In 1931, in the town of Schafer, North Dakota, the Haven family of five mysteriously vanished. Months passed and the town folk became suspicious.
Why would the Havens have left without saying goodbye to a single soul? Suspicion of murder landed on Charles Bannon, the Haven’s hired hand. He was an odd fellow from a very strange family, and he had taken over the property.
But the Sherriff was moving too slowly to suit the community, so mob justice took over. It is a story told in the movie, End of the Rope, directed by Bismarck’s Daniel Bielinski through Canticle Productions, the company he founded in 2018 to celebrate the history, land and culture of North Dakota in film and theater.
A special showing of the film was held for North Dakota legislators and other special guests at the Grand Theatres in Bismarck in January. This emotional drama from the pages of North Dakota history packed the house.
Theater program instructor
Bielinski talked about this latest movie and about how he came to serve as Chair of Dramatic Arts at the University of Mary in Bismarck where he lives with his wife and five children.
“It will limit your career,” Bielinski’s manager had told him when he heard that Bielinski was invited by the University of Mary to apply as an instructor in their theater program. He had a master’s in acting from Columbia University and was supporting his family through acting.
“I had not planned to go into teaching, but I visited and it seemed like a great place to raise my family,” Bielinski said. “We were living in Manhattan. My wife was working as a musician in sacred music while I was working as an actor mostly trying to support her and our new son.”
Bielinski admitted that theater is a challenging industry to be in as a Catholic. “My wife helped to keep me centered and grounded while in New York,” he said. “Coming to North Dakota helped me to realign as a Catholic. I don’t think Canticle Productions would have existed otherwise. The name was my wife’s idea. It means Praise God. It helped me discern what kind of stories give glory to God and what kind are worth telling.”
Personnel at the University of Mary had heard about Daniel’s work as an undergraduate at Ave Maria University in Florida, where he had directed, acted in and produced plays. “I have the conviction that it was the hand of God that brought us here. Bismarck is an amazing community.”
Stories that glorify God
He started by making small films. “I began to clarify the mission and goal to glorify God by telling stories that honor the good, the true and the beautiful. Telling stories from North Dakota history offers the opportunity to do that. I never wanted the message to be in the forefront of the work where people feel they are being preached at and the story is secondary. I believe in weaving faith into the stories which is more effective and more interesting as a storyteller.”
Future projects, according to Bielinski, include one about the rise and fall of Marquis de Morès in the North Dakota Badlands and the story of Hazel Miner who died while protecting her brother and sister by keeping them warm with her body during a spring blizzard in 1920. “It’s a very Christlike story,” Bielinski said. “She froze and died in the shape of a cross. As a parent, that story strikes me very deeply. It’s a North Dakota saint story.”
He also hopes on work on some saint stories. “I’m excited about telling more stories that are Catholic on the surface and Catholic underneath but still focused on good story telling. The Jesus story really is the greatest story ever told. Every story that we find moving, in some way, captures that. We find snippets of the Christ story, everywhere…Beauty and the Beast, Robinson Crusoe, in great literature.”
Latest movie
His current movie, End of the Rope, is based in the town of Schaefer that faded away when the railroad came to nearby Watford City instead. “The only things left of the town are depressions in the ground and the old jail which we used in the film,” Bielinski noted.
The story of a hanging was such a secretive matter that it’s only recently that people have been willing to open up about it, according to Bielinski. “For many years, if it came out that someone was in any way involved, they could have been brought to court.”
In the end, emotions hit a boiling point. The sheriff is a hero, but there are no easy answers. Bielinski shared that following the first showing to the North Dakota legislators, one of them told him, “I feel like I’m that sheriff being confronted with moral dilemmas.”
Its release will begin with select theaters in North Dakota in March and April before it shows in 40-50 theaters around the state and in Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota and potentially other states and Canada.
“We want to bring it to North Dakota as much as we can,” Bielinski explained. “We will have red carpet premiers with cast and crew present beginning with Watford City as a way to remember Dennis Johnson. He wrote the book [by the same name] that told the true story. He is listed as an executive producer to the movie and died on Thanksgiving Day 2021, just a few months after we finished filming. He became a good friend to me before he died.”
For a complete listing of North Dakota premier Red-Carpet showings, go to: EndofTheRopeFilm.com. Following will be a Q&A with the cast and crew and End of the Rope merchandise will be available.