Did This Movie Kill John Wayne?

“The Conqueror”, a big screen epic produced by Howard Hughes was released in 1957. It is considered one of the worst movies ever made, carrying a fantastically low IMDB rating of 3.4 on a 10-point scale. What truly separates the movie from all others is that it was filmed in a location riddled with high levels of nuclear contamination. The unfortunate choice of locations may have resulted in the cancer deaths of 92 of the 220 people who worked on the set including Hollywood icons John Wayne and Susan Hayward.

Making a Bomb
No, this paragraph isn’t about the construction of an atomic bomb but rather the crafting of a comically horrible movie. It was the story of a turbulent love affair between a Mongol warrior chief and the daughter of his worst enemy. The screenplay was written with Marlon Brando in mind for the lead. When John Wayne visited Dick Powell who had been assigned to direct “The Conqueror”, Powell expressed misgivings about the script. However, Wayne became enthralled with the story and despite Powell’s protestations said he wanted the lead role. Powell later said, “Who am I to turn down John Wayne?”. Years later, Wayne mused that the moral of the film was “not to make an ass of yourself trying to play parts you’re not suited for.”

The Shooting
Hughes chose to film in St. George, Utah because its rustic scenery was thought to resemble Mongolia. St George was just over 100 miles downwind from the U.S. Military Nuclear Testing Site where eleven atomic bombs were exploded above ground in 1956. The average payload was between 30 to 45 kilotons, far more than the bomb that devastated Hiroshima. By the early 1950s it was known that nuclear blasts produce massive amounts of highly radioactive fallout. However, authorities labeled the area as safe even though abnormal levels of radiation had been detected. So, the show went on and when on-location filming wrapped up, Hughes shipped 60 tons of radioactive Utah dirt to his Hollywood studio so that reshoots would be realistic

Fallout
Within a few years of filming “The Conqueror”, members of the cast and crew began experiencing various ailments. In 1963, Pedro Armendariz, a brilliant actor who appeared in over 100 films, was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer. Armendáriz promptly committed suicide at the age of 51. That same year director Dick Powell succumbed to lymphatic cancer at the age of 53. The great Susan Hayward’s career ended in 1972 when she was diagnosed with skin, breast and uterine cancer. Three years later, she died of brain cancer at the age of 57. That same year, two-time Golden Globe award winner, Agnes Moorehead died of uterine cancer at the age of 74. Costar and all-round badass Lee Van Cleef died of throat cancer in 1989 at the age of 72.

Several hundred Shoshone Native Americans had been cast as Mongol warriors for “The Conqueror”. They were not included in the production’s cancer statistics however 1970s studies found that leukemia rates in the Shoshone Indians of the St. George area were five times higher than the rest of Utah.

John Wayne was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1964 and had his left lung removed. This was about the time that the U.S. Surgeon General made the connection between cigarettes and cancer (although most people already suspected the link). Wayne was estimated to be a five pack a day man. As his “Conqueror” co-stars started to die, “The Duke” rejected the radiation theory and blamed his illness on cigarettes. He died of stomach cancer in 1979 at the age of 72.

By the early 1970s, Howard Hughes became convinced that his decision to film in St. Geoge had resulted in the deaths of many innocent people. Racked by guilt, Hughes paid $12 million to buy all existing copies of the film. He then quit the film industry after a 30-year involvement.

Further Study
If you are interested, a documentary about the infamous movie was released in 2023. The Conqueror-Hollywood Fallout has received excellent reviews on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. It is available on Amazon Prime.
Have a great weekend.