Genghis Wayne?

 

A few nights ago, I was surfing around the cable movie channels looking for something interesting to watch.  It was one of those “nothing on TV” evenings.  I limited my search to what was already being aired.  I might have entered the world on-demand, but sometimes it is just easier to see what is on.  The on-demand mining might result in a gold nugget of a movie but, dang, it can take forever to find one.

I settled on a movie called The Conqueror (1956) on TCM.  The info blurb on the TV said, “Genghis Khan (John Wayne) and Mongol horde abduct Tartar’s daughter (Susan Hayward).” 

What?  John Wayne playing Genghis Khan?  A million thoughts exploded in my head as I hit enter on the remote.  John Wayne as Genghis Khan?  Whose idea was casting the Duke as a 12^th century Mongol.  This had to be a disaster worth seeing.

How could I not watch John Wayne in such a role.  I was not disappointed in the miscasting.  But I was a little surprised in that the story was a smidgen more engaging than I thought it would be given how delightfully low my expectation was.  I caught the movie about two-thirds of the way through.  It was supposed to be taking place in the land of the Tartars, the steppes of the Ukraine.  The scenery looked more appropriate for a John Wayne cowboy movie in some sagebrush laden place in the Western US (actually St. George, Utah). 

This film made me think of the Charlie Chan series of detective whodunits.  The fictional Chinese detective was a popular series of movies from the 1930s to 1949.  Chan was played by Werner Oland, Swedish-American, in 16 films.  An American, Sidney Toler was cast as Chan in 22 films.  The last 8 films in the series had the American Roland Winters in six, Ross Martin (Polish) in 1, and Peter Ustinov (English) in 1.  They were all made-up, as was Wayne, to look Asian.  The actors portraying Chan at least spoke with a Chinese accent.  The same cannot be said about the Wayne or Susan Hayward.

Per Wikipedia, John Wayne lobbied hard to get the role.  Why?  Apparently, he liked the script.  Certainly, Genghis Khan would be an epic role for anyone to play.  I guess he thought he could do and the film producers Dick Powell and Howard Hughes, I don’t know, must have thought Wayne’s immense popularity would be a box office draw.  Who was going to second guess Howard Hughes or John Wayne in 1956?

Some of Wayne’s most memorable films were made with director John Ford including my favorite, The Quiet Man (1952).  I am assuming Ford and Wayne were friends.  Presumably, they might have talked about this role, which I am pretty certain Ford would have advised him against pursuing the role.

Who looks more like
Genghis Khan?

The Conqueror cost $6 million to make and earned $4.5 million at the box office.  It made the cut in a 1978 book, The Fifty Worst Films of all Time.  In a 1980 book, The Golden Turkey Awards, John Wayne’s role as Genghis Khan was given the award for Worst Casting. 

Here are some comments from critics, care of Wikipedia and Rotten Tomatoes:

• Howard Hughes' anachronistic saga is one of the worst films ever made with an embarrassing performance of John Wayne as Genghis Khan the Warrior. ~ Emmanuel Levy
• No one comes out of this train wreck holding their head up. ~ Dennis Schwartz
• John Wayne “"portrays the great conqueror as a sort of cross between a square-shootin' sheriff and a Mongolian idiot. The idea is good for a couple of snickers, but after that it never Waynes but it bores." ~ Time
• John Wayne as a Mongolian warlord HAS to be one of the worst casting jobs in the history of Cinema. I love The Duke as much as anyone, but Genghis Khan he ain't. ~ Randy T., Super Reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes
• Dear Lord God, what were they thinking...? Featuring easily the worst piece of casting in cinematic history, John Wayne stars as Genghis Khan (yes, you read that right) in the story of his life. It is quite funny for about 10 minutes, until you realise that it's quite mind-buggering dull. One star for the curiosity value, but otherwise a total waste of celluloid. The fact that financial backer Howard Hughes paid $12 million to recall every print in existence so no-one could see it should tell you everything you need to know! ~ xGary X, Super Reviewer on Rotten Tomatoes

I drew the same conclusion before I ever saw one scene of the film.  When I get a chance, I want to watch the whole movie if for no other reason to see how Agnes Moorehead was miscast.

You cannot make this stuff up.