Posts from Hawkswill in thread „The Conqueror (1956)“

Looks pretty darn masculine to me.....I mean that is what they wore then. And it is nice getting to see some of Duke's body instead of having it all covered up with long sleeve shirts most of the time, LOL. His arms weren't heavily muscled like they should have been for this role, but......still they were Duke's and I like seeing them. KEITH No, he wasn't John Wayne in this movie..........he was showing he could play something else.....didn't have anything to do with John Wayne. Just a role that Duke wanted to play. A few of us actually LIKE this movie, but then, I believe we have been all over that before, right? Merci Larry!

Quote from lasbugas

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

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

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.

LOL Dude, you are MUCH too tough on yourself and your choice. I have commented twice, (think I might have been the first one), hoping to get others going, plus I change my mind a little as I look at different things each time I watch it.....and since it WAS your choice, (you didn't like any of my suggestions :), I have already watched it more times than I would have for most anyone else!

The horses and battle scenes alone are worth watching the movie...as I said before, we don't get many hand to hand type of things to watch and are probably a bit rusty on appreciating what it took to do them. I think Cliff was the Unit 2 director, not sure, so there was experience there.....however most of his was gun fighting.....so an excellent job was done by Someone if not him. Watch Duke....someone had to teach him his close-up stunts.

Also, as we know, Duke had certain writers that knew what words to "put" into his mouth. I didn't check the screen writer yet, but I have a feeling he hadn't written for Duke before. Pedro and William Conrad did fine with their lines, in my opinion. Also, there was a great deal of too much dialogue that was not necessary at all to the movie. Duke had to speak more rapidly and much too long.......that alone would completely throw us off.

So, if we have until the end of August, I suggest we do what I have a feeling you chose this movie for......find out what is good about it. We may have to "dig" a lot more than normal, LOL, but it certainly will be a challenge and a deviation from the norm.....which I must say does get a little....won't say "boring"....but same old same old sometimes. If we look at it as a challenge, maybe it will help us to be better at all of our reviews, comments, etc.

OK, off the soapbox....sorry again for the verbosity. I think you did a good thing. Anyone can choose a movie that was highly acclaimed and already has been reviewed to pieces. You "stuck your neck out" and picked one that people would really have to THINK about. Hope we get some that will do that. Keith

I thought Pedro and William Conrad were very comfortable and believable in their roles. I had a hard time with Duke though. Just didn't seem to have the correct writer for his words or something. Anyway, after 3 times of watching it, his performance sank in a little better. The battle scenes were great. Much different from the normal guns...a lot more infighting. By far, not my favorite. But, I will probably watch it again.