustful Noah Beery, who has eyes on making Mae the fifth or sixth Mrs. Beery. In a long career that included the likes of The Great Ziegfeld and Esther Williams, Robert Z. Leonard was never accused of an excess of personal style. Yet even he had enough skill and instinct to take full advantage of the visual opportunities provided by an army of ominously hooded religious zealots, lined up at night in gleaming white, or marching in lockstep with a defenseless young girl as their prisoner.

The Variety review quoted in the program guide inexplicably suggests that a short running time kept this 1917 film from achieving all it could. To modern eyes it's the fact that it races along at such a ferocious clip that is its greatest strength, along with the effective use of visuals which make the religious zealots more ominous and convincing villains than the usual rake lusting after the virginal heroine. In fact, for a change, the big strapping father is as much a victim trying to protect his chastity as the girl is, since he's ordered, to his horror, to take a second wife-- a sequence you haven't seen before in a silent movie, and one that's played for all it's worth.

This featured Mae Murray at her most enchanting and lovely - before she became caught up in the self enchanted Hollywood gold fish bowl. She was one of the very first Ziegfeld girls to become a Hollywood star, although Hollywood to Mae was a big disappointment compared to the dizzy heights of New York. It was still an easy going farming community but Mae was making it hum, even rushing into marriage with international playboy Jay O'Brien that was over as soon as it started. This happened during "A Mormon Maid" and also gave her a director in Robert Z. Leonard who was sympathetic to her highly strung artistic temperament.

Leonard was trying to make a movie that sympathized with the Mormons but it didn't turn out that way. A group of Mormon settlers are being plunged into exposure and starvation as they blindly follow their fanatical leader, the "Lion of the Lord". Yet another follower, Darius Burr, is elevated to a position of trust when his whisperings are mistaken for "revelations" - it's Noah Beery so you know there's dirty work at the crossroads somewhere. A strange plot connecting the later rise of the Ku Klux Klan to the "Avengers", a fanatical pack of vigilantes concerned with keeping the Mormon people pure and devoted to the cause.

Mae Murray plays Dora a hoydenish daughter of the Hogue family who come under the Mormon's sway when their farm burns down after an Indian attack. Two years later with the Mormon's support the Hogues have prospered but now Darius appears to claim his pound of flesh. He wants Farmer Hogue (Hobart Bosworth) to embrace the Mormon faith which includes polygamy - he has already picked out another bride for the bewildered farmer. Darius is also keen to get his hands on Dora as part of a "celestial marriage" - even though she is in love with a young man, a Mormon, who introduced the Hogues to his religion in the first place. Hogue and Dora race home to find the mother dead - she has killed herself over the shame of something she found impossible to understand. Obviously portions are missing because suddenly Tom is with Dora and her father escaping with them over the hills: they are soon rounded up but only two return!!

This film has some sensational scenes - it was obviously made at a time of high anti-Mormon sentiment. Dora is dragged back to Darius's harem but before the marriage takes place she has realised that only virgins are prized and she plans to denounce herself before the altar!! Heady stuff!! Noah Berry has a great time leering and grimacing, definitely the old school of acting, and plans to take her to the sacred rock to have his wicked way!! Frank Borzage who later became a director of heart stirring films ie "Seventh Heaven" etc played Tom and the ending features a happy surprise!!

There are some impressive names involved in this 1917 Lasky Production that so distorts the early history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that you would think that it was one of author Zane Grey's early Western tales that depicted the Mormons as villains. Come to think of it there were a couple of Grey's anti-Mormon novels made into movies around this time: RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE and its sequel, THE RAINBOW TRAIL(by William Fox IN 1918). The male lead of A MORMAN MAID is played by future Academy Award director Frank Borzage (he won the first year of the Oscars for 7th HEAVEN and a second Oscar for his directing of the sound BAD GIRL four years later). Borzage was born and raised in Salt Lake City among the Mormons -- he plays the role of a Mormon boy who is not aware of the evil practices of his Faith until he has to rescue his girl from the clutches of a forced marriage. And this film was photographed by the great cinematographer Charles Rosher (Oscar winner for SUNRISE [1927] and THE YEARLING [1946]). As to the supposed star of the film, Mae Murray, she gives a terrible impression of a Mary Pickford! Interesting today only as an example of how motion pictures are often used to present fabrication as being the truth! Like the later British film TRAPPED BY THE MORMONS (1922), A MORMON MAID is fascinating today as one of the few anti-Mormon films to survive.

I was delighted to find that this fascinating Robert Z. Leonard movie is now available on a good Grapevine DVD. Admittedly, the director was hampered by the fact that the star was his wife, Mae Murray, who loved to overact and was not a person to take direction at all well. But excluding Mrs. Leonard's overwrought contribution as Dora Hogue, it's a well-made, big-budget, anti-Mormon tract featuring a wonderfully sinister performance from Noah Beery as Darius Burr, plus great acting from Richard Cummings as Burr's puppet, Hobart Bosworth as John Hogue and a young Frank Borzage as the hero, Tom Rigdon. A fortune was spent on sinister costumes and one wonders how true-to-life all the anti-Mormon propaganda in this film is.

Throughout most of her career, superstar beauty Mae Murray collaborated with director Robert Z. Leonard, her husband, creating a long string of silent successes. She often earned writing credit and participated in other aspects of production as well as acting.

This very early work is an amazingly imitative exercise in the "art film" category before Mae was reinvented, utilizing her true talent and personality, as the glamorous "girl with the bee stung lips."

Here, Mae is a pure and simple Mary Pickford imitator as were so many stars of the earliest silent era, and the film itself is a patent imitation -- although lacking the brilliance -- of D.W. Griffith conception and directorial excellence.

Please look to plot summary contributed elsewhere.