''Child Bride of Short Creek'' is a 1981 American
made-for-television
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...
written by
Joyce Eliason
Joyce Eliason (May 14, 1934 – January 10, 2022) was an American television writer and producer. She was best known for writing TV miniseries including ''Titanic'' and ''The Last Don'', and for the TV film ''The Jacksons: An American Dream''. El ...
, starring
Christopher Atkins
Christopher Atkins Bomann (born February 21, 1961) is an American actor and businessman, perhaps best known for his debut in the 1980 film '' The Blue Lagoon'' and playing Peter Richards in ''Dallas'' (1983–1984).
Early life
Christopher Atki ...
,
Diane Lane
Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film ''A Little Romance''.
The two films that could have catapulted her to star ...
,
Conrad Bain
Conrad Stafford Bain (February 4, 1923 – January 14, 2013) was a Canadian-American comedian and actor. His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom ''Diff'rent Strokes'', as Dr. Arthur Harmon on '' Maude'', ...
,
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.
Hunt rose to fame portraying Jam ...
and
Dee Wallace
Deanna Wallace (née Bowers; born December 14, 1948), also known as Dee Wallace Stone, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Taylor, the mother in the 1982 blockbuster film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. She is ...
. The film is a dramatization loosely based upon the 1953
Short Creek raid
The Short Creek raid was an Arizona Department of Public Safety and Arizona National Guard action against Mormon fundamentalists that took place on the morning of July 26, 1953, at Short Creek, Arizona. The Short Creek raid was the largest mass a ...
that had occurred in
Colorado City, Arizona
Colorado City is a town in Mohave County, Arizona, United States, and is located in a region known as the Arizona Strip. As of the 2020 census, the population of the town was 2,478, down from 4,821 in 2010. At least three Mormon fundamentalis ...
, and
Hildale, Utah
Hildale is a city in Washington County, Utah, United States. The population was 1,127 at the 2020 census.
Hildale is located on the border of Utah and Arizona.
History
Hildale, formerly known as Short Creek Community, was founded in 1913 by ...
, United States, collectively known as "Short Creek," a community of members of the
Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS Church) is a religious sect of the fundamentalist Mormon denominations whose members practice polygamy. The fundamentalist Mormon movement emerged in the early 20th century, ...
, a group that practices
child marriage
Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child.
*
*
*
* The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...
and
polygamy
Crimes
Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married ...
.
Plot
In 1953 Arizona, teenagers Jessica Rae "Jessie" Jacobs (Diane Lane) and her friend Naomi (Helen Hunt) have grown up in Short Creek as members of an isolated patriarchal polygamist religious community, led by President Frank King (Conrad Bain). The members of the small group dress in old-fashioned clothing and spend many hours a day doing domestic and agricultural chores with traditional equipment and few modern conveniences. The women are trained to serve and be subservient to their husbands. They rarely travel away from the community and are usually kept away from outside influences such as magazines and radio. Jessie's father Jay Jacobs has three wives, including Jessie's mother Mary, who only sees her husband on certain days when he is not with his other wives, and has mixed feelings about the arrangement. State authorities are also investigating the group due to its unlawful customs of polygamy and
child marriage
Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child.
*
*
*
* The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a ma ...
of young girls to older men.
President King's 19-year-old son Isaac (Christopher Atkins) returns home safely from serving in the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, having gained knowledge of the outside world through his travels. At his homecoming party, he and Jessie become attracted to each other, and over time they fall in love. To his father's chagrin, Isaac begins to reject the group's lifestyle, including the polygamy which allows the older men of the group to regularly take new young women as wives. Isaac further questions the group's beliefs when his younger sisters accidentally drown because they were not allowed to learn how to swim. Meanwhile, President King has confided to the men of the group that God has told him to take Jessie as his wife, in addition to the three wives he already has. Despite Jessie's youth, her father Jay accepts this as God's will.
Jessie's friend Naomi attempts to run away from Short Creek, planning to go to Las Vegas and become an actress. She naively accepts a ride from two young men who get her to drink alcohol for the first time and then try to rape her. She is rescued just in time by President King and driven back to Short Creek, where she is immediately married off to an old man to settle her down.
Isaac learns that his father is planning to marry Jessie and is furious, not only because of his own feelings for Jessie but because an additional wife will cause his mother to be further neglected by his father. President King also tells Jessie of his plan to marry her. A reluctant Jessie goes along with his plan because she wants to please her parents and do the will of God, but she is very unhappy.
Jessie and Isaac secretly confess their love for each other and plan to run away together. However, after going a short distance they see many armed police preparing to launch a raid on the group. Fearing for the lives of her mother and family, Jessie decides she must go back to warn them, and says an emotional goodbye to Isaac, who boards a bus alone as Jessie rushes back to warn the community just ahead of the police. The police arrive and separate the families, sending the women and children to barracks where they will be re-educated in a modern lifestyle, while the men are sent to jail.
Two years later, Jessie and her mother Mary, along with the other community women, are being transferred once again from one barracks to another and are in line to board the bus when Jessie sees Isaac, who has just arrived in a car. Mary, seeing that Isaac and Jessie still love each other, tells her daughter to "run, while you still have a chance". Jessie hugs Mary goodbye, and goes to join Isaac; they drive away together.
Cast
*
Christopher Atkins
Christopher Atkins Bomann (born February 21, 1961) is an American actor and businessman, perhaps best known for his debut in the 1980 film '' The Blue Lagoon'' and playing Peter Richards in ''Dallas'' (1983–1984).
Early life
Christopher Atki ...
: Isaac King
*
Diane Lane
Diane Colleen Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Born and raised in New York City, Lane made her screen debut at age 14 in George Roy Hill's 1979 film ''A Little Romance''.
The two films that could have catapulted her to star ...
: Jessica Jacobs
*
Conrad Bain
Conrad Stafford Bain (February 4, 1923 – January 14, 2013) was a Canadian-American comedian and actor. His television credits include a leading role as Phillip Drummond in the sitcom ''Diff'rent Strokes'', as Dr. Arthur Harmon on '' Maude'', ...
: Frank King
*
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress and director. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards.
Hunt rose to fame portraying Jam ...
: Naomi
*
Kiel Martin
Kiel Urban Mueller (July 26, 1944 – December 28, 1990), known professionally as Kiel Martin, was an American actor best known for his role as Detective John "J.D." La Rue on the 1980s television drama ''Hill Street Blues.''
Early years
Martin ...
: Bob Kalish
*
Dee Wallace
Deanna Wallace (née Bowers; born December 14, 1948), also known as Dee Wallace Stone, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Mary Taylor, the mother in the 1982 blockbuster film ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''. She is ...
: Mary Jacobs
* Julianne Slocum: Jacobs Daughter
* Jake Johnston: Garth Jacobs
* Karyn Christensen: Ada King
* Sharyn Christensen: Alma King
Production
Parts of the film were shot in
Grafton, Rockville Road, and
Rockville Bridge
The Rockville Bridge is the longest stone masonry arch railroad viaduct ever built, with forty-eight 70-foot (length), foot spans and a total length of . The bridge crosses the Susquehanna River about north of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The east ...
in
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Child Bride Of Short Creek
1981 television films
1981 films
1981 drama films
American films based on actual events
NBC network original films
Films about polygamy
Films about Mormonism
Polygamy in fiction
Works about polygamy in Mormonism
Films set in the 1950s
Films set in 1953
Films set in Arizona
Films shot in Utah
Television episodes about child marriage
Child marriage in the United States
Mormon fundamentalism in fiction
1980s English-language films
American drama television films
1980s American films