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HISTORY & PREHISTORY

Holy Matrimony

Holy Matrimony

A summary from the New York Times said “As if losing both her husband and her money isn't enough, a woman in her mid-20s also finds herself married to a 12-year-old boy (who doesn't even like her) in the comedy Holy Matrimony. Havana is an aspiring showgirl who is working at a sleazy carnival while she dreams of her big break. Havana and Peter hightail it to Canada, where Peter figures that they can hole up with his family. However, Peter didn't always lead a life of crime; he was raised in a Hutterite community, and while Peter's Uncle Wilhelm and younger brother Ezechiel are happy to see him, they don't like Havana, whose personality convinces them that she led Peter down the wrong path. To make peace with his family, Peter marries Havana, but not long after, he dies in a car wreck. Hutterite custom demands that when a man dies, his widow is to marry his brother; the catch in this case is that Ezechiel is only 12 years old and understandably not interested in matrimony. However, Havana agrees to the marriage, largely because Ezechiel knows where Peter stashed the earnings from the robbery.”

The cast stars Patricia Arquette, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Tate Donovan, John Schuck and Lois Smith.

Did you know?

An entire Hutterite colony was built for this film, shot near Great Falls, and represented Alberta, Canada on screen. Hutterites are a religious group, living together in colonies, and are very successful farmers. Although they are sometimes confused with the Amish or the Mennonites, Hutterites have many modern conveniences including the most up-to-date farming equipment.

Although the story concerns Hutterites, the movie also had an "alien" connection. It was directed by Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in the Star Trek television series and seven Star Trek movies and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played an alien on the television program 3rd Rock From The Sun. Coincidentally, this wasn't Joseph Gordon-Levitt's first time acting in a movie filmed in Montana. He played young Norman Maclean in the movie A River Runs Through It.

The production designer for Holy Matrimony had quite a challenge to re-create a Hutterite colony, a place he likened to a different world where time has stood still for 300 years. Colonies are very striking places, with each colony having a central building that houses the kitchen, dining room, and chapel. Next to that is the school house, and on either side of it are the long houses where people live. The crew met the challenge of constructing an accurate replica of a Hutterite colony in six weeks. Built on a ranch outside of Great Falls, it consisted of six buildings and six interiors. The set was torn down after the movie had finished filming.

It was filmed in Great Falls, Montana.

A review in Entertainment Weekly said “This cute but awfully slight comedy has curvy carnival worker and boyfriend robbing their boss, then trying to hide out in the religious community where her beau was raised. Director Leonard Nimoy goes for sweetness over smarminess and achieves it most of the time…”

Tate Donovan has been in 39 episodes of The O.C., 23 episodes of House of Mouse, The Legend of Tarzan, Friends, Hercules as Hercules, and Disney Sing-Along-Songs: Zero to Hero.

Mary Pat Gleason has acted in Drillbit Taylor, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, A Cinderella Story, 13 Going on 30, Bruce Almighty, Malcolm in the Middle, Will & Grace, The Secret World of Alex Mack, Sister, Sister, and Full House.

Lori Alan has been in 47 episodes of Family Guy, Cory in the House, Pearl in SpongeBob SquarePants, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, Hey Arnold!, Will & Grace, Johnny Bravo, Animaniacs and 26 episodes of Fantastic Four.

Thank you to:
Entertainment Weekly
New York Times review

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