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MST3K Fodder: The Conqueror (1956) [message #174442] Mon, 27 April 2009 13:21 Go to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Tom Carberry

This movie has to be seen to be believed.

I got a copy of this over the weekend and sat and watched it. I hadn't seen
it since I was a kid. It is as bad as it is reported to be. Made by Howard
Hughes for $6 million (and bought back for $12 Million and shelved for 20
years--no surprise there), it has a reputation for being both bad and
unfortunate. It was made in an area of Utah that was used for nuclear
testing in the early 1950s (there is some dispute as to whether or not it
was fallout from the nearby Nevada Test Site, or a second area of testing in
Utah itself) and is supposed to be responsible for the deaths of a
disproportionate number of cast and crew by cancer. Tons of sand from the
site were moved back to Hollywood for interior shots and were highly
radioactive. But I digress...

Imagine if you will, John Wayne of numerous westerns playing Genghis Khan
(including the obligatory asiatic eye treatment--epicanthal fold) but
looking and sounding like Rooster Cogburn from True Grit. He and Susan
Hayward (who doesn't even bother with the eye treatment, but is supposed to
be a Tartar woman--yeah--who looks like she has never been out in the sun)
trade barbs with the worst dialog since Ed Wood took pen to paper. Agnes
Moorehead (Endorra in Betwitched) has almost no dialog, but scowls and
spends the entire movie with a pissed-off look on her face. The worst
casting has to be William Conrad (Cannon and Jake and the Fatman) as Kasar,
Wayne's brother. Seeing him short and shirtless is something you don't want
to see on a full stomach. There are a few MST3K connections, including Lee
Van Cleef (It Conquered the World) and Peter Mamakos (Catalina Caper).

I strongly urge the Cinematic Titanic crew to get a copy of this and give it
the treatment it deserves.

Tom Carberry (#45505, it is available from Netflix)
Re: MST3K Fodder: The Conqueror (1956) [message #174556 is a reply to message #174442] Thu, 30 April 2009 14:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bookworm is currently offline  Bookworm
Messages: 9
Registered: January 2013
Karma: 0
Junior Member
On Apr 27, 12:21 pm, "Tom Carberry" <jtj0...@134.139.2.10> wrote:
> This movie has to be seen to be believed.
>
> I got a copy of this over the weekend and sat and watched it.  I hadn't seen
> it since I was a kid.  It is as bad as it is reported to be.  Made by Howard
> Hughes for $6 million (and bought back for $12 Million and shelved for 20
> years--no surprise there), it has a reputation for being both bad and
> unfortunate.  It was made in an area of Utah that was used for nuclear
> testing in the early 1950s (there is some dispute as to whether or not it
> was fallout from the nearby Nevada Test Site, or a second area of testing in
> Utah itself) and is supposed to be responsible for the deaths of a
> disproportionate number of cast and crew by cancer.  Tons of sand from the
> site were moved back to Hollywood for interior shots and were highly
> radioactive. But I digress...
>
> Imagine if you will, John Wayne of numerous westerns playing Genghis Khan
> (including the obligatory asiatic eye treatment--epicanthal fold) but
> looking and sounding like Rooster Cogburn from True Grit.  He and Susan
> Hayward (who doesn't even bother with the eye treatment, but is supposed to
> be a Tartar woman--yeah--who looks like she has never been out in the sun)
> trade barbs with the worst dialog since Ed Wood took pen to paper.  Agnes
> Moorehead (Endorra in Betwitched) has almost no dialog, but scowls and
> spends the entire movie with a pissed-off look on her face.  The worst
> casting has to be William Conrad (Cannon and Jake and the Fatman) as Kasar,
> Wayne's brother.  Seeing him short and shirtless is something you don't want
> to see on a full stomach.  There are a few MST3K connections, including Lee
> Van Cleef (It Conquered the World) and Peter Mamakos (Catalina Caper).
>
> I strongly urge the Cinematic Titanic crew to get a copy of this and give it
> the treatment it deserves.
>
> Tom Carberry (#45505, it is available from Netflix)

For a longer analysis of just how bad this movie is, check out the
Jabootu article at http://jabootu.net/?p=1912

--------
Bookworm
Re: MST3K Fodder: The Conqueror (1956) [message #174557 is a reply to message #174556] Thu, 30 April 2009 17:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Tom Carberry

