Arts & Culture
Utah-based film released 35 years after heroic rescue
Elizabeth Spencer | Lehi Free Press
Calling it a “celebration of miracles,” local film director Garrett Batty of Lehi recently released “Faith of Angels.”.This week marks the 35th anniversary of the rescue of young Joshua Dennis in an abandoned mine near Tooele. The story begins in the fall of 1989 with Joshua and his father, Terry Dennis, exploring the Hidden Treasure Mine, where the young Dennis becomes lost for five days.
Broadway actor John Michael Finley, star of the hit movie “I Can Only Imagine,” plays John Skinner, who is critical in Dennis’ rescue. While away in Montana, Skinner is prompted to return home to Utah. He doesn’t know why until his wife tells him about the lost boy in the mine. Skinner has a deep understanding of the mines because his grandfather was superintendent of “Hidden Treasure” where he would play as a young boy. Skinner offers his help with the rescue efforts, but is continually turned away. Skinner doesn’t give up on trying to help, and on the fifth day, that persistence pays off when he’s allowed entrance into the mine. Skinner’s intuition gave him three places to look for the young boy, with the third location being where he found Dennis after 20 minutes of searching. When asked about working with the real heroic Skinner on the movie, Batty called him supportive and said he shied away from the spotlight.
The young lost Dennis is portrayed by 13-year-old Lehi resident Michael Bradford. When asked what it was like to be in the movie, Bradford said he “enjoyed every second of it”. Bradford had the opportunity to work with the real Dennis, who is now grown and living in Taylorsville. He called Dennis “a very humble guy, kind and wonderful.” Dennis shared with Bradford that, when he was lost in the mine, he wasn’t scared at all because there were angels with him. During the five-day ordeal, Dennis was in and out of sleep and thought he had only been in the mine overnight. Bradford recalls the rescue scene as he was exiting the mine. After portraying the rescued boy, Bradford believes “anything, with enough faith, can happen.”
Terry Dennis, Joshua’s father, is played by Kirby Heyborne. Batty said Heyborne did an “incredible job” portraying the elder Dennis. After filming, Heyborne stated, “When we open our eyes to miracles, we’ll see that they are everywhere,” Heyborne also shared that his most memorable experience on set was while filming the scene where Terry sees his wife for the first time after his son, Josh, goes missing. “Experiencing that with Charlotte (the actress playing Janene) was so real. I had a small glimpse of the fear and helplessness that the family felt.”
Another famous actor included in the film was Cameron Arnett from “The Forge.” Arnett played Sheriff Stan Proctor, who continually denied Skinner entrance into the cave while rescue efforts were underway.
Since the actual event took place in the fall, this time last year the crew was producing here in Utah, taking just 18 days to film. Since Hidden Treasure Mine is now closed, the production crew couldn’t use it for filming. Instead, they set up the mine scenes in Ophir, Utah, because the location was near the actual mine. Rescuers and the Dennis family allowed the film crew to use some of the original equipment they used in the efforts 35 years ago. Bradford wears the exact clothes that the young Dennis wore when he became lost.
Other locations used for filming included Provo Canyon, which portrayed scenes when Skinner was in Montana and received the prompting to return home. A local Lehi home was used to film the Skinner residence and a house in American Fork was used as the Dennis family home.
Batty said he heard the story from the Dennis family, and after interviewing the real Skinner, he decided he wanted to produce the movie. Batty called Dennis “most humble.” The real Dennis whowas lost all those years ago told Batty that the story, to him, has never been about him. Dennis shared with Batty that the story is about angels who stopped everything for a week to find him. When asked what the Dennis family thought of the movie’s re-enactment of their real life experience, Batty said they were very supportive. The family was very vulnerable sharing their story. Batty said the Dennises called it part of the healing process to relive some of the traumatic events that took place.
This isn’t Batty’s first big production. Batty has also produced other popular movies such as “The Saratov Approach,” “Out of Liberty” and “Freetown”. However, there was one unique experience Batty had while filming “Faith of Angels” that he didn’t have in his previous productions. This time around, Batty had the unique opportunity to work with his own son on set. Bradford, who plays the lost Dennis, is Batty’s biological child. He called it a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to produce a movie of a father and son with his very own son.
“Faith of Angels” is now playing at nearby Cinemark and Megaplex theaters. The movie will open nationwide on Sept. 27.
