The Avenging Angel

For other uses, see Avenging Angel (disambiguation).

The Avenging Angel
Genre	Western
Based on	Avenging Angel by Gary Stewart
Written by	Dennis Nemec[1]
Directed by	Craig R. Baxley[1]
Starring	Tom Berenger James Coburn Fay Masterson Kevin Tighe Jeffrey Jones
Music by	Gary Chang
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Moctesuma Esparza Robert Katz[1]
Producers	Jay Benson Tom Berenger[1]
Cinematography	Mark Irwin[1]
Editor	Mark Helfrich[1]
Running time	91 minutes
Production company	Esparza / Katz Productions[1]
Original release
Network	TNT
Release	January 22, 1995 (1995-01-22)

The Avenging Angel is a 1995 American Western television film directed by Craig R. Baxley and coproduced by and starring Tom Berenger,[2] as well as James Coburn. The movie is based on a book of the same name by Gary Stewart,[1] and features real life characters Brigham Young, Porter Rockwell, and Wild Bill Hickman. The fictional main character Miles Utley is an orphan raised to be a Danite (also known as an "avenging angel") bodyguard tasked with protecting the interests of top leaders in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (informally LDS or Mormon Church) in the newly colonized Utah Territory in the mid-late 1800s.[1][2]

Cast

• Tom Berenger – Miles Utley (main character)
• Charlton Heston – Brigham Young (LDS Church prophet and territory governor)
• James Coburn – Porter Rockwell
• Tom Bower – Wild Bill Hickman
• Fay Masterson – Miranda Young (Brigham Young's daughter)
• Daniel Quinn – Alpheus Young (Brigham Young's son)
• Kevin Tighe – Benjamin Rigby (fictional top leader in the LDS Church)
• Leslie Hope – Liza Rigby (one of Benjamin's polygamous wives)
• Jeffrey Jones – Milton Long (Brigham Young's head of security)
• Andrew Prine – Andrew Pike
• Lisa Banes - Rebecca Heaton - (sister of main character)
• Drew Snyder - Will Heaton - (brother-in-law of main character)
• Patrick Gorman – Jonathan Parker (first victim)
• Tracey Ellis - Hannah Parker (widow of Jonathan Parker)[1]

Production

Co-producer and main actor Berenger said the religious aspect of the story "is what I thought made it different than other Westerns. Otherwise, it would just be a Western. God knows, we have seen enough of those. I was kind of intrigued. And then Dennis Nemec did the script. It is a killer script—real economical and real right. He cut out a lot of the fat."[3]

See also

• Mormonism and violence
• Nauvoo Legion
• Blood atonement
• American Primeval

References

1. Scott, Tony (January 20, 1995). "The Avenging Angel". Variety.
2. Brennan, Patricia (January 22, 1995). "Beringer Produces, Stars in TNT's Mormon Saga". The Washington Post. Washington D.C. – via News & Record.
3. King, Susan (January 22, 1995). "The Berenger Trail: Actor Picks a Movie By Its Story, Not the Director". Los Angeles Times.

External links

• The Avenging Angel at IMDb