handcarts

A fictionalized account of a historical family who traveled in the 1856 Willie handcart company. From the DVD cover: Perilous Journey is a dramatic full-length story based on the experiences of the Samuel Pucell family who in 1856 joined the ill-fated handcart companies that met with tragedy on the high plains of Wyoming. Filled with humor, adversity and romance, this story is climaxed by the faith and courage of a young man who spared the Pucell family from another tragedy. The film focuses around the oldest Pucell daughter Ellen. Various historical events from other families have been inserted into the Pucells' story.

See Mormon Film: Key Films of the Fourth Wave This film was created by John Linton with largely amateur help and virtually no budget. The production process was full of devotion, with daily prayers, etc. (Linton was serving as a bishop at the time) from his virtually 100% LDS cast and crew, most of whom donated their time. The film premiered in a theater then was distributed on television and video, resulting in conflicting release dates of 1983 and 1984. Despite the nonprofessional status of most of the principals, Perilous Journey maintains production values--in the acting as well as with the crew--that rank equal to the theatrical film Brigham (1977) and many higher-budget projects released in theaters since 2000. It is virtually unknown in LDS film history, receiving two single releases on VHS and then DVD, both of a mediocre transfer quality. Though technically flawed and occasionally corny, it deserves to be better known than it has been as an important production of the 1980s.

on DVDMM 18, VC 7583

1983

USA

Summer-Winter 1856

English

Excel Video International Corporation

Mormon Contributor(s)

David Else; Janene Pearce; Karen Thomas; Tisha Read; Curtis Linton; Joel Osborne; Scott Peterson; Mike Montrose; Will Hazlett; LaMarr Nelson

none

Narrative Film; Significant Mormon Elements

Commercial Video (VHS/DVD); Television

99 min.

16mm color