1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:01:15,283 --> 00:01:18,787 NARRATOR:Interior inn on the park, London, night. 4 00:01:18,870 --> 00:01:20,079 Howard Hughes. 5 00:01:20,163 --> 00:01:24,209 The billionaire tycoon, aviator, and film producer 6 00:01:24,292 --> 00:01:26,211 has become a recluse. 7 00:01:26,294 --> 00:01:29,839 Locked in his penthouse suite, he refuses to bathe. 8 00:01:29,923 --> 00:01:31,716 Sports a long white beard. 9 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,344 Fingernails that protrude like snakes, 10 00:01:34,427 --> 00:01:36,596 where he sits for hours, naked, 11 00:01:36,679 --> 00:01:39,599 except for a pink hotel napkin. 12 00:01:39,682 --> 00:01:42,310 Another ritual would dominate his final years. 13 00:01:42,393 --> 00:01:45,480 A motion picture that he would play continually 14 00:01:45,563 --> 00:01:47,774 against a homemade projector screen. 15 00:01:47,857 --> 00:01:51,402 The movie looks part western, part musical. 16 00:01:51,486 --> 00:01:55,740 A would-be epic, a total farce. 17 00:01:55,824 --> 00:01:57,033 To Howard Hughes, 18 00:01:57,116 --> 00:01:58,993 this film called “The Conqueror” 19 00:01:59,077 --> 00:02:00,995 was his final masterpiece. 20 00:02:02,997 --> 00:02:06,084 I feel this tired woman is for me. 21 00:02:06,167 --> 00:02:07,794 My blood says take her. 22 00:02:07,877 --> 00:02:11,756 The Conqueror in many ways would be a-- 23 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:13,967 a entirely forgettable picture today. 24 00:02:14,050 --> 00:02:15,969 Howard Hughes had this idea. 25 00:02:16,052 --> 00:02:20,056 He wanted to make the Genghis Khan story. 26 00:02:20,139 --> 00:02:22,433 American and international audiences 27 00:02:22,517 --> 00:02:24,727 loved these big wide-screen epics. 28 00:02:25,311 --> 00:02:27,397 Howard Hughes was a megalomaniac. 29 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,484 He-- he certainly saw himself as a conqueror 30 00:02:31,568 --> 00:02:33,695 of the movie business. 31 00:02:33,778 --> 00:02:35,905 The aircraft business. 32 00:02:35,989 --> 00:02:38,241 A conqueror of politics. 33 00:02:38,324 --> 00:02:39,993 A conqueror of the whole world. 34 00:02:40,076 --> 00:02:41,077 John Wayne, 35 00:02:41,161 --> 00:02:43,079 and William Conrad, 36 00:02:43,162 --> 00:02:44,914 and Ted de Corsia. 37 00:02:44,998 --> 00:02:47,917 Uh, even Agnes Moorehead. 38 00:02:48,001 --> 00:02:48,918 Playing Asiatics. 39 00:02:49,002 --> 00:02:50,461 Just because it was accepted, 40 00:02:50,545 --> 00:02:52,630 it doesn't necessarily mean that it was correct. 41 00:02:52,714 --> 00:02:54,048 It was his creations. 42 00:02:54,132 --> 00:02:57,010 It was the Howard Hughes presents this, 43 00:02:57,093 --> 00:02:58,511 you know, iconic motion picture 44 00:02:58,595 --> 00:03:01,556 that he believed was his masterpiece. 45 00:03:01,639 --> 00:03:02,807 NARRATOR:For authenticity, 46 00:03:02,891 --> 00:03:05,226 Hughes chose the perfect location 47 00:03:05,310 --> 00:03:07,937 to recreate the world of Genghis Khan. 48 00:03:08,021 --> 00:03:11,649 The Gobi Desert looks like the area around St. George. 49 00:03:11,733 --> 00:03:14,485 Living in St. George in the ‘50s and ‘60s 50 00:03:14,569 --> 00:03:15,695 was magical. 