| The Conqueror | |
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 DVD cover for The Conqueror |
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| Directed by | Dick Powell |
| Produced by | Dick Powell Howard Hughes |
| Written by | Oscar Millard |
| Starring | John Wayne Susan Hayward Agnes Moorehead Pedro Armendáriz Thomas Gomez John Hoyt |
| Music by | Victor Young |
| Cinematography | Joseph LaShelle |
| Editing by | Stuart Gilmore |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Running time | 111 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
For the 15th-Century Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, see Mehmed II. Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell ( November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American Singer, Actor, Howard Robard Hughes Jr (December 24 1905 – April 5 1976 was an American Aviator, Industrialist, Film producer / director, Philanthropist English Writer Oscar Millard (1908 - 1990 found success in Hollywood when he collaborated on the Screenplay to the 1949 hit Come to the Stable John Wayne ( May 26, 1907 &ndash June 11, 1979) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning American Susan Hayward ( June 30, 1917 &ndash March 14, 1975) was an Academy Award -winning American Actress. Agnes Robertson Moorehead ( December 6 1900 – April 30 1974) was an American Actress. Pedro Armendáriz ( May 9 1912 &ndash June 18 1963) was a Mexican Actor of the Cinema of Mexico and Thomas Gomez ( July 10, 1905 &ndash June 18, 1971) was an Academy Award -nominated American actor John Hoyt ( October 5, 1905 &ndash September 15, 1991) was an American film theatre and television actor Not to be confused with the actor Victor Sen Yung who was sometimes billed as Victor Young Victor Young ( August 8, 1900 - Joseph LaShelle, ASC ( July 9, 1900 - August 20, 1989) was a Los Angeles born film Cinematographer. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States
The Conqueror is a 1956 film produced by Howard Hughes and starring John Wayne as the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan. The year 1956 in film involved some significant events Events August 4 - The last film serial Blazing the Overland Howard Robard Hughes Jr (December 24 1905 – April 5 1976 was an American Aviator, Industrialist, Film producer / director, Philanthropist John Wayne ( May 26, 1907 &ndash June 11, 1979) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning American Genghis Khan ( or;, Chinggis Khaan, ʧiŋgɪs χaːŋ Činggis Qaɣan; 1162–1227 born (meaning "ironworker" was the Mongol founder Other performers included Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, and Pedro Armendáriz. Susan Hayward ( June 30, 1917 &ndash March 14, 1975) was an Academy Award -winning American Actress. Agnes Robertson Moorehead ( December 6 1900 – April 30 1974) was an American Actress. Pedro Armendáriz ( May 9 1912 &ndash June 18 1963) was a Mexican Actor of the Cinema of Mexico and The picture was directed by actor/director Dick Powell. An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works A film director, or filmmaker, is a person who directs the making of a Film. Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell ( November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American Singer, Actor, The film was principally shot near St. George, Utah
The picture was a critical and commercial failure (often ranked as one of the worst films of the 1950s), which is remarkable given the stature of the cast. St George is a city located in the southwestern part of the U The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Wayne, who was at the height of his career, had lobbied for the role after seeing the script and was widely believed to have been grossly miscast. (He was so "honored" by The Golden Turkey Awards. The Golden Turkey Awards is a 1980 book by film critic Michael Medved and his brother Harry Medved. )
Reportedly, Howard Hughes felt guilty about his decisions regarding the film's production (see cancer controversy below) and kept the film from view until 1974 when it was first broadcast on TV. The Conqueror, along with Ice Station Zebra, is said to be one of the films Hughes watched endlessly during his last years. Ice Station Zebra is a 1968 Action film directed by John Sturges, starring Rock Hudson as the submarine captain Patrick McGoohan
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Cancer controversy
