The Life of Nephi (lost silent film; 1915)
A still image from The Life of Nephi
Status: Partially Lost
The Life of Nephi is a silent film that is based on First Nephi in the Book of Mormon and was the first film in a planned series of films that would have covered all of the books found in The Book of Mormon. The film premiered in theaters only in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 25, 1915, on a running time of three reels. After its run in theaters, the film was never shown again and only forty stills have since resurfaced.
Background
In 1905, the first movie theater opened in Utah. Many people in Utah started to make short films to show in the movie theater. Many of these early films were very basic in nature and pertained to Mormon life as they would contain highlights from the General Conference and tours of historic Mormon sites in Utah. As films such as The Mountain Meadows Massacre which focuses on the Church's darker past started to premiere in theaters, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints wanted to start focusing on more positive films that focused on topics such as The Book of Mormon.[1]
Production
As The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints started to produce films that focused on the positive aspects of the church, the next step was to start making films about The Book of Mormon. William A. Morton was chosen to write and produce a film based off of First Nephi. The Church was unable to pay Morton for the film, so he took production into his own hands and hired Anton J. T. Sorensen and William J. Burn to help with the film. The Life of Nephi was filmed entirely in the outskirts of Salt Lake City. As was common practice in the silent film era, a bunch of unprofessional actors was used during the filming. The Life of Nephi was released on October 25, 1915.[2]
Availability
The Life of Nephi was shown in 1915, but was never shown after. As is common with many silent films of that time, many of the films were made simply corroded due to poor storage. Forty stills from The Life of Nephi survive today and it is possible that more are still out there as stills were found as recently as 2002.
References
- ↑ Article that talks about the early history of cinema in Utah Retrieved 10 Aug '18
- ↑ BYU library that talks about some of the film Retrieved 10 Aug '18