Based on a true story
Written & Directed by T. C. Christensen
Based on Mine Angels Round About by Terry Bohle Montague
With: Paul Wuthrich as Elder Norman Seibold,David McConnell as German Mission President M. Douglas Wood
Do What is Right (Mormon hymm)
Resolutely:
1. Do what is right; the day-dawn is breaking,
Hailing a future of freedom and light.
Angels above us are silent notes taking
Of ev’ry action; then do what is right!
Do what is right; let the consequence follow.
Battle for freedom in spirit and might;
And with stout hearts look ye forth till tomorrow.
God will protect you; then do what is right!
The above is the theme of Escape From Germany, a film made by and for the faithful, the Latter Day Saints. The Mormons have a history of escapes. They had been driven out of New York and Ohio, settling in Missouri. Their opposition to slavery, coupled with their prosperous farms and abstention from spirits and tobacco was resented by the rural fascists in the state.
After Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs signed the Mormon Extermination Order in 1838, the Saints were forced to flee to Illinois after their farms were put to the torch, men murdered and women raped. In 1839 Illinois they founded the city of Nauvoo on the Mississippi. After the murder of Church President and Founder Joseph Smith, the Mormons were led by new President Brigham Young to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, not part of the United States at the time. The Saints are adept at getting out of trouble.
In Escape From Germany, it is the last few days in August 1939. The country is mobilizing for war while lousy with Mormon Missionaries doing duty to their Church. They are young and inexperienced. The Nazis resent their presence. Apparently, God on his LDS throne on the planet Kolob takes notice of the situation in Germany and concludes Hitler is about to invade Poland, thus igniting World War II.
(No one else seemed to have noticed).
Using the Kolob mojo wire, God informed the LDS German Mission President who, not being a fool (despite believing God lives on a planet called Kolob, which sounds suspiciously close to the name of a planet in Battlestar Galactica) orders all missionaries to fee Germany. The problem? Many are stuck who knows where with no money or means to get outta Dodge.
The President/Prophet summons Elder Norman Seibold (Don’t be fooled by the honorific Elder, Seibold is a young man.) who he tasks with rounding up the flock and getting them out of Germany.
The Young Elder is doubtful it can be done. Impossible even. Oh, he of little faith. President/Prophet tells him about the Message to Garcia (which you know all about from the movie with Wally Beery and Barbara Stanwyck,).
Just prior to the Spanish/American War President McKinley (Not a prophet to my knowledge) needed to get a message to Gen. Calixto Garcia, leader of the rebel Cuban forces opposing the Spanish. No easy task. It was not like Garcia was headquartered in the Havana Hilton. No, he was somewhere hiding out in the mountains. An impossible task.
Not impossible for First Lieutenant Andrew S. Rowan! Posing as a civilian , he traveled to Cuba, searched for the rebel general and handed over the letter. Mission accomplished!
Inspired, the the Young Elder reluctantly agrees. Pocketing 300 marks in expense money, he heads for the railroad station. That was the believable part. In order to attract any wayward missionaries at the train station, the Young Elder whistles the tune of hymn Do What is Right. This has the effect of bees to honey. Them boys are rounded up and headed out to freedom’s trail.
After some close shaves and escapes with the gestapo, the boys all make it to the safety of Denmark. Even the President/Prophet and his family, who escape by stealing a railroad locomotive and not one of those putt-putt steam clunkers, but a diesel/electric jobbie as befitting his station in the Church.
The Young Elder is guided by telepathic instruction from Kolob (lets face it, them gestapos didn’t have a chance. Too bad the not quite almighty Mormon God could not have have intervened for the 6,000,000 Jews marked for death).
Its easy to make fun of the Mormon beliefs, but I can’t make fun of their dedication to their church and commitment to their faith. The Mormons I have known have been hard working and friendly people who live what they preach, all the while avoiding tobacco, coffee and spirits (to my bewilderment they find life worth living, despite this abstinence).
Escape from Germany is not a good movie, but not a bad one either. It is an example of a movie with good production values made on a very modest budget by dedicated people, without payment to a single actor receiving a salary the equivalent to the gross domestic product of some countries.
Watching it was well worth my time.
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