The Conqueror (1956)

Interesting facts

• Box office: $9M
• Budget: $6M
• Earned 1.5× its budget
• Filmed in: Utah

The Conqueror is a 1956 American epic historical adventure film directed and produced by Dick Powell and written by Oscar Millard. It stars John Wayne as the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan and co-stars Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and Pedro Armendáriz. Co-produced by entrepreneur Howard Hughes, the film was principally shot near St. George, Utah.

Production

The role of Genghis Khan was originally written for Marlon Brando, who initially accepted but later backed out. John Wayne was at the end of a three-picture deal with RKO, and lobbied for the lead role after reading the script. Director Dick Powell tried to discourage Wayne, but relented to the actor's insistence, later recalling "Who am I to turn down John Wayne?" According to his son Norman, Dick Powell accepted directing duties for the money.

Filming took place on-location in Utah, and at the RKO and Universal studio lots in Hollywood. It was RKO's first film to be shot in CinemaScope and, at a budget of $6 million, was the company's most-expensive film to date. 300 extras from the Shivwits Band of Paiutes were cast as Tartar and Mongol horsemen.

The film had a troubled production; writer Oscar Millard stated that "The company had just missed being wiped out by a flash flood, and Duke [John] Wayne had been drunk for three days. Not that it made much difference; except when a bender bloated him, it was hard to tell. His performance drunk or sober was the way other actors tend to perform if drunk." Pedro Armendáriz was hospitalized for a week after being thrown from a horse.

Of the 220 crew members, 91 (comprising 41% of the crew) developed cancer by 1980, while 46 (or 21%) died from it. When this was learned, many suspected that filming in Utah and surrounding locations, near nuclear test sites, was to blame. Some victims also believed their habitual tobacco use contributed.

Some filming locations included parts of Utah, such as Snow Canyon, Pine Valley, Leeds, and Harrisburg. Exteriors were shot in the Escalante Desert near St. George, Utah, which is 137 miles (220 km) downwind of the United States government's Nevada National Security Site and received the brunt of nuclear fallout from testing active in this period.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.