The Conqueror (1956)

Quote from Gorch

Since I'm responsible for forcing this on the group, I'll go ahead.
On the plus side. The minor characters, especially Lee Van Cleef and William Conrad, are energetic. The horsemanship is spectacular. The battle scenes are exciting and the stunts (I saw Cliff Lyons' name in the credits) look bone breaking.

On the debit side. The script is awful, with lines that no actor could speak sincerely. Susan Hayward appears to be heavily sedated, probably to keep from giggling. She looks like she's sleepwalking even in her big seductive dance scene. There is another big dance number that is choreographed worse than a high school half time that stops everything dead. It's a great time to get some beer - you'll need it.
The sets are cheesy and less believable than the ones in "Road to Morocco". The costumes look like Mom's homemade Halloween attempts with rolls of aluminum foil. The process shots and inserts don't match and the music score is uninspired.
We all know Duke was miscast. He looks fierce enough, especially on horseback waving a sword, and grunts and growls convincingly, but he's just not a Mongol.

If you treat the movie like a comic book, say "Prince Valiant", it's not so bad and a miscast Duke is better than no Duke.

We deal in lead, friend.

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Gorch, following on from your glowing review I think the beer is needed before you start watching the film!

Just watched “The Conqueror” again, and now my brain hurts! Don’t get me wrong; as I said in a past post about the movie, I don’t think its Duke’s worst movie. The action scenes are good, and there’s… There’s… Well, the action scenes are good!

I liked the movie, when I watched it before, but for all the wrong reasons; for the same reasons I enjoyed Duke as a singing cowboy in some of those B movies, or for the same reasons I have enjoyed Japanese giant monster movies…for the novelty of it! But like those Japanese monster movies, the novelty kind of goes away with a second viewing!

The dialog in the movie is bad, but that’s the one thing that annoys me in most ‘sand and sword’ movies. Whether the characters are Asian, African, European or whatever, there’s always that overdramatic pseudo-Shakespearian way of delivering the lines that gets old real fast!

To sum it up, it had good action scenes, but even with that, it was hard to keep my mind on the movie! (For instance when I saw John Wayne as Genghis Kahn I kept thinking of those old “Looney Tunes” where Yosemite Sam would pop up as a knight or pirate or the like!)

John Wayne is my hero, my favorite actor and the star of many of my all-time favorite movies…but this ain’t one of ‘em!

So, firstly I'd like to say a thank you to Gorch for choosing a Duke film I've owned for ages but never watched!
So I prepared myself, sat down, beer in hand as advised, to watch The Conqueror and, guess what?, Thoroughly enjoyed it!
The Duke is horribly miscast, we all know that, but he's closely followed by Susan Hayward in the woeful acting stakes.
The dialogue is laughable, which didn't help the Duke, and there are sections of inane drivel, but despite all of this, somehow, it's really enjoyable!
The horsemanship was fantastic, the use of the widescreen format; impressive, the battle scenes; spectacular.
As mentioned by others, not the Duke's worst film, all in all an enjoyable romp if you don't take it too seriously.

Glad to hear that SOMEONE got past all the bad points of the movie and found some good ones.....do you think the beer helped, Peter? Now, since you are a respected member here, maybe some of the others will try a little harder. I would LOVE some stunt experts to comment on the hand to hand combat, what was used, etc. Far outside of my expertise. but I imagine there are some here that know quite a bit about it. Maybe we can pick out some scenes where Cliff Lyons or another stuntman "subbed" for Duke? Way to go Peter. So, you see Gorch, there are a few who will try.......here's to hoping others will....they have lots of time.

