{"id":41188,"date":"2018-10-15T11:37:27","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T18:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41188"},"modified":"2022-04-10T23:19:34","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T06:19:34","slug":"conqueror-the-1956","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41188","title":{"rendered":"Conqueror, The (1956)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I feel this Tartar woman is for me, and my blood says, take her.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Poster-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-41189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Poster-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Poster.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWith assistance from his loyal brother (Pedro Armendariz), a Mongol warrior (John Wayne) soon-to-be-known-as <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Genghis_Khan\">Genghis Khan<\/a> attempts to conquer neighboring tribes while also winning the heart of his captive wife (Susan Hayward).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Historical Drama<\/li>\n<li>John Wayne Films<\/li>\n<li>Lee Van Cleef Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Ruthless Leaders<\/li>\n<li>Susan Hayward Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\n&#8220;John Wayne as Genghis Khan!&#8221; What sounds like a joke is actually a reality, as borne out by this notoriously awful mash-up of westerns and 13th century Mongolian history. According to Hollywood legend, Wayne walked into producer Dick Powell&#8217;s office, saw this script in the trashcan, pulled it out, and decided he wanted to have a go at it (and who says no to the world&#8217;s top box office star?). Wayne&#8217;s flat accent and performance-<em>a-la<\/em>-cowboy are the first and most obvious sacrificial elements one notices, but there&#8217;s plenty more to hoot at: the elaborately colorful and creative &#8220;historical&#8221; costumes; the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0049092\/quotes?ref_=tt_ql_trv_4\">florid script<\/a> by Oscar Millard; the lack of actual Asians playing any of the lead characters; the number of horses that seem to simply topple over during the battle sequences (none were hurt in real life); the surreal dance performance; and the horrifically offensive seduction-through-rape romance depicted between Wayne and Hayward (who thankfully reports she simply laughed hysterically after each take). In addition to being cringeworthingly bad, this film is infamous for its (literally) toxic filming circumstances: three times as many cast and crew participants <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0049092\/trivia?item=tr0703123\">died of cancer<\/a> than would normally occur in a population of its size. According to Wikipedia: <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Parts of the film were shot in Snow Canyon, Warner Valley, Pine Valley, Leeds, and Harrisburg, Utah. The exterior scenes were shot near St. George, Utah, 137 miles (220 km) downwind of the United States government&#8217;s Nevada National Security Site. In 1953, 11 above-ground nuclear weapons tests occurred at the site as part of Operation Upshot\u2013Knothole. The cast and crew spent many difficult weeks at the site, and Hughes later shipped 60 tons of dirt back to Hollywood in order to match the Utah terrain and lend realism to studio re-shoots. The filmmakers knew about the nuclear tests but the federal government assured residents that the tests caused no hazard to public health.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Many laughably terrible and\/or ill-conceived elements<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Conquest.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Conquest.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"256\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41193\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Conquest.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Conquest-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Conquest-300x126.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Dance.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Dance.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"256\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-41192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Dance.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Dance-128x54.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Conqueror-Dance-300x126.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nI&#8217;ll weigh in with a Yes on this train wreck, simply because film fanatics won&#8217;t be able to curb their curiosity, and may get some laughs. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0049092\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1956\/03\/31\/archives\/screen-the-conqueror-john-wayne-stars-in-oriental-western.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.badmovies.org\/movies\/conqueror\/\">Bad Movies Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=5171&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I feel this Tartar woman is for me, and my blood says, take her.&#8221; Synopsis: With assistance from his loyal brother (Pedro Armendariz), a Mongol warrior (John Wayne) soon-to-be-known-as Genghis Khan attempts to conquer neighboring tribes while also winning the heart of his captive wife (Susan Hayward). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Historical Drama John Wayne Films Lee Van Cleef Films Marital Problems Ruthless Leaders Susan Hayward Films Review: &#8220;John Wayne as Genghis Khan!&#8221; What sounds like a joke is&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=41188\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41188"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82913,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41188\/revisions\/82913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}