History Film / TheConqueror

And then there's how it may have killed a bunch of people. The film was shot in the desert of southwest Utah, downwind of and three years after Operation Upshot-Knothole, a series of nuclear weapon tests, in the deserts of Nevada. After many of the cast and crew died of cancer, including director Powell and all the stars, some have hypothesized that fallout from the detonations, most notably the "Harry" shot due to its high fallout deposition, caused their cancers. There's [[http://www.gasdetection.com/interscan-in-the-news/magazine-articles/movie-conqueror-really-cursed-look-radiation-paranoia/ no concrete reason to believe that]], and it's entirely possible that other factors, like the fact that most of them, as it was common of those days, were chainsmokers, led to the illnesses, but the notion of radiation fatalities has been associated with ''The Conqueror'' ever since.

* StockholmSyndrome: Has obviously kicked in by the time Bortai lets Temujin have sex with her after he whisks her away following an enemy raid. She's back to hostility later, though, setting up the LimaSyndrome.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/susan_hayward_and_john_wa_010.jpg]]

''The Conqueror'' is one of the most notorious films ever made in Hollywood, for multiple reasons. It was part of the death spiral of Creator/RKOPictures under Creator/HowardHughes. Despite actually doing pretty well at the box office, it still couldn't recoup its bloated budget, and RKO went out of business not long after. It is a member of the WTHCastingAgency hall of fame, with John Wayne – ''John Wayne'' – being cast as Genghis Khan, wearing some sort of brown makeup with a silly Fu Manchu mustache.

''The Conqueror'' is a 1956 film directed by Creator/DickPowell, starring Creator/JohnWayne and Creator/SusanHayward.

-->'''Targutei:''' ''[to Bortei]'' Your father Kumlek did well to destroy the old Mongol chief.\\

* BelligerentSexualTension: Between Bortei and Temujin, like when she curses him but then responds to his kisses, or when she has sex with him but later tries to murder him by flinging a sword at him.
* TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: Like when Bortei ends her sexy-dance-with-two-swords by flinging one of the swords at Temujin, only for it to stick in the table next to him. Later the shaman flings a dagger at Temujin which lodges in the doorway.

* TheConqueror: Although Temujin doesn't actually do a lot of conquering in ''The Conqueror'', most of the story having to do with the romance with Borte and vengeance for Temujin's father. He does take over Wang Khan's people after the shaman betrayed them, and he defeats the Tartars and kills Kumlek in the climactic battle.
* DirtyCoward: After the Tartar caravan is attacked by Temujin, Borte's betrothed Targutei runs for it, abandoning her to Temjuin.

* LimaSyndrome: Bortei doesn't realize that she loves Temujin until he is captured by her tribe, tied to a yoke, and tortured.

* RomanticizedAbuse: Temujin, who has been strangely polite for a nomadic warlord kidnapper, finally slaps Bortei across the face, and leaves the tent. She then gives him a look of longing as he goes.

''The Conqueror'' is one of the most notorious films ever made in Hollywood, for multiple reasons. It was part of the death spiral of Creator/RKOPictures under Creator/HowardHughes. Despite actually doing pretty well at the box office, it still couldn't recoup its bloated budget, and RKO went out of business not long after. It is a member of the WTHCastingAgency hall of fame, with John Wayne – ''John Wayne'' – being cast as Genghis Khan, wearing some sort of brown makeup with a silly Fu Manchu mustache (the film and the image of Wayne as Khan provide the ImageSource for the WTHCastingAgency trope page here).

And then there's how it may have killed a bunch of people. The film was shot in the desert of southwest Utah, downwind of and three years after a series of nuclear weapons tests in the deserts of Nevada. After many of the cast and crew died of cancer, including director Powell and all the stars, some have hypothesized that fallout from the detonations caused their cancers. There's [[http://www.gasdetection.com/interscan-in-the-news/magazine-articles/movie-conqueror-really-cursed-look-radiation-paranoia/ no concrete reason to believe that]], and it's entirely possible that other factors, like the fact that most of them, as it was common of those days, were chainsmokers, led to the illnesses, but the notion of radiation fatalities has been associated with ''The Conqueror'' ever since.

