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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Oscar Millard (written by)
Release Date:
28 March 1956 (USA) more
Tagline:
Surpasses anything ever filmed before! more
Plot:
Mongol chief Temujin battles against Tartar armies and for the love of the Tartar princess Bortai. Temujin becomes the emperor Genghis Khan. full summary | add synopsis
NewsDesk:
(4 articles)
[TV] Zorro: The Complete Second Season
(From JustPressPlay. 5 November 2009, 11:00 AM, PST)
Bad Accents In Film
(From FilmShaft.com. 22 September 2009, 10:42 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Worst Miscasting Ever more (40 total)
Cast
(Complete credited cast)| John Wayne | ... | Temujin, later Genghis Khan | |
| Susan Hayward | ... | Bortai | |
| Pedro Armendáriz | ... | Jamuga (as Pedro Armendariz) | |
| Agnes Moorehead | ... | Hunlun | |
| Thomas Gomez | ... | Wang Khan | |
| John Hoyt | ... | Shaman | |
| William Conrad | ... | Kasar | |
| Ted de Corsia | ... | Kumlek | |
| Leslie Bradley | ... | Targutai | |
| Lee Van Cleef | ... | Chepei | |
| Peter Mamakos | ... | Bogurchi | |
| Leo Gordon | ... | Tartar captain | |
| Richard Loo | ... | Captain of Wang's guard |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Conqueror of the Desert
more
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
111 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.55 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The screenplay was written before John Wayne became involved in the project. The writer had Marlon Brando in mind for the role. more
Goofs:
Continuity: After Temujin kills the Shaman and a guard in Wang Khan's bedroom his sword is clean, but when he bangs on the gong outside the bedroom to address his troops, there is blood on the sword. more
Quotes:
Kumlek: [to Temujin] Joint by joint from the toe and fingertip upward shall you be cut to pieces, and each carrion piece, hour by hour and day by day, shall be cast to the dogs before your very eyes until they too shall be plucked out as morsels for the vultures. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005) (TV) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (40 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Conqueror (1956)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| just seen it and guess what! | ciaran122-1 |
| I need a copy | seanmakau0 |
| John Wayne Wanted to do this movie | reyjamiei |
| Fascinating | Gonzo2000 |
Recommendations
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| Mountains of the Moon | Ben-Hur | Custer's Last Stand | Gone with the Wind | The New World |
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Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Action section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |

John Wayne is the consummate cowboy, only Clint Eastwood comes close to approaching the title. So it's really jarring to the sensibilities to see Wayne standing there in a Mongol costume and a cheesy "fu manchu" moustache spouting barbarian lines in his trademark western drawl. It's like seeing Alec Guinness start acting like Pee-Wee Herman; some serious misalignment of the heavens has happened and maybe that guy on the corner saying "the end of the world is nigh" was right.
That aside, "The Conqueror" plays like an epic Cecil B. DeMille movie, with epic lines, epic scenery, and epic music. Say what you want about modern cinema, recent movies as a whole tend to be better researched, with characters, clothing, and sets that are historically accurate. This movie makes it clear they had no concept what Genghis Khan and his time was like. People, Wayne included, simply say grandiose lines without any inflection, as if they had no idea how to act the part.
Through it all, I kept expecting Susan Hayward to claim she was an alien or had fallen through a time machine. I doubt very many 12th century Mogolian women had red permed hair and wore low cut dresses. "The Conqueror" is either one of the worst movies you ever saw or one of the funniest.