51 00:03:15,778 --> 00:03:18,656 We heard all aboutThe Conqueror being here 52 00:03:18,740 --> 00:03:21,576 and how the stars were here. 53 00:03:22,410 --> 00:03:25,246 The Conquerorwas a $6 million disaster 54 00:03:25,330 --> 00:03:27,749 that starred John Wayne as Genghis Khan, 55 00:03:27,832 --> 00:03:29,542 the great Mongolian warrior, 56 00:03:29,626 --> 00:03:32,462 who conquered most of Asia during the 12th century. 57 00:03:32,545 --> 00:03:34,881 I wouldn't say it's one of the-- the best films I've seen 58 00:03:34,964 --> 00:03:36,424 or one of my father's best films. 59 00:03:36,507 --> 00:03:38,843 Of-- of all the Howard Hughes movies, 60 00:03:38,927 --> 00:03:41,512 this is probably the toughest movie 61 00:03:41,596 --> 00:03:43,723 to find anything admirable about. 62 00:03:43,806 --> 00:03:46,100 The Conqueror has been called “one of the worst films 63 00:03:46,184 --> 00:03:49,187 of the 1950s”, if not of all time. 64 00:03:49,270 --> 00:03:52,482 If I could describeThe Conqueror in one word, 65 00:03:52,565 --> 00:03:55,443 I would probably just call it “tragic”. 66 00:03:57,028 --> 00:03:58,488 Ah, unfortunate. 67 00:03:58,571 --> 00:04:00,073 Ridiculous. 68 00:04:00,156 --> 00:04:01,658 Miscast. 69 00:04:02,951 --> 00:04:05,244 I've heard that it's a terrible movie. 70 00:04:06,245 --> 00:04:08,706 I don't know if I've seen it all the way through. 71 00:04:08,790 --> 00:04:10,708 You know, I wouldn't watch it twice. 72 00:04:11,376 --> 00:04:14,796 The Conqueror was to be Hughes' cinematic masterpiece. 73 00:04:14,879 --> 00:04:17,298 Shot in breathtaking CinemaScope 74 00:04:17,382 --> 00:04:19,509 and glorious Technicolor. 75 00:04:19,592 --> 00:04:20,677 Why Mr. Hughes, 76 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,179 did you watch this film over and over, 77 00:04:23,262 --> 00:04:25,139 as if searching for an answer? 78 00:04:25,223 --> 00:04:27,308 Are you thinking about the people of St. George 79 00:04:27,392 --> 00:04:29,185 as well as your cast and crew? 80 00:04:29,269 --> 00:04:31,729 How they would be linked in a dark chapter 81 00:04:31,813 --> 00:04:33,231 in American history? 82 00:05:01,426 --> 00:05:02,552 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS NARRATOR:There was a time, 83 00:05:02,635 --> 00:05:06,347 when the cinema was a place of spectacle and wonder. 84 00:05:06,431 --> 00:05:10,059 When unforgettable films played on gigantic screens, 85 00:05:10,143 --> 00:05:12,812 that overwhelmed the imagination. 86 00:05:12,895 --> 00:05:15,023 Now, that time has come again. 87 00:05:16,274 --> 00:05:19,694 Behold His mighty hands. 88 00:05:20,278 --> 00:05:23,197 In the early ‘50s, studios were trying to create 89 00:05:23,281 --> 00:05:24,991 these larger-than-life epics. 90 00:05:25,450 --> 00:05:27,493 THE ROBE NARRATOR:Here is all the sweep and spectacle. 91 00:05:27,577 --> 00:05:29,704 BEN HUR NARRATOR:The spectacle, the color, the excitement. 92 00:05:29,787 --> 00:05:30,371 The human drama. 93 00:05:30,455 --> 00:05:33,541 THE CRIMSON PIRATE NARRATOR:Yes, and a whole new world of entertainment wonders. 94 00:05:34,417 --> 00:05:37,545 Well, in the ‘50s, television made the film industry 95 00:05:37,628 --> 00:05:39,464 very nervous. 