The backstory of the notorious turkey The Conqueror, starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan, has all the ingredients for a stimulating documentary, but Hollywood Fallout puts that story into a larger and more troubling context. Spoiler alert: the U.S. government lied to its citizens about the dangers of long-term radiation emanating from atomic bomb tests in the Nevada desert, and stonewalled the residents of St. George, Utah, where its effects were particularly devastating.
That’s where the erratic billionaire Howard Hughes sent director Dick Powell, movie stars John Wayne and Susan Hayward, and a large cast and crew to make this misbegotten film in 1956. A large number of those people died from one form or other of cancer—enough to remove it from the realm of coincidence. Writer/director William Nunez has cut no corners in telling the whole story, of which The Conqueror is a crucial—but not singular—component. Sophie Okonedo narrates this well-told, thorough account.
We meet longtime residents of that community who, like Holocaust survivors, feel an imperative to tell their stories while they are still here to serve as witnesses. The Hollywood angle is well represented by the surviving sons of John Wayne and Susan Hayward, along with Michael Medved, Barrie Chase, Mary Dickson, John William Law and the longtime curator of the Brigham Young University Film Archive, James D’Arc.
I am deliberately not going into detail about what I learned from the documentary because I think you should experience it first-hand. Filmmaker Nunez is touring this week with his film, which then opens nationwide on June 28 from Blue Fox Entertainment.
You can read more about it HERE Website: https://www.bluefoxentertainment.com/films/the-conqueror-hollywood-fallout and watch the trailer HERE.
