Primitive Comedy on Mormon Polygamy
(originally posted on IMDb 28 November 2012)

After watching "A Mormon Maid" (1917), which seemed ever more an insult to intelligence because it was a mainstream, commercial anti-Mormon film and, then, viewing another propaganda piece against Mormonism, "Trapped by the Mormons" (1922), which is so ridiculous it's campy, it was a pleasure to see this single shot-scene of early cinema--and what is likely the first film on the subject. "A Trip to Salt Lake City" doesn't lecture against the supposed evils of the religion and polygamy (in fact, as common of early films, there aren't even any title cards to lecture). It merely plays the practice for laughs (a practice the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints had only recently disavowed). As a result, this is the most honest and harmless treatment of the religion of the three silent films.

In its two-to-three-minutes runtime and single scene within a train carriage, a porter shows the Mormon's six wives and many children to their rooms. The humor is found in the wives and children's competing for the father's attentions.

(Note: In Grapevine's DVD, they say this film was produced by American Mutoscope & Biograph (AM&B) and distributed by Edison's company. This assertion, however, is obviously dubious in light of the fact that these companies were, in 1905, cutthroat competitors that didn't cooperate in making and releasing pictures. Indeed, other sources, including the Library of Congress, American Film Institute and Federation of International Film Archives, list this film as the sole work of AM&B. I've already submitted the appropriate corrections for the IMDb page.)