96 00:05:39,547 --> 00:05:43,092 They were very, very conscious of having to counteract that-- 97 00:05:43,176 --> 00:05:45,053 that idea that they were competing 98 00:05:45,136 --> 00:05:47,597 with little images in a little box 99 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:49,348 in black and white at home. 100 00:05:49,432 --> 00:05:51,934 So, you had to have splashy color 101 00:05:52,018 --> 00:05:54,812 and you had to have things that were big 102 00:05:54,896 --> 00:05:57,356 and felt important. 103 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,777 SHANE NARRATOR:The motion picture unforgettable for its spectacle and scope. 104 00:06:00,860 --> 00:06:03,321 And the other big factor at the time was this thing 105 00:06:03,404 --> 00:06:04,363 called the “Cold War”. 106 00:06:04,447 --> 00:06:07,325 And there was this communist agenda that was happening 107 00:06:07,408 --> 00:06:09,452 that Americans were fighting against. 108 00:06:09,535 --> 00:06:11,412 And there was this whole nuclear program 109 00:06:11,496 --> 00:06:13,706 that was happening, and it was something that-- 110 00:06:13,790 --> 00:06:16,584 that became a very big topic in Hollywood as well. 111 00:06:16,667 --> 00:06:19,670 THEM! NARRATOR:But born in that swirling inferno of radioactive dust 112 00:06:19,754 --> 00:06:23,174 were things so horrible, so hideous, 113 00:06:23,257 --> 00:06:26,219 there is no word to describe "Them!" 114 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:28,763 We may be witnesses 115 00:06:28,846 --> 00:06:30,973 to a biblical prophecy come true. 116 00:06:41,943 --> 00:06:46,614 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 117 00:06:51,619 --> 00:06:56,499 It may be said that the Atomic Age is here to stay. 118 00:06:56,582 --> 00:06:59,544 The question is, “Are we?” 119 00:06:59,627 --> 00:07:03,214 The atomic bomb creates a temperature 120 00:07:03,297 --> 00:07:04,841 at the center of the explosion 121 00:07:04,924 --> 00:07:07,593 of a 100 million degrees Fahrenheit, 122 00:07:07,677 --> 00:07:09,804 which is three and a half times 123 00:07:09,887 --> 00:07:12,723 the temperature in the interior of the sun. 124 00:07:12,807 --> 00:07:16,769 This heat creates great fires. 125 00:07:16,853 --> 00:07:21,941 Secondly, it creates tremendous pressures 126 00:07:22,024 --> 00:07:25,653 which push the air in front of them, 127 00:07:25,736 --> 00:07:30,825 creating winds of 500 to a 1000 miles per hour, 128 00:07:30,908 --> 00:07:33,619 10 times the velocity of a hurricane. 129 00:07:33,703 --> 00:07:37,039 These winds knock everything down in their path. 130 00:07:37,123 --> 00:07:40,960 Thirdly, it produces super radiations 131 00:07:41,043 --> 00:07:44,922 equivalent to tons and tons of radium, 132 00:07:45,006 --> 00:07:49,218 which would kill all life within an area 133 00:07:49,302 --> 00:07:52,013 of 10 square miles. 134 00:07:52,096 --> 00:07:54,849 These radioactive poisons would be carried 135 00:07:54,932 --> 00:07:56,726 and dispersed through the winds. 136 00:07:58,519 --> 00:08:01,355 The dust will settle gradually everywhere. 137 00:08:04,317 --> 00:08:08,946 The Atomic Energy Commission emerged as a way 138 00:08:09,030 --> 00:08:13,409 to create a separate government unit 139 00:08:13,492 --> 00:08:19,248 to manage atomic energy outside of the military. 140 00:08:20,041 --> 00:08:25,421 I graduated University of Utah in 1954 141 00:08:25,504 --> 00:08:30,384 with a degree in ROTC for the air force 142 00:08:30,468 --> 00:08:33,137 and business management. 143 00:08:33,221 --> 00:08:41,145 I was to learn how to handle radiological projects 144 00:08:41,229 --> 00:08:44,190 to protect uh, people. 