''Brigham'' is a 1977 American film which is a biopic of American religious figure

Brigham Young Brigham Young (; June 1, 1801August 29, 1877) was an American religious leader and politician. He was the second President of the Church (LDS Church), president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), from 1847 until his ...

, directed by

Samuel Bronston Samuel Bronston (March 26, 1908 – January 12, 1994) was a Bessarabian-born American film producer, film director, and a nephew of socialist revolutionary figure, Leon Trotsky. He was also the petitioner in a U.S. Supreme Court case that set a ...

from a script by Philip Yordan. The film starred Maurice Grandmaison as Brigham Young, and Richard Moll as

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

. In a 1988 interview, Yordan recalled he had written the film for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

. In fact, the film was not commissioned or funded by the Church, but produced independently by Church member David Yeaman and released by Sunset Films. The movie was released in 1977 and was poorly received. It was re-released as ''The New Brigham'', and again in 1983 as ''Savage Journey''.

References

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''Brigham''
at BFI 1977 films American biographical films Mormon cinema Brigham Young 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{bio-film-stub