Eek! Trapped … by the Mormons!
Trapped by the Mormons, a 1922 anti-Mormon/exploitation film now better appreciated for its unintentional campiness, is now available on DVD. Grapevine Video and Hale Video are selling the film accompanied by a new organ score and some interesting featurettes. (Aside: check out Grapevine’s collection of restored silent and other early films!)
The extra features include a documentary about the scoring of the film (and the Wurlitzer theater organ’s renovation); a discussion with Deseret Morning News and Salt Lake Tribune film critics about the history of the film; a full-length commentary by film historian James D’Arc; Thomas Edison’s 1905 short film, A Trip to Salt Lake City, also with new organ score; and the novel text for Winifred Graham’s The Love Story of a Mormon, the 1911 Mills & Boon novel from which Trapped was adapted.
So, what’s all the fuss about?
The plot is simple: a Mormon missionary in Britain attempts to lure unsuspecting young ladies into plural marriage. He very nearly succeeds (thanks to the mesmerizing power of his penetrating stare) and almost acquires an entire secretarial pool, but is thwarted when his first wife refuses to comply, and his new convert is rescued by her fiancé.
As entertainment value goes, it’s not bad. I found The Book of Mormon Movie far more hilarious for unintentional camp (It’s the wrong camels, and they’ve gone wrong!), but Trapped is an amusing look at anti-Mormon propaganda and would be of interest to LDS history or film buffs. A well-developed sense of snark is optional, but makes the time pass more pleasantly (and plugs some pesky plot holes). Given her fiancés hair-trigger, belligerent behavior, I’d question whether the film had a happy ending; poor Nora might have been better off in the Mormons’ crystal temple harem on the shores of Salt Lake. At least Elder Keane took her out for dinner and dancing. One also wonders if the missionary program might be more successful if young trainees were instructed in hypnosis.
My copy of Trapped has technical problems with the introductory sequence (it plays on the computer but not on my regular DVD player), but the film and featurettes play just fine. The organ score adds fun historic flavor.
In 2005, Trapped by the Mormons was filmed with a new cast and has just been released on DVD, too. I haven’t seen it yet, but a film that promises to “ensnare young girls in an evil Mormon web of passion, polygamy, and pamphlets” is worth a look. It can’t be worse than some of the films classified as LDS-themed entertainment … some of those are truly scary.
