A Mormon Maid
- April 22, 1917 (1917-04-22)
A Mormon Maid is a 1917 American silent drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and written by Charles Sarver and Paul West. While traveling westward with her family, Dora must face the proposal to become a Mormon elder's sixth wife. The film stars Mae Murray, Frank Borzage, Hobart Bosworth, Edythe Chapman, Noah Beery, Sr., and Richard Henry Cummings. The film was released on April 22, 1917, by Paramount Pictures.[1][2] The film survives complete.[3]
Plot
Set in the 1840s during the Mormon migration westward, this film introduces a young woman named Dora and her family as they travel west. After being saved from an Indian attack by a Mormon community, the family joins their wagon train traveling to Utah. Throughout the film, Dora is pursued by two men, one a recent convert to the church and the other a scheming elder with multiple wives. Dora's mother ends up killing herself due to her revulsion towards polygamy, leaving Dora to consider her own future and the man she loves.[4] The elder is a former apostle of the church and is determined to have Dora as his sixth wife. After refusing to marry him, Dora eventually ends up killing the old man as he tries to capture her for his own. To summarize, the plot of this film explores the implications of Dora's rejecting becoming a polygamist wife.[5]
Cast
- Mae Murray as Dora
- Frank Borzage as Tom Rigdon
- Hobart Bosworth as John Hogue
- Edythe Chapman as Nancy Hogue
- Noah Beery, Sr. as Darius Burr
- Richard Henry Cummings as Lion of the Lord
Reception
Like many American films of the time, A Mormon Maid was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors cut two intertitles, "I am not a –" and "You have scoffed at our faith – now you will pay."[6] Many towns received this film with open arms, misunderstanding the film as an exposé on Mormonism and the religion's practices. One newspaper even went so far as to link the film to the K. K. K.[7]
References
- ^ Hal Erickson (2015). "A-Mormon-Maid - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 1, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
- ^ "A Mormon Maid". AFI. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
- ^ Library of Congress. “Mormon Maid.” American Silent Feature Film Survival Database, 1 Jan. 1917, http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.2609/default.html. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
- ^ "Description". A Mormon maid (1917). c. 2000s. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
- ^ "Refuses to Become Wife Number Six!". The Buffalo Evening Times. 22 May 1917. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
- ^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 5 (11): 33. September 8, 1917.
- ^ "Apollo". The Dayton Herald. 28 Feb 1920. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
Further reading
- Nelson, Richard Alan (1987). "Commercial Propaganda in the Silent Film: A Case Study of 'A Mormon Maid' (1917)". Film History. 1 (2). Indiana University Press: 149–62. JSTOR 3815086.
External links
- A Mormon Maid at IMDb
- Karen Glenn, John Murphy (2013). "A Mormon Maid". Prepared for the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Provo, Utah. Retrieved May 16, 2016.
- A Mormon Maid available for free download at Internet Archive
- v
- t
- e
- The Master Key (1914)
- The Ruby Circle (1914)
- Christmas Memories (1915)
- Judge Not (1915)
- The Love Girl (1916)
- Secret Love (1916)
- The Crippled Hand (1916)
- The Eagle's Wings (1916)
- Little Eve Edgarton (1916)
- The Plow Girl (1916)
- On Record (1917)
- A Mormon Maid (1917)
- The Primrose Ring (1917)
- At First Sight (1917)
- Princess Virtue (1917)
- Face Value (1918)
- The Bride's Awakening (1918)
- Danger, Go Slow (1918)
- Her Body in Bond (1918)
- Modern Love (1918)
- The Big Little Person (1919)
- The Delicious Little Devil (1919)
- The Scarlet Shadow (1919)
- What Am I Bid? (1919)
- The Way of a Woman (1919)
- The Miracle of Love (1919)
- April Folly (1920)
- The Restless Sex (1920)
- Stronger Than Death (1920)
- The Gilded Lily (1921)
- Heedless Moths (1921)
- Peacock Alley (1922)
- Fascination (1922)
- Broadway Rose (1922)
- Jazzmania (1923)
- Fashion Row (1923)
- The French Doll (1923)
- Mademoiselle Midnight (1924)
- Circe, the Enchantress (1924)
- Love's Wilderness (1924)
- Cheaper to Marry (1925)
- Time, the Comedian (1925)
- Bright Lights (1925)
- Dance Madness (1926)
- Mademoiselle Modiste (1926)
- The Waning Sex (1926)
- A Little Journey (1927)
- The Demi-Bride (1927)
- Adam and Evil (1927)
- Tea for Three (1927)
- Baby Mine (1928)
- The Cardboard Lover (1928)
- A Lady of Chance (1928)
- Marianne (1929, silent)
- Marianne (1929, musical)
- The Divorcee (1930)
- In Gay Madrid (1930)
- Let Us Be Gay (1930)
- The Bachelor Father (1931)
- Five and Ten (1931)
- It's a Wise Child (1931)
- Susan Lenox (Her Fall and Rise) (1931)
- Lovers Courageous (1932)
- The Son-Daughter (1932)
- Strange Interlude (1932)
- When Ladies Meet (1933)
- Dancing Lady (1933)
- Peg o' My Heart (1933)
- Outcast Lady (1934)
- After Office Hours (1935)
- Naughty Marietta (1935)
- Escapade (1935)
- A Tale of Two Cities (1935)
- The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
- Small Town Girl (1936)
- Piccadilly Jim (1936)
- Maytime (1937)
- The Firefly (1937)
- The Girl of the Golden West (1938)
- Broadway Serenade (1939)
- New Moon (1940)
- Pride and Prejudice (1940)
- Third Finger, Left Hand (1940)
- Ziegfeld Girl (1941)
- When Ladies Meet (1941)
- We Were Dancing (1942)
- Stand By for Action (1942)
- The Man from Down Under (1943)
- Marriage Is a Private Affair (1944)
- Week-End at the Waldorf (1945)
- The Secret Heart (1946)
- Cynthia (1947)
- B.F.'s Daughter (1948)
- The Bribe (1949)
- In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
- Nancy Goes to Rio (1950)
- Duchess of Idaho (1950)
- Grounds for Marriage (1951)
- Too Young to Kiss (1951)
- Everything I Have Is Yours (1952)
- The Clown (1953)
- The Great Diamond Robbery (1953)
- Her Twelve Men (1954)
- The King's Thief (1955)
- Beautiful but Dangerous (1955)
- Kelly and Me (1957)
This 1910s drama film-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e