May 27 movie: The Conqueror. Oh, lordie, this movie was bad. John Wayne stars as Temujin, leader of the Mongols and future Ghengis Khan. Wayne goes gaga for Tartar princess Susan Hayward. Because Tartar princesses were known for their blue eyes and red hair. Agnes Moorehead also stars as Wayne's mother. The Conqueror is every bit as bad as you might imagine. Wayne talks in such an extreme version of his trademark drawl that he sounds like a caricature of himself. And the dialogue. My god. Here's a typical line: "I feel this Tartar woman is for me, and my blood says, take her. There are moments for wisdom and moments when I listen to my blood; my blood says, take this Tartar woman." It's all that bad.
the conqueror
This movie would be so bad it's funny, if not for behind the scenes events that led to the nickname "The Movie That Killed John Wayne:" The site of location shooting was contaminated from nearby nuclear testing. Not only did the entire cast and crew spend weeks soaking up radiation, they packed up the radioactive soil and took it back with them so the studio footage would look the same. By 1990, a staggering 90 of the 220 cast and crew members had cancer. Of course it can't be proved that the radiation killed any of them. John Wayne was a heavy smoker, like many people at the time. Still, it's a sad footnote to a terrible movie.
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2 Comments
"For me, there is no peace while you live, Mongrel!"
"Yer lovely in yer wrath!"
Ha! That's exactly what the whole movie sounds like.