''The Conqueror'' is one of the most notorious films ever made in Hollywood, for multiple reasons. It was part of the death spiral of Creator/RKOPictures under Creator/HowardHughes. Despite actually doing pretty well at the box office, it still couldn't recoup its bloated budget, and RKO went out of business not long after. It is a member of the WTHCastingAgency hall of fame, with John Wayne – ''John Wayne'' – being cast as Genghis Khan, wearing some sort of brown makeup with a silly Fu Manchu mustache (the film and the image of Wayne as Khan provide the ImageSource for the WTHCastingAgency trope page here). And then there's how it may have killed a bunch of people. The film was shot in the desert of southwest Utah, downwind of and three years after a series of nuclear weapons tests in the deserts of Nevada. After many of the cast and crew died of cancer, including director Powell and all the stars, some have hypothesized that fallout from the detonations caused their cancers. There's [[http://www.gasdetection.com/interscan-in-the-news/magazine-articles/movie-conqueror-really-cursed-look-radiation-paranoia/ no concrete reason to believe that]], and it's entirely possible that other factors, like the fact that most of them, as it was common of those days, were chainsmokers, led to the illnesses, but the notion of radiation fatalities has been associated with ''The Conqueror'' ever since.

''The Conqueror'' is a 1956 film directed by Creator/DickPowell, starring Creator/JohnWayne and Susan Hayward.

* RaceLift: While {{Yellowface}} was used for all the male actors, no effort whatsoever was spent on making Susan Hayward (an American of Irish and Swedish descent) look like someone from Central Asia. Instead she looks just like Susan Hayward--gorgeous, and very very white.

''The Conqueror'' is one of the most notorious films ever made in Hollywood, for multiple reasons. It was part of the death spiral of Creator/RKOPictures under Creator/HowardHughes. Despite actually doing pretty well at the box office, it still couldn't recoup its bloated budget, and RKO went out of business not long after. It is a member of the WTHCastingAgency hall of fame, with John Wayne – ''John Wayne'' – being cast as Genghis Khan, wearing some sort of brown makeup with a silly Fu Manchu mustache (the film and the image of Wayne as Khan provide the ImageSource for the WTHCastingAgency trope page here). And then there's how it may have killed a bunch of people. The film was shot in the desert of southwest Utah, downwind of and three years after a series of nuclear weapons tests in the deserts of Nevada. After many of the cast and crew died of cancer, including director Powell and all the stars, some have hypothesized that fallout from the detonations caused their cancers. There's [[http://www.gasdetection.com/interscan-in-the-news/magazine-articles/movie-conqueror-really-cursed-look-radiation-paranoia/ no concrete reason to believe that]], and it's entirely possible that other factors, like Wayne's five-packs-a-day chainsmoking, led to the illnesses, but the notion of radiation fatalities has been associated with ''The Conqueror'' ever since.

''The Conqueror'' is a 1956 film directed by Dick Powell, starring Creator/JohnWayne and Susan Hayward.

It is the story of UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan and his rise to power. The great Khan, then called Temujin, is at the time the movie starts already the lord of his own tribe of [[UsefulNotes/{{Mongolia}} Mongols]]. Temujin and his band stumble across a caravan of Tartars, sworn enemies of the Mongols, their chief Kumlek having murdered Temujin's father. Among this caravan is Kumlek's luscious daughter Bortai (Hayward), who had been promised to marry a Tartar prince, Tartugai. Temujin takes a fancy to Bortai, attacks the Tartar caravan, and carries her away, against the advice of his [[TheLancer lancer]] Jamuga. This triggers a war between the Mongols and the Tartars, with Temujin appealing to the Chinese forces of Wang Khan for aid.

''The Conqueror'' is one of the most notorious films ever made in Hollywood, for multiple reasons. It was part of the death spiral of Creator/RKOPictures under Creator/HowardHughes. Despite actually doing pretty well at the box office, it still couldn't recoup its bloated budget, and RKO went out of business not long after. It is a member of the WTHCastingAgency hall of fame, with John Wayne – ''John Wayne'' – being cast as Genghis Khan, wearing some sort of brown makeup with a silly Fu Manchu mustache. And then there's how it may have killed a bunch of people. The film was shot in the desert of southwest Utah, downwind of and three years after a series of nuclear weapons tests in the deserts of Nevada. After many of the cast and crew died of cancer, including director Powell and all the stars, some have hypothesized that fallout from the detonations caused their cancers. There's [[http://www.gasdetection.com/interscan-in-the-news/magazine-articles/movie-conqueror-really-cursed-look-radiation-paranoia/ no concrete reason to believe that]], and it's entirely possible that other factors, like Wayne's five-packs-a-day chainsmoking, led to the illnesses, but the notion of radiation fatalities has been associated with ''The Conqueror'' ever since.

->''"The Conqueror? Mighty armies cannot stop him. But one touch of my lips... Yes, he captured me - but he cannot tame me."''

