John Wayne, the quintessential American cowboy, is known for his iconic roles in Westerns and war films. With 173 film appearances, it’s easy to assume you know his filmography. However, nestled among his vast repertoire is a role so bizarre, so out-of-character, that it’s often relegated to the dusty corners of cinema history: John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror.
John Wayne in makeup as Genghis Khan for the movie “The Conqueror”, a role that significantly deviated from his typical Western persona.
The very premise sounds like a punchline. Imagine the Duke, with his signature swagger and drawl, portraying the fearsome Mongolian warrior. Yet, this cinematic oddity became a reality, largely due to Wayne himself. He reportedly requested director Dick Powell for the role, driven by a desire to portray Genghis Khan. Powell, despite his reservations, famously quipped, “Who am I to turn down John Wayne?” after initially trying to dissuade the star and even discarding the script, only to have Wayne retrieve it, insisting on playing Khan as a “cowboy.”
The result was predictably disastrous. Released in 1956, the film was almost immediately panned by critics and audiences alike. The casting of a Caucasian actor in the role of a Mongolian leader, compounded by questionable makeup to slant Wayne’s eyes and stereotypical Fu Manchu facial hair, was jarring, even for the standards of the 1950s. The Conqueror quickly gained notoriety as a spectacularly bad film, earning a cult following among enthusiasts of cinematic misfires and finding its place in books dedicated to Razzie-worthy material. Ironically, this cinematic low point arrived in the same year as The Searchers, often hailed as one of Wayne’s greatest performances, highlighting the stark contrast in his career trajectory.
Despite its critical failure, some find a strange enjoyment in The Conqueror. Beneath the questionable casting and dated portrayal, the film features decent action sequences and a storyline that, in essence, holds some intrigue. However, the complete absence of Asian actors in a film centered on Asian history was a significant misstep, reflecting the problematic representation prevalent in Hollywood during that era.
A promotional still of John Wayne, highlighting his star power even in a controversial and poorly received film like “The Conqueror”.
Beyond its cinematic shortcomings, The Conqueror is shrouded in a far more sinister legacy: the tragic health consequences for many involved in its production. Filmed in the desert of St. George, Utah, the location was a mere hundred and thirty-seven miles downwind of the Nevada Test Site, where the U.S. military had conducted numerous nuclear weapons tests in the preceding years. Radioactive fallout permeated the area, contaminating the soil.
Of the approximately 220 individuals involved in the filming, an alarming 91 developed cancer and died, including John Wayne himself, director Dick Powell, and leading co-stars Agnes Moorehead, Susan Hayward, and John Hoyt. Pedro Armendáriz, another star, upon receiving a cancer diagnosis, tragically took his own life. The devastating toll extended beyond the main cast, affecting numerous Native American extras who portrayed Mongolian warriors and even John Wayne’s son, Michael, who visited the set as a young man and succumbed to cancer in 2003.
Adding to the unsettling narrative, after filming in Utah concluded, the production company transported 60 tons of radioactive dirt to Hollywood to complete soundstage filming. The whereabouts of this contaminated soil remain unknown, a chilling thought considering its potential lingering presence in Hollywood history.
The film’s producer, Howard Hughes, was reportedly deeply affected by the unfolding health crisis. Within a year of The Conqueror‘s release and its commercial failure, plagued by guilt, Hughes purchased every existing print of the film and sequestered them at his residence. In his later years, the eccentric tycoon was said to watch The Conqueror nightly, a constant reminder of the project he regretted producing.
John Wayne in costume as Genghis Khan alongside Susan Hayward in “The Conqueror”, a film now infamous for its casting and the health tragedies associated with its production.
While John Wayne did not die of lung cancer, despite his heavy smoking habit, he succumbed to stomach cancer in 1979. The sheer number of cancer cases linked to The Conqueror has fueled speculation about a direct connection to the radioactive filming location. A photograph purportedly exists showing Wayne on set with a Geiger counter registering radioactivity, further fueling these concerns.
Adding a layer of dark humor to the tragedy, John Wayne himself reportedly quipped that the moral of The Conqueror was, “Don’t make an ass of yourself trying to play parts you are not suited for.” In a poignant and chilling quote from a 1980 People Magazine article, the Pentagon Defense Nuclear Agency reportedly stated, “Please, God, don’t let us have killed John Wayne.”
The Conqueror remains a cinematic anomaly, a bizarre footnote in John Wayne’s illustrious career. It serves as a cautionary tale on multiple levels: about miscasting, cultural insensitivity in Hollywood, and the devastating, long-lasting consequences of nuclear fallout. The film is not just a cinematic failure, but a tragic reminder of a time when the pursuit of entertainment tragically intersected with environmental and health negligence.
