On the Big Screen in Utah

Dr. Strange, Brewvies, Salt Lake City

This year Mindy and I are going to a church, a bar, and a movie (in a theater) in every state. There are other things we do in every state -- eat and sleep, for instance. And watch a movie (on DVD or streaming) that was set in the state we’re in. And send a postcard to two little girls in Texas (though we didn’t do that in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico or Texas). Obviously, this is a lot  to do in a week -- well, maybe not a lot to do, but at least it’s some to do -- so we occasionally combine things. In Ohio we went to a church that met in a bar. In Utah we went to a movie theater at a bar. Or was it a bar at a movie theater? I’m really not sure.

I already wrote about the bar part of this combined experience here, and I’m writing about the movie part, well, here:

Let me start at the end of Dr. Strange, the movie we saw in Utah. Audiences have learned to stick around for the end credits of Marvel movies, because when it is over, it really isn’t over. After “The End,” there is always something else. It used to be a hint, a clue of a Marvel character who might appear in a feature film -- a glimpse of Captain America’s shield or Thor’s hammer. Or they might end with a joke --the Avengers sitting around eating schwarma. But the end credits of Dr. Strange seem to be just a preview of coming attractions for future films. Marvel, please change things up.

Marvel did change one thing up from previous films. Most every Marvel film seems to end with a climactic battle in a big city between our hero or heroes and a giant something -- robot or alien or hamster. Dr. Strange seems to be headed in that direction, and then with a clever twist, headed in a different direction. So kudos to them for that.

Scott Derrickson (looking like Dr. Strange)

There is a church in this story of a crippled surgeon who gains mystical powers. The villain attempts an evil incantation in a beautiful sanctuary. Why he’s in a church is never discussed, but one thing can be said about it: it seems to be a very welcoming place if they let in evil super villains.

The film was directed by Scott Derrickson, a graduate of Biola University, a Christian liberal arts school. Dr. Strange is not a “Christian” film, but it does point to the importance of finding meaning outside of ourselves and the material world.

The end credits promise more Dr. Strange films, which is probably a good thing. At least if Benedict Cumberbatch works on his American accent.

On the Small Screen in Utah

If you are a guy of a certain age there were a few films that everyone quoted, such as The Blues Brothers and Animal House. And a number of the other films that were watched again and again were films starring Chevy Chase, including Vacations I & III (but not II), The Three Amigos, and, most quoted of all, Caddyshack. Then his career crashed, and his films became utterly unwatchable, perhaps reaching the nadir with The Karate Dog. But before the great downswing, he made 1985’s Fletch.

Fletch was based on a novel in a popular mystery series by Gregory McDonald. The screenplay was written by Andrew Bergman (The In-Laws) and directed by Michael Ritchie (The Bad News Bears). Chase’s Fletch, a reporter for an unspecified Los Angeles paper, is working on a story about the drug trade on a Southern California beach. But the bad guy has a connection to Utah.

Fletch follows the baddie, Alan Stanwyk -- played by Tim Matheson (Animal House) -- to Provo. He asks someone whether Stanwyk is a Mormon and is told, “I don’t think he does a lot of singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.”

When Fletch learns about Stanwyk’s second wife, he says, “That’s illegal, even in Utah.” So there’s not a lot of Utah in the film, but that which is there is important. (There was filming in Utah, but Ogden plays the part of Provo.)

Utah also has a very memorable cameo at the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). River Phoenix plays young Indy in a chase, via horse and train, through Arches National Park in Moab where the audience learns how the hero got his whip, his hat, and a scar. There are much less interesting races via automobiles in Need for Speed (2014), based on the popular video game. Aaron Paul races a Shelby Mustang through Moab and the Bonneville Salt Flats. A better car chase film is Vanishing Point (1971), an existential thriller with Barry Newman speeding a Chrysler Imperial through Cisco and Thompson Springs.

Utah has provided locations for many Westerns, most famously those directed by John Ford. In two of the greatest Westerns ever made, Stagecoach (1939) and The Searchers (1956), Ford prominently featured both John Wayne and Monument Valley. Warlock might sound like a horror film, but it was another Western featuring Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark and Arches National Park.

Carnival of Souls (1962) was a horror film, a low budget one, that featured the Great Salt Lake and other Utah landmarks made quite sinister by means of its odd black and white photography. It has been featured before in Movie Churches as its main character is a church organist.

A quite different film set and filmed in Salt Lake City is Chilly Scenes of Winter (the original title in 1979 was Head Over Heels), a romantic comedy starring John Heard and Mary Beth Hurt. The original theatrical release had a happy ending, but later releases ended on a more melancholy note, like the novel the film was based upon.

A film based on a grim true story is 2010’s 127 Hours about a canyoneer who became trapped in a climbing accident near Moab. He was forced to amputate his own arm (real life spoilers), the film was nominated for Best Picture, director Danny Boyle was nominated for his writing, and James Franco was nominated for his performance as Aron Ralston.

Another true story that’s more famous locally, is that of the original Mormon pioneers who settled the state. In 1940, 20th Century Fox featured Dean Jagger as the title character in Brigham Young, though the real stars were Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell as young lovers following their leader from Illinois through Nebraska to the Great Basin of Utah. (Unusual for a studio at the time, there was location shooting including in Kanab, Utah.)