Producer Zanuck and Director Hathaway team up in “Brigham Young, Frontiersman”

Legendary 20th Century Fox producer Darryl F. Zanuck recruited Paramount’s up-and-coming director Henry Hathaway to helm his 1940 epic, Brigham Young, Frontiersman. Hathaway reportedly replied, “The two dullest things [to make a movie about] are wagon trains and religion.” After Zanuck mentioned the film’s $2.7 million budget and stars Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell, Hathaway reconsidered.

Image courtesy of IMDb.

Eleanor Harris had written a compelling story about Brigham Young that was repeatedly turned down because of controversy surrounding polygamy Zanuck believed the plight of the early Mormons resembled the persecution of Jews in Europe under Adolf Hitler. He hired Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield to adapt Harris’ manuscript while minimizing the polygamy issue.

The story begins shortly before the death of Joseph Smith in Illinois and follows the westward migration of his followers to the Salt Lake Valley under Brigham Young’s leadership. Kanab was one of 12 filming locations used in the production. Although the Salt Lake City scenes were filmed in California, most of the wagon train journey was shot in Little Hollywood. Exact filming locations are difficult to identify, but those sequences account for roughly 15 percent of the movie’s running time.

Tyrone Power stars as Jonathan Kent, a devoted follower of Brigham Young. Linda Darnell plays Zina Webb, who joins the Mormon migration west, while Dean Jagger portrays Brigham Young as he leads his people to the Salt Lake Valley. Tyrone Power came from a family of performers and became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars after Lloyd’s of London in 1936. He served as a Marine Corps pilot during World War II before returning to films. He died of a heart attack while filming Solomon and Sheba in Spain in 1958 at age 44.

Linda Darnell was only 17 when she starred in Brigham Young, Frontiersman, her fourth leading role. She first auditioned for Hollywood at 13 but was told to return when she was older. She died in a house fire in 1965 at age 41.

Dean Jagger was relatively unknown when cast as Brigham Young. Ironically, Moroni Olsen, who played Doc Richards, was the only Latter-day Saint in the cast during filming. Jagger joined the Church in 1972 and died in 1991 at age 87.

Despite favorable reviews, Brigham Young, Frontiersman failed to turn a profit at the box office.