Nuclear consequences for Hollywood: connection between film “The Conqueror” and cancer outbreak among cast and crew

The disastrous box office flop The Conqueror was initially a failure due to the miscasting of John Wayne as Genghis Khan. Today it is remembered in a darker light for a far greater debacle – one that included nuclear explosions, radioactive sand and an outbreak of cancer among the cast and crew.

The Conqueror, starring John Wayne and Susan Hayward, was filmed against the backdrop of the remains of a nuclear test site in the Nevada desert, a year after Operation Upshot-Knothole caused 11 nuclear explosions. Of the 220-person crew that worked on the film, 91 were later diagnosed with cancer, leading to the premature deaths of 47, including the film's leads Wayne and Hayward, and popular Mexican actor Pedro Armendáriz.

The recently released documentary, The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout, reveals this disturbing story and delves into the recklessness and disinformation of the government that allegedly played the spoilsport by stealing years of these Hollywood personalities' lives. The film also sheds light on the affected “downwinder” communities living near where the film was shot.

During the 1950s and '60s, over 900 nuclear explosions were carried out above and below ground at the Nevada Test Site, now the Nevada National Security Site. In the summer of 1954, when The Conqueror was turned a few miles downwind, the tally was 50 explosions, raising the possibility of a fatal link with the radioactive sand used at the site.

Although most of the cast were heavy smokers (before the crucial Surgeon General's report of 1964), the smoking excuse could not completely cover up the cancer rate, which was three times the national average. Even more telling, Hayward, Armendáriz and director Dick Powell died at age 50 of cancers that had nothing to do with respiratory cancer.

Meanwhile, the film's decision-makers were well aware of the radioactive risks. Producer Howard Hughes, himself an eccentric billionaire, reportedly felt remorse for importing radioactive sand from Utah into the Hollywood sound studio. His guilt was reinforced posthumously by the revelations after Wayne's death in a People magazine story that prompted Utah residents to investigate their proximity to the Nevada test site.

The tireless efforts of these downwinders led to the passage of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act in 1990, pushed by former Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, which offered a $50,000 reward to families in Nevada, Utah and Arizona who could trace their illnesses to exposure to radioactive fallout. However, an extension of the application deadline was recently delayed due to perceived cost concerns and a lack of Republican support.

In this light, The Conqueror's initial box office disgrace seems trivial next to the human toll it took. And in the atomic shadow of its creation, the film is a grim reminder of the ruthlessness of an industry that so often prides itself on illusion and spectacle.