145 00:08:44,273 --> 00:08:49,695 The idea was that if we were to bomb targets in Russia, 146 00:08:49,779 --> 00:08:55,493 the airplanes would be covered with radiological contamination. 147 00:08:55,576 --> 00:08:59,747 General Curtis LeMay was head of the United States Air Force 148 00:08:59,830 --> 00:09:01,540 at that time. 149 00:09:01,624 --> 00:09:02,750 And we were 150 00:09:02,833 --> 00:09:05,878 under the Strategic Air Command Commission. 151 00:09:07,255 --> 00:09:13,052 The Soviet success with the atomic bomb in 1949 152 00:09:13,135 --> 00:09:16,389 really created a sense of urgency 153 00:09:16,472 --> 00:09:20,476 for locating a more practical continental test site. 154 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:23,354 Because the Pacific was expensive. 155 00:09:23,437 --> 00:09:26,941 It was logistically complicated and they needed something 156 00:09:27,024 --> 00:09:29,610 that could be used more efficiently 157 00:09:29,694 --> 00:09:31,112 than the Pacific. 158 00:09:31,737 --> 00:09:34,907 New Mexico where the Trinity bomb had been tested 159 00:09:34,991 --> 00:09:36,158 was considered, 160 00:09:36,242 --> 00:09:41,914 but ultimately they identified two vast areas of Nevada, 161 00:09:41,998 --> 00:09:45,960 one to the north, Tonopah, Nevada, 162 00:09:46,043 --> 00:09:50,631 and one about 70 miles north of Las Vegas. 163 00:09:52,174 --> 00:09:54,468 NARRATOR:The US government chose the Nevada desert 164 00:09:54,552 --> 00:09:55,594 north of Las Vegas 165 00:09:55,678 --> 00:09:58,514 as the site for their atomic test program. 166 00:09:58,597 --> 00:10:00,016 300 miles away, 167 00:10:00,099 --> 00:10:03,352 another blast was being felt in Hollywood, California. 168 00:10:03,436 --> 00:10:06,063 RKO, the king of B pictures, 169 00:10:06,147 --> 00:10:10,026 but also prestigious films such as Scarface, King Kong, 170 00:10:10,109 --> 00:10:13,696 and perhaps the greatest film of them all, Citizen Kane, 171 00:10:13,779 --> 00:10:17,033 would be purchased by an aviation pioneer, 172 00:10:17,116 --> 00:10:18,951 millionaire, and dreamer, 173 00:10:19,035 --> 00:10:21,662 determined to shake up the film industry. 174 00:10:33,257 --> 00:10:35,259 BRITISH MOVIETONE NARRATOR:The goal of aviators is now the nonstop flight 175 00:10:35,343 --> 00:10:36,469 around the world. 176 00:10:36,552 --> 00:10:39,221 And Howard Hughes has taken a big step towards attaining it. 177 00:10:39,305 --> 00:10:41,223 Leaving Burbank, California, 178 00:10:41,307 --> 00:10:42,933 the millionaire sportsman and film producer, 179 00:10:43,017 --> 00:10:44,602 calls at New York on his way to Europe. 180 00:10:45,936 --> 00:10:48,356 Even in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, 181 00:10:48,439 --> 00:10:53,861 Howard Hughes was a name surrounded by exoticism. 182 00:10:53,944 --> 00:10:56,155 A mystery figure in one way, 183 00:10:56,238 --> 00:10:59,992 a very famous highly public figure in another. 184 00:11:00,076 --> 00:11:03,371 Howard Hughes was interested in really three things. 185 00:11:03,454 --> 00:11:06,457 He was interested in aviation. 186 00:11:06,540 --> 00:11:08,501 He was interested in women, 187 00:11:08,584 --> 00:11:11,337 and he was interested in making movies. 188 00:11:11,420 --> 00:11:13,881 Those three things do not necessarily make 189 00:11:13,964 --> 00:11:15,174 a good head of a studio. 