The Second Wave: Home Cinema (1929-1953)

Authors

Randy Astle
Gideon O. Burton

Keywords

Mormon studies, cinema, Mormon filmmaking, Home Cinema

Abstract

The Second Wave differed from the First in various respects. For instance, by the 1930s the global film industry was well past its primitive pioneer era, and, within Mormonism, the increased sophistication of Second Wave films reflects this progress. In addition, technical advances (principally sound, but also color) renewed enthusiasm about the medium, both generally and among the Latter-day Saints. While this optimism did propel institutional and independent Mormon filmmaking toward some major projects, the decade of the 1930s—and to a lesser extent the 1940s— has generally been described for its lack of Mormon film production. Such a perception, however, does not give full credit to changes and growth in underlying areas of Mormon cinema that created a sustainable cinematic culture that would last throughout the ensuing years. Indeed, the 1930s and 1940s were decades in which both the mainstream film industry and the LDS Church itself reinvented the relationship between Mormonism and cinema.

Recommended Citation

Astle, Randy and Burton, Gideon O. (2007) "The Second Wave: Home Cinema (1929-1953)," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 46: Iss. 2, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol46/iss2/4