Flame in the Wind
Cast & Crew
Katherine Stenholm
David Hewson
Bob Jones
Bob Jones Iii
Richard Rupp
Edward Panosian
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In sixteenth century Spain, Carlos Alvarez, a young Spaniard of noble birth, returns to his family's ruined castle after spending four years studying for the priesthood in Seville. Carlos is welcomed by the old servant woman who reared him, and he tells her of his discovery of the Scriptures and his desire to see them translated into the Spanish language so that everyone can read them. After reminding Carlos that the Church has forbidden such translations, the woman reveals that, just before Carlos was born, his father was arrested for voicing the same sentiments. That night, a mysterious peddler named Fernando, whose real business is smuggling Spanish-language Bibles, visits the castle. After Carlos accepts a copy of the Spanish New Testament, the peddler recommends that he visit a Jeromite monastery. At the monastery, Carlos meets Fray Cristobal, the prior, and is told that he must choose between Christ and the corrupt church system. Rejecting the choice, Carlos returns to Seville to enter the service of the church, but instead is accused of heresy and arrested for visiting the monastery. In prison, Carlos again meets Fernando, who has been caught smuggling Bibles. After explaining the meaning of the gospel to Carlos, Fernando urges him to accept Christ and reject the corrupt institution of the church. To save himself, at his hearing, Carlos names Fray Cristobal as a heretic. As a reward, the Grand Inquisitor, Gaspar Munebraga, grants Carlos the honor of carrying a lighted candle at the ceremony in which the heretics will be burned. As the victims are being chained to their stakes, Carlos is ordered to light a fire at the stake of Fernando. Faced with the unwavering faith of the peddler, Carlos at last accepts Christ and throws his torch to the ground in defiance of the inquisitors. Carlos is immediately arrested and tortured to force him to recant, but Carlos, fortified by his newfound faith, refuses to bend to the will of the inquisitors. Chained to the stake, Carlos faces his own death with courage.
Director
Katherine Stenholm
Cast
David Hewson
Bob Jones
Bob Jones Iii
Richard Rupp
Edward Panosian
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Cast, crew and plot information above was taken from press materials contained in copyright files and an article on the picture in the February 1972 issue of Today's Film Maker. No reviews have been found for the film, and no screenings outside Greeville, SC have been verified. The credits and summary for Flame in the Wind were taken from press materials contained in the film's copyright files. Unusual Films was the name of the cinema department at Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina, an evangelical Christian college.
According to the article in Today's Film Maker, the film studio began in 1950 as a production unit, but within a few years, expanded into a cinema division of the university. The Unusual Films studio boasted its own editing room and sound mixing facilities. The staff consisted of Katherine Stenholm, the head of the unit, Wade Ramsey, the cinematographer, George Rogier, the sound engineer and Tim Rogers, the head writer and chief film editor. Additionally, there was an art director whose duties consisted of building, painting and dressing the sets, as well as performing as the makeup artist.
Dwight Gustafson, who composed the music for Flame in the Wind, was the dean of the School of Fine Arts. The students functioned as the film's crew, building sets, hanging the scaffolding, operating the equipment, drawing story boards and recording the sound effects. According to the article, the picture took two years to complete, with 80% of the filming done on the university's sound stage. In addition to Flame in the Wind, Unusual Films produced the 1955 film Wine of Morning and the 1963 film Red Runs the River (see below). For more information about the Spanish Inquisition, for The Naked Maja.