190 00:11:16,509 --> 00:11:19,470 NARRATOR:Howard fired most of the RKO staff, 191 00:11:19,553 --> 00:11:20,930 made fewer movies, 192 00:11:21,013 --> 00:11:24,809 and upset the balance of Hollywood in the early 1950s. 193 00:11:24,892 --> 00:11:26,769 But there was one subject matter 194 00:11:26,852 --> 00:11:29,688 he was determined to bring to the big screen. 195 00:11:29,772 --> 00:11:31,732 Howard Hughes had this idea. 196 00:11:31,816 --> 00:11:35,778 He wanted to make the Genghis Khan story. 197 00:11:35,861 --> 00:11:37,571 The-- the story of Genghis Khan-- 198 00:11:38,531 --> 00:11:43,536 Is a story of like a Caesar or you know, a Cleopatra. 199 00:11:43,619 --> 00:11:46,288 This kind of blockbuster kind of idea. 200 00:11:46,372 --> 00:11:48,165 The agent who was with him at the time said, 201 00:11:48,249 --> 00:11:50,459 “I've got the perfect guy for you. 202 00:11:50,543 --> 00:11:53,379 This Oscar Millard, he's an expert on Genghis Khan.” 203 00:11:53,796 --> 00:11:56,298 OSCAR:I was in fact such an authority on Genghis Khan, 204 00:11:56,382 --> 00:11:58,426 when I prudently looked him up in the Britannica 205 00:11:58,509 --> 00:12:00,594 in the half hour I had before the meeting, 206 00:12:00,678 --> 00:12:01,846 I had trouble finding him, 207 00:12:01,929 --> 00:12:04,014 because I couldn't spell his name. 208 00:12:08,102 --> 00:12:11,939 Dick Powell was a figure in Hollywood for a long time. 209 00:12:12,022 --> 00:12:14,483 He was a guy who was very likeable. 210 00:12:14,567 --> 00:12:15,317 Everyone liked him. 211 00:12:15,943 --> 00:12:17,570 ♪ Boy meets girl ♪ 212 00:12:17,653 --> 00:12:20,990 He'd come to Hollywood, uh, singer, dancer. 213 00:12:21,073 --> 00:12:21,949 But um, 214 00:12:22,032 --> 00:12:23,868 he started to see himself beyond being 215 00:12:23,951 --> 00:12:24,702 in front of the screen 216 00:12:24,785 --> 00:12:27,121 and started to think of himself behind the screen. 217 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,083 Hughes, he ended up getting to know Dick Powell 218 00:12:31,167 --> 00:12:33,919 and somehow he managed to convince him 219 00:12:34,003 --> 00:12:36,380 to let him direct this epic picture 220 00:12:36,464 --> 00:12:37,339 called “The Conqueror”. 221 00:12:37,423 --> 00:12:38,591 It's a huge project, 222 00:12:38,674 --> 00:12:42,636 and I think he had the most uh, 223 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,682 important qualification for him getting that role, 224 00:12:46,765 --> 00:12:50,227 was his ability to say yes a lot to Howard Hughes. 225 00:12:51,437 --> 00:12:53,147 NARRATOR:Interior, bedroom. 226 00:12:53,230 --> 00:12:55,983 Middle of the night, the phone rings. 227 00:12:56,066 --> 00:12:58,402 A half waken man answers. 228 00:12:58,486 --> 00:13:00,362 Interior, parking garage. 229 00:13:00,446 --> 00:13:01,947 One hour later. 230 00:13:02,031 --> 00:13:05,618 Powell is meeting with Hughes in the back of his limousine 231 00:13:05,701 --> 00:13:07,745 to go over mundane production matters 232 00:13:07,828 --> 00:13:09,205 regarding The Conqueror. 233 00:13:09,288 --> 00:13:10,372 To Hughes, 234 00:13:10,456 --> 00:13:13,792 everything must be discussed in utmost secrecy. 235 00:13:13,876 --> 00:13:16,003 Over the shoulder medium shot, 236 00:13:16,086 --> 00:13:19,173 as Powell watches the millionaire drive away 237 00:13:19,256 --> 00:13:21,550 into the Los Angeles night. 