Quote from Dooley

So, firstly I'd like to say a thank you to Gorch for choosing a Duke film I've owned for ages but never watched!
So I prepared myself, sat down, beer in hand as advised, to watch The Conqueror and, guess what?, Thoroughly enjoyed it!
The Duke is horribly miscast, we all know that, but he's closely followed by Susan Hayward in the woeful acting stakes.
The dialogue is laughable, which didn't help the Duke, and there a sections of inane drivel, but despite all of this, somehow, it's really enjoyable!
The horsemanship was fantastic, the use of the widescreen format; impressive, the battle scenes; spectacular.
As mentioned by others, not the Duke's worst film, all in all an enjoyable romp if you don't take it too seriously.

Glad to hear that you are at least enjoying watching this and I'm enjoying your "reviews". I may watch it again just to have a few more beers.

We deal in lead, friend.

Quote from Gorch

Glad to hear that you are at least enjoying watching this and I'm enjoying your "reviews". I may watch it again just to have a few more beers.

We deal in lead, friend.

Just make sure it's not too many so you can at least remember what you watched!

So are any of the other members on here going to watch or comment on The Conqueror??
Only asking as there have been few comments and, to be honest, I had to force myself to watch it, remember I had never seen it, and was actually surprised! So all you true 'Duke fans' out there step up to the plate and join in.
Great choice of film BTW as it'll really separate the men from the boys, lol!

Alright, better late than never! I finally dug it out and gave The Conqueror a watch. I really feel that if the dialogue were not written the way it was, this film would have had a larger fan base. The story is good and the action is pretty decent. I just can't get use to Duke talking like that. Took me to this third time watching to actually pick out Lee Van Cleef, finally saw him. The outfits at times were a little over the top, but hey...that's Hollywood.
While I know very little about stuntmen, I had to wonder how they don't get hurt when their horses fall on top of them. I noticed this twice in the film, and both times thought, "That had to hurt." They sure did earn their money.
Not a great film, but not at all deserving of the title "worse movie ever made".

Mark

I agree wholeheartedly Mark. My main problem with the film was the dialogue. I believe I stated that obviously the man had never written for Duke before. I thought Pedro and Conrad sounded more at ease with theirs!
And the battle scenes with fantastic. You are right....stuntmen are not given NEAR the credit they deserve....one reason for my book. Too late for them to get credit due, but not too late for their families. LOL about Lee Van Cleef. He DID look a bit different, but that voice of his........is that how you found him? Thanks for your review.....hope some others willl give one as only a couple more days left! I am going to watch one more time and update mine.

Keith

So, we're on the countdown to choosing a film for September!

I'm pleased that we've managed to dig deep contribute on this one as it could have been a choice that killed the group watch dead!

It'd be great if Paula would join the party as her take on the films would be really informative, so if anyone knows her well please invite her in.

Are there any volunteers to pick the next one, has to be a Western this time?

OK, had to watch it on You Tube, so the large picture was blurry. The dialogue this time did not bother me at all. Guess I have just gotten used to that being the manner in which they spoke. However, in the battles, I was not able to see clearly enough to pick out the stuntmen which was my main goal this watching. I am fairly certain though of one of the first scenes when Timujen and Jamuga were coming down that straight incline on horseback to see the Tartar woman for the first time, the stuntmen were Chuck Roberson and Terry Wilson. As it was blurry, I could only go by their riding styles. I am very familiar with Terry Wilson's and have learned a lot of Roberson's since I joined this board. If I get a more clear picture, I can be sure. Thought I saw Roberson again in one of the battles and was pretty sure I saw Cliff Lyons once. Undoubtedly, they are all in a great many more places. With the horse falls on the rider, the You Tube version was very blurry.....I could barely tell the rider was there, LOL. But, it was a try. And I enjoyed this movie enough this time to watch it again down the road a piece!
Thanks Gorch for introducing me to this. I am fairly certain i never would have watched it if it hadn't have been your choice. I actually got USED to Duke being Timujen and liked him that way. But one watch was not enough to really comment on this. I actually watched it four times. And, the fourth was the charm. It is very hard to imagine Duke like this....but after watching it as I did, it becomes very easy. Also, bet you will never ever see Duke pet a bird in a movie except for this one, LOL, (the falcon). KEITH