Did Utah Kill John Wayne?

By Contributing Writer, 2-06-06

By Clint Wardlow, UtahGothic.com

The Conqueror is one of those legendary cursed Hollywood movies. The brainchild of eccentric billionaire and aviator Howard Hughes, the historical epic cast John Wayne as Temujin (a.k.a. Genghis Khan). It was a bad idea from the start; destined for failure in the form of bad box office and critical derision.

This aside, The Conqueror has a more troubling legacy. Six of its main players kicked the bucket, possibly as a direct result of working on this film. Veteran character actors Pedro Armendariz (suicide) and Lee Van Cleef (natural causes) were causalities. However it was the deaths of the three leads and its actor-turned-director that raised eyebrows. Susan Hayward, Dick Powell, Agnes Moorehead and the duke himself, John Wayne, all died from cancer.

Was this a macabre coincidence or was there some other factor? Something that not only affected the cast and crew of the movie, but involved everyone in the Southern Utah area it was filmed

In 1954 St. George buzzed. Hughes had decided to film the epic story of Genghis Khan under the aegis of his recently acquired RKO studios and the dusty clime of Southern Utah would make a nice Mongolia.

Two hundred cast and crew members had arrived to begin work on the big budget Hollywood feature. The rural Utah townsfolk weren't used to having such tinsel-town luminaries invade their drab agricultural lives. Susan Hayward, Pedro Armendariz, Dick Powell (the director) and John Wayne would be hanging with the commoners. Hollywood dollars would be flowing into the small community. It took the town's mind off of other problems that had sprung up recently. Problems that would eventually rust their silver screen dream.

Thursday, Part II: “Atomic Bombs and Dead Sheep� [End of article]