Corianton: A Story of Unholy Love

Corianton: A Story of Unholy Love is a 1931 film based on the story of Corianton, son of Alma in the Book of Mormon.

The film's existence can be traced to the 1889 novel Corianton by B. H. Roberts. That novel, along with A Ship of Hagoth by Julia A. MacDonald, was made into a play by Orestes U. Bean in 1902. With the financial backing of George Elias Blair, Bean presented the play in Salt Lake City with Joseph Hawthorn in the title role and Rose Agnes Lane in a major female part. It was criticized by critics as too long, but was a theatrical success. It failed when it went on the road to non-Mormon audiences but was then successfully revived in Salt Lake City and other smaller Utah communities.

In 1912 Bean took the play to Broadway with music by Harold Orlob. It had six performances but was resoundingly rejected by critics.

In the late 1920s Lester Park and his brother Byron Park. The Parks recruited Edgar Stillman Kelly to write the music. When it was released in 1931 it was the first commercially produced, Mormon themed film.

References
  • Truman G. Madsen. Defender of the Faith: The Life of B. H. Roberts. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1980. p. 296-297.
  • Ardis E. Parshall (June 8, 2007). "'Corianton': Genealogy of a Mormon Phenomenon". Keepapitchinin.
  • Mormon arts database entry for this film
  • Peter Lafayette Frandsen Finding aid authors: Norm Gillespie (2008). "Peter Lafayette Frandsen Collection on Corianton". Prepared for the L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Provo, UT. Retrieved May 31, 2016.


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