The read
It runs a compact 1h 8m.
Synopsis
This silent melodrama is set against the 1840s westward migration of the Mormons. Dora, a young woman, and her family are saved from an Indian attack by a Mormon community traveling to Utah. They join the wagon train. Dora is pursued by two men, one a recent convert, the other a scheming elder with a stable of wives. The Mormon elder wants her in his harem. When the mother kills herself from revulsion toward polygamy, the daughter must consider her own future and the man she loves. One of Mae Murray's few surviving films, this was intended by Robert Leonard to be a thoughtful drama about the goods and evils of Mormonism, but today it is generally considered pure anti-Mormon propaganda.
Ratings
IMDb5.8/10
5 audience votes
Key crew
- Robert Z. LeonardDirector
- Charles SarverWriter
Cast
- Mae MurrayDora
- Frank BorzageTom Rigdon
- Hobart BosworthJohn Hogue
- Edythe ChapmanNancy Hogue
- Noah BeeryDarius Burr
- Richard CummingsLion of the Lord
Stills
Themes
polygamysilent film