The Mailbox (film)

The Mailbox
Directed by	David K. Jacobs
Screenplay by	David K. Jacobs
Story by	Florence Doyle Putt
Produced by	David K. Jacobs
Starring	Lethe Tatge Rachel Jacobs Rebecca Glade
Cinematography	Reed Smoot
Edited by	James W. Dearden
Music by	Merrill Jenson
Production company	BYU Motion Picture Studios
Distributed by	The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Release date	1977 (1977)
Running time	24 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Mailbox is a 1977 American 24-minute short film produced by BYU Motion Picture Studios. The film is available through the Brigham Young University Office of Creative Works on a compilation DVD with other LDS films. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Plot

Lethe, an grandmother, goes to the mailbox every day as she hopes her children have sent her a letter. She asks her children to write instead of having short phone calls, but they never send any. One of Lethe's daughters finally sends he a letter, but only to tell her they are putting her in a retirement home. After Lethe gets her letter, she goes to open it but collapses. Before she dies she asks her neighbor to tell her children that she was so happy to finally get a letter. ^{[6] [7]}

Cast

• Lethe Tatge as Lethe Anderson
• Rachel Jacobs as Rachel Johnson
• Rebecca Glade as Sharon Johnson
• Alan Nash as Mike the Mailman
• Martha Henstrom as Myra (voice)
• Winkie Horman as Susan (voice)

Reception

Considered as among the best known films produced at BYU, ^[8] and "It is clear that the tragedy is not in the death, but in the emptiness of the mailbox." ^[9]

See also

• LDS Church portal

• Chris Conkling

References

1. "Midway Woman Stars In Film", Daily Herald (Utah) , p. 24, 7 March 1977. Archive reprint from Newspapers.com
2. "'The Mailbox' Film Premiers Friday in Midway Town Hall", Daily Herald (Utah) , p. 33, May 15, 1977. Archive reprint from Newspapers.com
3. "The Mormon Media Image" (PDF), Sunstone , 3 (1): 25, November–December 1977
4. Hall, Airen (October 2012), "Melodrama on a Mission: Latter-Day Saint Film and the Melodramatic Mode", Journal of Religion and Film , 16 (2): 13–15
5. Brigham Young University Studies, Volume 46. Brigham Young University. 2007. p. 101.
6. Jones, Jared (2019-03-15). "Latter-day Saint Video Vault: 'The Mailbox' Guilts Us into Calling Our Parents". This Week in Mormons. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
7. Hall, Airen (October 2012). "Melodrama on a Mission: Latter-Day Saint Film and the Melodramatic Mode". Journal of Religion and Film . 16 (2): 13–16 – via Digital Commons.
8. Hunter, James Michael (2012). Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 26. ISBN   978-0313391675 . Retrieved July 28, 2014.
9. Consortium of University Film Centers, R.R. Bowker Company (1986). Educational film/video locator of the Consortium of University Film Centers and R.R. Bowker, Volume 2. R.R. Bowker. p. 1920. ISBN   0835221814 . Retrieved July 28, 2014.

External links

• The Mailbox at IMDb
• "The Mailbox". Mormon Literature & Creative Arts Database.
• The Mailbox at LDSFilm.com
• The Mailbox on YouTube