The film, which does not mention Mormonism, has proved consistently popular all over the world, as demonstrated by the fact that at least once a year, every year since it was produced, Wilson is asked to speak on her role as Mahana, and fans still recognize the Hawaiian beauty wherever she travels. Harris, the local shopkeeper played by the late Francis Urry, that he had loved Mahana since they were children, and it was important for her to know how he cherised her.
They calculate she is worth one cow at most, at a time when other women boast of being a "four-cow" and even a "five-cow wife." When the couple return from their extended honeymoon, Moki and the villagers are stunned to learn how beautiful Mahana has become, while Lingo explains to Mr. Moki and others regard Mahana as ugly and a poor match. The 24-minute "Johnny Lingo," filmed on location by the Brigham Young University Motion Picture Studio for the church's Sunday School auxiliary, tells how a Polynesian trader played by the late Hawaiian actor, Makee Blaisdell (also known as Blaizdel MaKee), gets ridiculed after he offers Moki the excessive bride-price of eight cows for Mahana. There is no record of concern on Whitaker's or any one else's part about the film's sexism (even eight cows still commodify Mohanna), and it is interesting that apparently no revisionist readings have been offered.īYU/ LDS Motion Picture Studio Production #0612.The BYU–Hawaii-based Mormon Pacific Historical Society and the Laie Community Association co-sponsored the reunion as part of the annual Laie Days, which, similar to the Days of '47 in Utah, celebrates Laie's Latter-day Saint pioneer heritage going back to 1865. Judge Whitaker was intially quite concerned about the inherent racism of the piece, and was relieved when all the locals in Hawaii apparently loved the story.
Lingo lingo movie movie#
It has woven itself into the fabric of American LDS life more than any other book, play, or movie it even spawned a children's book in 1993 and a theatrical remake in 2003. Johnny Lingo premiered in 1969 to an enthusiastic response that has hardly waned. The crew worked through a few small miracles, primarily concerning weather and cattle rustling (there were never eight cows on set) essentially the only problem that could be satisfactorily resolved was the lack of realistic wigs in Hawaii, but in subsequent years these large hairpieces have added much of the film's charm. All the others were locals, including BYU-Hawaii student Naomi Kahoilua who played Mohanna.
Lingo lingo movie professional#
The only professional actors brought in were Francis Urry, who had played Lorenzo Snow in Windows of Heaven (1963), and Blaizdell MaKee for the title role of Johnny. It was adapted by Orma Wallengren and filming proceeded fairly easily in Hawaii in late 1968. The story came from a Woman's Day magazine article called "Johnny Lingo's Eight Cow Wife" by Patricia McGerr, a Catholic. (The Sunday School was a regular client of the BYU Motion Picture Department, with their yearly metes often keeping the studio in the black.) Given its secular nature, however, it was eventually made with funds from both the Sunday School and the university's educational film budget. See Mormon Film: Key Films of the Third Wave Johnny Lingo began as a routine assignment to create a film about self-worth for the February 1969 General Sunday School Convention.