<bookworm1225@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:e56edef8-58b2-4192-8f52-43fe1ee7ef1d@u39g2000pru.googlegroups.com...
On Apr 27, 12:21 pm, "Tom Carberry" <jtj0...@134.139.2.10> wrote:
> This movie has to be seen to be believed.
>
> I got a copy of this over the weekend and sat and watched it. I hadn't
> seen
> it since I was a kid. It is as bad as it is reported to be. Made by Howard
> Hughes for $6 million (and bought back for $12 Million and shelved for 20
> years--no surprise there), it has a reputation for being both bad and
> unfortunate. It was made in an area of Utah that was used for nuclear
> testing in the early 1950s (there is some dispute as to whether or not it
> was fallout from the nearby Nevada Test Site, or a second area of testing
> in
> Utah itself) and is supposed to be responsible for the deaths of a
> disproportionate number of cast and crew by cancer. Tons of sand from the
> site were moved back to Hollywood for interior shots and were highly
> radioactive. But I digress...
>
> Imagine if you will, John Wayne of numerous westerns playing Genghis Khan
> (including the obligatory asiatic eye treatment--epicanthal fold) but
> looking and sounding like Rooster Cogburn from True Grit. He and Susan
> Hayward (who doesn't even bother with the eye treatment, but is supposed
> to
> be a Tartar woman--yeah--who looks like she has never been out in the sun)
> trade barbs with the worst dialog since Ed Wood took pen to paper. Agnes
> Moorehead (Endorra in Betwitched) has almost no dialog, but scowls and
> spends the entire movie with a pissed-off look on her face. The worst
> casting has to be William Conrad (Cannon and Jake and the Fatman) as
> Kasar,
> Wayne's brother. Seeing him short and shirtless is something you don't
> want
> to see on a full stomach. There are a few MST3K connections, including Lee
> Van Cleef (It Conquered the World) and Peter Mamakos (Catalina Caper).
>
> I strongly urge the Cinematic Titanic crew to get a copy of this and give
> it
> the treatment it deserves.
>
> Tom Carberry (#45505, it is available from Netflix)

For a longer analysis of just how bad this movie is, check out the
Jabootu article at http://jabootu.net/?p=1912

--------
Bookworm

Thank you. I did--an excellent review of a really bad movie. I forgot to
mention Lee Van Cleef's dancing routine. It kind of reminded me of the
Seinfeld episode of Elaine's lack of dancing skill.

Tom Carberry (#45505, and this must have been the 1956 edition of the
Heaven's Gate-like cinematic fiasco)
Re: MST3K Fodder: The Conqueror (1956) [message #174779 is a reply to message #174557] Thu, 07 May 2009 16:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
nebusj- is currently offline  nebusj-
Messages: 623
Registered: September 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
"Tom Carberry" <jtj0012@134.139.2.10> writes:

> Thank you. I did--an excellent review of a really bad movie. I forgot to
> mention Lee Van Cleef's dancing routine. It kind of reminded me of the
> Seinfeld episode of Elaine's lack of dancing skill.

Ah ... wow. All right, I thought I had been pretty well braced
mentally regarding the film and its rough outline of contents, but a
dance routine throws me.

I have been vaguely interested in seeing it, but haven't got
Netflix and who knows when it'll pop up on Turner Classic Movies.
('Ye Gods Night', perhaps?)


> Tom Carberry (#45505, and this must have been the 1956 edition of the
> Heaven's Gate-like cinematic fiasco)

Well, Heaven's Gate managed to ascend beyond the ordinary
fiasco into something truly stupendous. There's a book, and now I can't
think of the title, from one of the people who was head at United Artists
and ultimately kept giving Michael Cimino the approval to carry on [1]
instead of cutting their losses, and it's fascinating watching the
reasoning and how at so many steps of it things actually seem reasonable.


[1] Cimino, the book reveals, hadn't particularly wanted to do
Heaven's Gate; he had his heart set on doing The Fountainhead. A friend
I described this to said, ``Shortest career explanation ever''. Perhaps
it is. The author thought about that later on, certainly.

--
Joseph Nebus
------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------
Re: MST3K Fodder: The Conqueror (1956) [message #174895 is a reply to message #174779] Fri, 08 May 2009 09:59 Go to previous message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Tom Carberry

"Joseph Nebus" <nebusj-@-rpi-.edu> wrote in message
news:nebusj.1241728515@vcmr-86.server.rpi.edu...
> "Tom Carberry" <jtj0012@134.139.2.10> writes:
>
>> Thank you. I did--an excellent review of a really bad movie. I forgot to
>> mention Lee Van Cleef's dancing routine. It kind of reminded me of the
>> Seinfeld episode of Elaine's lack of dancing skill.
>
> Ah ... wow. All right, I thought I had been pretty well braced
> mentally regarding the film and its rough outline of contents, but a
> dance routine throws me.
>
> I have been vaguely interested in seeing it, but haven't got
> Netflix and who knows when it'll pop up on Turner Classic Movies.
> ('Ye Gods Night', perhaps?)
>
>
>> Tom Carberry (#45505, and this must have been the 1956 edition of the
>> Heaven's Gate-like cinematic fiasco)
>
> Well, Heaven's Gate managed to ascend beyond the ordinary
> fiasco into something truly stupendous. There's a book, and now I can't
> think of the title, from one of the people who was head at United Artists
> and ultimately kept giving Michael Cimino the approval to carry on [1]
> instead of cutting their losses, and it's fascinating watching the
> reasoning and how at so many steps of it things actually seem reasonable.
>
>
> [1] Cimino, the book reveals, hadn't particularly wanted to do
> Heaven's Gate; he had his heart set on doing The Fountainhead. A friend
> I described this to said, ``Shortest career explanation ever''. Perhaps
> it is. The author thought about that later on, certainly.
>
> --
> Joseph Nebus
> ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------

If it shows up on Turner's schedule I'll post a reminder.

Oh, by the way, Turner will be running Twelve to the Moon in July (20th I
think).

Tom Carberry (#45505, and meantime you can work on your "Cliff Beefpile"
list)
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