The exterior scenes were shot on location near St. George, Utah, and this location was 137 miles downwind of the United States Government's Nevada Test Site, Operation Upshot-Knothole, where extensive above-ground nuclear weapons testing occurred during the 1950s. Location shooting is the practice of Filming in an actual setting rather than on a Sound stage or back lot. St George is a city located in the southwestern part of the U The Nevada Test Site is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km northwest of the City of Operation Upshot-Knothole was a series of eleven nuclear test shots conducted in 1953 at the Nevada Test Site. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. The cast and crew spent many difficult weeks on the site. In addition, Hughes later shipped 60 tons of dirt back to Hollywood for re-shoots. The cast and crew knew about the nuclear tests, there are pictures of Wayne holding a Geiger counter during production, but the link between exposure to radioactive fallout and cancer was poorly understood then. A Geiger counter, also called a Geiger-Müller counter, is a type of Particle detector that measures Ionizing radiation. Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a Nuclear explosion, so named because it "falls out" of the atmosphere into which it is spread during the explosion Cancer (medical term Malignant Neoplasm) is a class of Diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled
Powell died of cancer in January 1963, only a few years after the picture's completion. Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell ( November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American Singer, Actor, Hayward, Wayne, and Moorehead all died of cancer in the mid to late 1970s. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Pedro Armendáriz was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1960 and committed suicide after he learned the cancer was terminal. Pedro Armendáriz ( May 9 1912 &ndash June 18 1963) was a Mexican Actor of the Cinema of Mexico and Skeptics point to other factors such as tobacco use—Wayne and Moorehead were heavy smokers—and the notion that cancer resulting from exposure to radiation does not have such a long incubation period. Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. The cast and crew totaled 220. Of that number, 91 had developed some form of cancer by 1981 and 46 had died of cancer by then. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981
Dr. Robert Pendleton, professor of biology at the University of Utah, has described the incidence of cancer among cast and crew of The Conqueror as an "epidemic". The University of Utah (referred to locally as ' The U' or ' the U of U') is a publicly funded Research university in Salt Lake In Epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people is a classification of a disease that appears as new cases in a Noting that 91 members of the cast and crew had contracted cancer by 1984, with more than half of them dying, Dr. Pendleton stated, "With these numbers, this case could qualify as an epidemic. The connection between fallout radiation and cancer in individual cases has been practically impossible to prove conclusively. Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a Nuclear explosion, so named because it "falls out" of the atmosphere into which it is spread during the explosion But in a group this size you'd expect only 30 some cancers to develop. . . I think the tie-in to their exposure on the set of The Conqueror would hold up in a court of law. "[1]
Quotes about The Conqueror
Even decades after movie's release, reviewers seem to attempt to out-do themselves in describing The Conqueror. For example:
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- ONE OF THE funniest, strangest, and saddest movies of all time is RKO's 1956 epic The Conqueror, starring John Wayne, certified American Hero, as . . . Genghis Khan. Believe it or not, that's the sanest part of the movie. At least John Wayne could ride a horse. The Tartar queen who steals Khan's heart is played by Susan Hayward, a pale Irish woman with bright red hair. Imagine Nicole Kidman trying to pass for Connie Chung and you've pretty much got the idea. Khan's mother is played by Agnes Moorehead, who went on to play Samantha's mother on Bewitched. And Genghis Khan's "blood brother" is played by Pedro Armendariz, a Mexican heartthrob who doesn't look remotely related to John Wayne or the Mongols. Bizarre enough? We haven't even started. Ever try to cast an entire horde? The producers couldn't quite come up with several hundred actual Mongolians to ride along as Khan's rampaging minions, so they hired . . . a bunch of American Indians.
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- One of the most jarring moments in the entire film arrives about halfway through, when two actual Chinese guys appear briefly as extras. After a full hour of trying to convince yourself that John Wayne and this weird menagerie of Europeans, Mexicans, and American Indians are all from Mongolia, actual Asians look positively otherworldly. [2]
Notes and references
- ^ Olson, James (2002). James Olson may refer to James Olson - An American Actor James S Bathsheba's Breast: Women, Cancer and History. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801869366.
- ^ Harris, Bob. "'The Conqueror' and other bombs" - Sonoma County Independent - (c/o Atomic Rage at MetroActive. com) - June 11-17, 1998
See also
External links
- The Conqueror at the Internet Movie Database
- Did John Wayne die of cancer caused by a radioactive movie set? (from The Straight Dope)
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