The Conqueror 1956 | Legends Never Die: John Wayne

Hollywood’s Most “Deadly” Film:- In 1956, The Conqueror cast John Wayne as Genghis Khan, but the film is remembered less for its story than for the tragedy that followed. It was shot in Snow Canyon near St. George, Utah—downwind from the Nevada Test Site, where the U.S. had recently conducted atmospheric nuclear tests during Operation Upshot-Knothole. Radioactive fallout had drifted into the area, yet the cast and crew spent weeks filming in the contaminated dust. Producer Howard Hughes even had