Have I heard of The Conqueror? Oh yeah. Have I seen The Conqueror? Oh yeah. Is it awful; is it racist? Oh yeah, on both counts. It is hard to say which is worse, John Wayne's acting in this or the writing:
From Medved and Dreyfus' book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (this is not the kind of movie ordinary people remember lines from!)
Agnes Moorehead (as Wayne's film mother) :My son has won the world; still he must conqueror that red-headed Jezebel!
Wayne (as the future Genghis Khan) speaking to the girl's father: While I live, while my blood burns hot, your daughter is not safe in her tent!
Susan Hayward (the girl herself): The conqueror? Mighty armies can not stop him! But one touch from my lips... Yes, he captured me - but he can not tame me!
Yep, in a sense it's a epic of that period. All-star cast. Stilted dialogue. Exotic setting. Exotic costumes... But lame story. Horribly miscast male lead. A-Bombs going off between takes not far enough away... These days they could add a line to the credits: No actual Asians harmed in the filming of this movie.
.... Harry Belafonte was one of my favorites, too.
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From Medved and Dreyfus' book The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (this is not the kind of movie ordinary people remember lines from!)
Agnes Moorehead (as Wayne's film mother) :My son has won the world; still he must conqueror that red-headed Jezebel!
Wayne (as the future Genghis Khan) speaking to the girl's father: While I live, while my blood burns hot, your daughter is not safe in her tent!
Susan Hayward (the girl herself): The conqueror? Mighty armies can not stop him! But one touch from my lips... Yes, he captured me - but he can not tame me!
Yep, in a sense it's a epic of that period. All-star cast. Stilted dialogue. Exotic setting. Exotic costumes... But lame story. Horribly miscast male lead. A-Bombs going off between takes not far enough away... These days they could add a line to the credits: No actual Asians harmed in the filming of this movie.
....
Harry Belafonte was one of my favorites, too.