The backstory of the infamous turkey The Conqueror, starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan, has all of the elements for a stimulating documentary, however Hollywood Fallout places that story into a bigger and extra troubling context. Spoiler alert: the U.S. authorities lied to its residents concerning the risks of long-term radiation emanating from atomic bomb assessments within the Nevada desert, and stonewalled the residents of St. George, Utah, the place its results had been significantly devastating.
That’s the place the erratic billionaire Howard Hughes despatched director Dick Powell, film stars John Wayne and Susan Hayward, and a big solid and crew to make this misbegotten movie in 1956. A lot of these folks died from one kind or different of most cancers—sufficient to take away it from the realm of coincidence. Writer/director William Nunez has lower no corners in telling the entire story, of which The Conqueror is a vital—however not singular—element. Sophie Okonedo narrates this well-told, thorough account.
We meet longtime residents of that neighborhood who, like Holocaust survivors, really feel an crucial to inform their tales whereas they’re nonetheless right here to function witnesses. The Hollywood angle is nicely represented by the surviving sons of John Wayne and Susan Hayward, together 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’m intentionally not going into element about what I realized from the documentary as a result of I believe it is best to expertise it first-hand. Filmmaker Nunez is touring this week along with his movie, which then opens nationwide on June 28 from Blue Fox Entertainment.
You can learn extra about it HERE Website: https://www.bluefoxentertainment.com/films/the-conqueror-hollywood-fallout and watch the trailer HERE.