Starring John Wayne, The Conqueror (1955) is quite unanimously considered one of the biggest fiascos in the world of cinema. How big and tragic a disaster it actually was is made clear in the 2023 documentary The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout.
Directed by William Nunez, the documentary explains how in the 1950 the film industry felt existentially threatened as audiences moved to television. Perhaps in this mindset director Dick Powell and produce Howard Hughes took up their megalomaniac and risk-prone giant production, with John Wayne ending up in the unlikely role of Genghis Khan. In the documentary a large cast of people – from local citizens to John Wayne’s son, Patrick – relate their reminiscences which lead the series of misfortunes towards truly tragic turns. When a few years later members of the over 200-strong crew started getting cancer diagnoses en masse, the connection was made with the nuclear tests that had taken place near the locations of The Conqueror. The exposure to radioactivity was undeniable – producer Hughes even had tens of tonnes of irradiated sand transported from the location over to Hollywood – but the consequences are difficult to admit, the responsibility hard to bear. With one astounding series of events after another, The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout brings out the backstory of one of film history’s biggest disasters. (Pinja Mustajoki)
Language: English, no subtitles
Finnish premiere