''The Conqueror'' is one of the most notorious films ever made in Hollywood, for multiple reasons. It was part of the death spiral of Creator/RKOPictures under Creator/HowardHughes. Despite actually doing pretty well at the box office, it still couldn't recoup its bloated budget, and RKO went out of business not long after. It is a member of the WTHCastingAgency hall of fame, with John Wayne, ''John Wayne'', being cast as Genghis Khan, wearing some sort of brown makeup with a silly Fu Manchu mustache. And then there's how it may have killed a bunch of people. The film was shot in the desert of southwest Utah, downwind of and three years after a series of nuclear weapons tests in the deserts of Nevada. After many of the cast and crew died of cancer, including director Powell and all the stars, some have hypothesized that fallout from the detonations caused their cancers. There's [[http://www.gasdetection.com/interscan-in-the-news/magazine-articles/movie-conqueror-really-cursed-look-radiation-paranoia/ no concrete reason to believe that]], and it's entirely possible that other factors, like Wayne's five-packs-a-day chainsmoking, led to the illnesses, but the notion of radiation fatalities has been associated with ''The Conqueror'' ever since.

--> '''Targutei:''' ''[to Bortei]'' Your father Kumlek did well to destroy the old Mongol chief.\\

--> '''Kasar:''' At last, a purpose worthy of these muscles.

--> '''Temujin:''' I feel this Tartar woman is for me, and my blood says, take her. There are moments for wisdom and moments when I listen to my blood; my blood says, take this Tartar woman.

'''Temujin:''' You're beautiful in your wrath.

* RaceLift: While {{Yellowface}} was used for all the male actors, no effort whatsoever was spent on making Susan Hayward look like someone from Central Asia. Instead she looks just like Susan Hayward--gorgeous, and very very white.

-> "The Conqueror? Mighty armies cannot stop him. But one touch of my lips... Yes, he captured me - but he cannot tame me."

--> '''Targutei''': "Your father Kumlek did well to destroy the old Mongol chief." (to Bortei)
--> '''Temujin''': "Our little brother exercises himself." (to his brother Kasar)

--> '''Kasar''': At last, a purpose worthy of these muscles.

--> '''Temujin''': I feel this Tartar woman is for me, and my blood says, take her. There are moments for wisdom and moments when I listen to my blood; my blood says, take this Tartar woman.

-->'''Bortai''': For me, there is no peace while you live, Mongol.\\
'''Temujin''': You're beautiful in your wrath.

''The Conqueror'' is one of the most notorious films ever made in Hollywood, for multiple reasons. It was part of the death spiral of Creator/RKOPictures--despite actually doing pretty well at the box office, it still couldn't recoup its bloated budget, and RKO went out of business not long after. It is a member of the WTHCastingAgency hall of fame, with John Wayne, ''John Wayne'', being cast as Genghis Khan, wearing some sort of brown makeup with a silly Fu Manchu mustache. And then there's how it may have killed a bunch of people. The film was shot in the desert of southwest Utah, downwind of and three years after a series of nuclear weapons tests in the deserts of Nevada. After many of the cast and crew died of cancer, including director Powell and all the stars, some have hypothesized that fallout from the detonations caused their cancers. There's [[http://www.gasdetection.com/interscan-in-the-news/magazine-articles/movie-conqueror-really-cursed-look-radiation-paranoia/ no concrete reason to believe that]], and it's entirely possible that other factors, like Wayne's five-packs-a-day chainsmoking, led to the illnesses, but the notion of radiation fatalities has been associated with ''The Conqueror'' ever since.

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: In the movie, Jmauga is Temujin's loyal Lancer, who refuses to betray him. In RealLife, Jamuga ''did'' betray Temujin, becoming his sworn enemy and main rival for the Mongol khan.

-> "The Conqueror? Mighty armies cannot stop him. But one touch of my lips... Yes, he captured me - but he cannot tame me."

* StockholmSyndrome: Has obviously kicked in by the time Bortai lets Temujin have sex with her after he whisks her away following an enemy raid. She's back to hostility later, though, setting up the LimaSydrome.

* {{Yellowface}}: '''Good lord'''. One of the most notorious examples of all time. John Wayne, a white boy from Iowa who played cowboys in the American west, wears bronzer and a Fu Manchu, and acts like he's Genghis Khan. There isn't a single Asian actor in the movie. Mexican actor Pedro Armendáriz, who at least didn't need the tanning lotion, plays Temujin's sidekick Jamuga.