The Conqueror (1956)

Director: Dick Powell
Starring: John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Pedro Armendáriz

Synopsis:
The Mongol chieftain Temujin seeks revenge on the Tartars who killed his father while pursuing the Tartar princess Bortai.

Impressions:
Ever since I first heard of this movie and its infamy, I had to see it and quite a few years passed until the opportunity presented itself. A lot of people make fun of John Wayne's cameo in The Greatest Story Ever Told as the centurion at Golgotha, but that doesn't have a patch on the epic miscasting of him as Genghis Khan. To be fair to the Duke, he does about as well as he possibly could in the role. While this is by no means a great movie, it's not completely terrible. The dialog is stilted, but the story is decent and there are some good action sequences and the sets and costuming are also pretty good. It's not too surprising that this movie failed spectacularly and it's particularly tragic that the nuclear testing going on near the filming locations led to the fatal cancers that killed many of the cast members. It's a movie that deserves to be seen because of its place in film history. If you're of a generous heart, there's entertainment to be had, but if you're going to get too hung up on things like the casting and such, you may be better off skipping it.

Rating:
50/50