| MST3K Fodder: The Conqueror (1956) [message #174442] |
Mon, 27 April 2009 13:21  |
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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)
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