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Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board: To reach If You Knew Susie by Trish Sharp, click the profile photo at www.facebook.com/susanhaywardclassicfilmstar and you will see the link.

Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board
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The Missing Conqueror!

I have just viewed the Howard Hughes Biography on the Biography Channel. Naturally, I was waiting to see scenes from The Conqueror with Susan and John Wayne and thought that maybe they would show something of Susan offset. This was not the case as The Conqueror was not even mentioned although every other movie seemed to be.

Does anyone else find this strange (and annoying!)?

Trish

Re: The Missing Conqueror!

Because I have only marginal recollection of specifics from modern movies, but can recall vast amounts of everything from old movies (that says something)I am trying to remember, was "The Conqueror" mentioned even in passing in "The Aviator". To my shame I cannot recall whatsoever.

In any case, I have not seen the Hughes bio to which you refer Trish so can only postulate, but possibly because it ("The Conqueror")ended up in that list of the 50 Worst Movies of All Time they may be distancing Hughes from it. Similarly, the contentious "did most of the cast contract their cancers from the ' hot sand' " issue may also mean that it is overlooked.

Regardless - as we have mentioned previously, most of us here have the movie in our collections, and when viewed with tongue in cheek it is still a good watch, and La Hayward was awesomely beautiful in this one - stunningly so.

Kerry

Re: Re: The Missing Conqueror!

From The Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com):Eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes provided the financial backing for this film and later paid an extra $12 million (estimated) for every existing print of it from a sense of guilt - it was he who paid for the shipping of 60 tons of radioactive dirt to Hollywood for retakes (see above). He kept a jealous hold on the film, not even allowing it to be seen on television, for 17 years until 1974, when Paramount managed to secure the rights to reissue it.

Re: Re: Re: The Missing Conqueror!

Thank you for your replies and yes Kerry, Susan was stunningly beautiful (as always) in this one.

Trish

Re: Re: Re: Re: The Missing Conqueror!

Well...I...for one...am glad that this film was NOT mentioned in THE AVIATOR..and eventhough Susan is shown, I think twice on magazines or something, (like Kerry, I remember the good old ones..not these new ones) I felt it best that Susan was not mentioned with the crazy antics of HOWARD HUGHES. I guess the couple of dates that they may have had, he knew she was too tough for him. (Good for HER)

It definitley is ONE OF THE WORST 50 MOVIES EVER MADE.
Sorry, but it is true! BUT...SUSAN never looked more georgus than in this 'wasted film' epic. You really have to have a far-fetched imagination to take JOHN WAYNE as Gengis Kahn and I really don't think DICK POWELL was the correct person to direct this film. YES
I do watch it...BUT..only for SUSAN. Even AGNES MOOREHEAD is 'bad' in this one!

As for the 'taking of the sand from Utah, back to the sutdios'...I really wish people would start getting this story 'correct', since the 'sand' taken back to Hollywood was NOT the 'killing sand' that brough on the cancer. The people involved from the Hollywood Sand, (as far as has been reported) killed NO ONE. The people who got the deadly cancer was all done ON LOCATION IN SNOWS CANYON...UTAH...NOT the aftermath sand.

Not only did actors and crew get the cancer, but many people from the St. George Utah area perished from the neuclar blast. It was IN THE AIR...and even some actors did NOT die from the tradgedy. WHY..?? It is believed that they were NOT in Utah when the blast was done. Those actors would be THOMAS GOMEZ, WILLIAM CONRAD and LEE VAN CLEEF.

How do I (MR. SMARTY PANTS) know this? Because I have been doing musical stage shows on the very spot that this film was made. I grew up in Utah and moved on to Hollywood, but now...I am working in the very place,
SNOWS CANYON...that the HUGHES disaster (in more ways than one) was made.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: The Missing Conqueror!

One MOre Thing....I wish, the next time TIMOTHY BARKER
checks in, maybe he will read this and could give us some background on just when the atomic blast was done and if he recalls WHO was on location, at the time, and if he knows of anyone getting cancer from the sand taken back to the studio in Hollywood.

That might clear some of this up. I may be wrong, but from all the people, in this area of Utah, they seemed to think it was from the air and the blast. The same desert...the same sand still remains over the years.
Hard to scoop up THE DESERT and remove it! (LOL)

Checking in....

As I recall something like 80% of the people who worked on this film contracted cancer of one sort or another. This information was given to me by a writer from People Magazine in the early 80's when I went up there for a story and photo shoot with several of the cast members children.

Both Greg and I were in St. George for the majority of the location filming. This was about a year after one of the dirtiest A-Bombs ever was detonated downwind from St. George. The rates for child lukemia in that area are off the chart!

One must keep in mind however, that most of the principals in this film were heavy smokers.

Best,

Tim

Re: Checking in....

Tim, thanks for checking in and giving us your input. I wasn't aware of the luekemia factor among the children in that area. You and Greg have probably had concerns about your own personal health since you both were in the area during that time.

Re: Re: Checking in....

IN 1952 I SAW A SNEAK PREVIEW OF "WITH A SONG IN MY HEART," IN MY HOMETOWN - CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA - WHICH SUSAN HAYWARD MENTIONED IN THE FILM. I BECAME A FAN OF HERS AFTER THAT.

IS THERE ANY PLACE I CAN GET A COPY OF THE ACTUAL "THIS IS YOUR LIFE" TAPE OF LILLIAN ROTH? I THOUGHT SINCE THE DEATH OF RALPH EDWARDS THAT ALL OF THE TAPES MIGHT BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE BY THE PUBLIC. IF YOU KNOW OF A PLACE WHERE THAT TAPE CAN BE PURCHASED, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT IT.

HUGH SADLER