Submitted By Suan A.
Film made about Alpine man’s story of faith
Caleb Warnock – DAILY HERALD
John Rowe Moyle was a stonemason working on the Salt Lake Temple when the family cow kicked him during milking, breaking his leg. Moyle had moved to Alpine in 1858, two years after emigrating to Utah.
What follows is hard to imagine in 2008, but is historic fact. Moyle walked from Alpine to the temple to work each Monday beginning at 2 a.m., walking home each Friday. After gangrene forced the removal of Moyle’s lower leg, he carved himself a new leg and, after recovering, took up walking to work again.
The tale is famous in Alpine. Now this true story of unyielding faith is debuting to a wider audience.
The story took on new significance after recently being retold by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during the church’s October general conference. Now the life of John Rowe Moyle has been made into a short film.
“Elder Holland had told this story in conference,” said T.C. Christensen, who directed the film. “I thought I’d put it in a file. I keep a file of possible ideas for films.” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the church’s Quorum of the Twelve told Moyle’s story in an April 2000 general conference talk.
Christensen is a film maker by profession, though he normally makes films for other people. In his spare time, he makes short, inspirational films based on true stories meant for the LDS inspirational market.
“The one thing I really love about the story is that John Rowe Moyle, he was not recognized as some great civic leader or ecclesiastical leader. He was just a guy,” Christensen said. “He was a good, dedicated man, and stuck with it his whole life, and fulfilled his calling. That really appeals to me.”
Bruce Newbold, a long-time Hollywood veteran actor and writer who played Moyle in the film, said he hopes audiences will use Moyle’s story to hold a mirror to their own faith.
“We need to ask ourselves the question, going away from this, of how dedicated we are to what we believe,” Newbold said. “How willing are we to sacrifice? I think we are spoiled in this day and age, and we have things come to us quite easily.”
When Moyle was called by church officials to work on the temple, he didn’t complain or refuse, he simply walked.
“They had a horse, but they left the horse with the boys so they could do work on the farm,” Newbold said. “I hope people come away [from the film] holding a mirror to themselves.”
While exploring whether to make a movie of the Moyle story, Christensen spent time in Alpine, where the city and the Moyle family maintain a park and museum. At the museum, the director was able to get much more information about the life of Moyle.
“I was hooked because there was so much more to the story,” he said.
Descendents of Moyle were allowed to be extras in one scene of the film, in which Moyle enters Salt Lake Valley with the first handcart company.
“It’s a movie and usually we would get makeup to put tears in their eyes, but we didn’t have to because these people were thinking about what their ancestor did for them, and they bawled and cried,” he said.
Some landscape scenes in the film were shot in Alpine too, he said.
Jessica Moffat is an Alpine resident who is a descendant of Moyle.
“He is a great legacy to our family,” she said. “I’m grateful they are talking about his story. Over the last couple of years it seems like they are more interested in his life and what he stood for. These people really lived up to what they stood for.”
Her ancestor felt that the crowning achievement of his life was the granite staircase in the Salt Lake Temple, she said.
To view an online trailer for “Only a Stonecutter: The Life of John Rowe Moyle,” visit deseretbook.com/tv/view/67. The film is available at all LDS bookstores.
Moyle Park is at 606 E. 770 North in Alpine, and includes a museum in the historic Moyle home, a rock tower he built, and a partial stone wall from a historic fort. For information about tours, call 756-1194.