238 00:13:21,634 --> 00:13:27,306 The 3:00 a.m. meetings in secret back alley garages 239 00:13:27,389 --> 00:13:31,852 and all of this was being run like a CIA operation. 240 00:13:31,936 --> 00:13:33,771 Nothing was simple with this guy. 241 00:13:33,854 --> 00:13:35,856 He was concerned that his conversations 242 00:13:35,940 --> 00:13:36,982 would be overheard. 243 00:13:37,691 --> 00:13:40,236 I know a lot of the backstory from my husband 244 00:13:40,319 --> 00:13:42,488 having been a teenager working there 245 00:13:42,571 --> 00:13:44,240 and the things he's told me. 246 00:13:44,323 --> 00:13:45,866 He thinks his dad did it, 247 00:13:45,950 --> 00:13:47,201 because it bought him a nice house 248 00:13:47,284 --> 00:13:48,327 in Mandeville Canyon. 249 00:13:49,954 --> 00:13:51,664 OSCAR:Powell said he would get Marlon Brando 250 00:13:51,747 --> 00:13:54,667 on loan out from Fox to play the lead. 251 00:13:54,750 --> 00:13:56,418 Brando was the new magic name 252 00:13:56,502 --> 00:13:58,087 and I had just heard him deliver, 253 00:13:58,170 --> 00:14:01,715 “Friends, Romans, countrymen”, as if newly minted. 254 00:14:03,467 --> 00:14:04,093 Carried away, 255 00:14:04,176 --> 00:14:05,928 I decided to write the screenplay 256 00:14:06,011 --> 00:14:09,890 in stylized, slightly Archaic English. 257 00:14:09,974 --> 00:14:10,766 Mindful of the fact 258 00:14:10,849 --> 00:14:14,144 that my story was nothing more than a tarted up western, 259 00:14:14,228 --> 00:14:16,480 I thought this would give it a certain cache., 260 00:14:16,564 --> 00:14:19,191 and I left no lily unpainted. 261 00:14:19,275 --> 00:14:21,527 It was said that when Marlon Brando 262 00:14:21,610 --> 00:14:25,364 was offered the-- the role as Temujin, 263 00:14:25,447 --> 00:14:29,201 his biggest objection was the dialogue. 264 00:14:29,285 --> 00:14:30,744 He couldn't handle it. 265 00:14:30,828 --> 00:14:33,664 And so they started looking at who else they could get. 266 00:14:33,747 --> 00:14:34,540 And um, 267 00:14:34,623 --> 00:14:36,417 the one of the other names that they were looking at 268 00:14:36,500 --> 00:14:37,376 was Yul Brynner. 269 00:14:37,459 --> 00:14:39,295 Yul Brynner would've also been a-- 270 00:14:39,378 --> 00:14:42,006 quite an interesting character to kind of had done this movie. 271 00:14:42,089 --> 00:14:43,257 This is business. 272 00:14:43,340 --> 00:14:46,176 They're trying thinking of-- of the box office. 273 00:14:46,260 --> 00:14:49,346 Howard Hughes thought they're doing a story 274 00:14:49,430 --> 00:14:53,183 about one of the great uh, figures in the world history. 275 00:14:53,267 --> 00:14:55,728 This would be great to be sold around the world. 276 00:14:57,229 --> 00:14:58,439 CAMEL CIGARETTES AD NARRATOR:Here's John Wayne. 277 00:14:58,522 --> 00:15:02,151 America's number one dramatic movie star on location. 278 00:15:02,234 --> 00:15:03,110 As you can see, 279 00:15:03,193 --> 00:15:05,946 making a movie can be pretty tough going, 280 00:15:06,030 --> 00:15:07,781 but free swinging He-Man parts 281 00:15:07,865 --> 00:15:09,700 are what John Wayne loves to play 282 00:15:09,783 --> 00:15:11,577 and what the audience loves to see him in. 283 00:15:11,660 --> 00:15:13,370 Okay, cut. 284 00:15:15,497 --> 00:15:19,126 You got The Beatles and-- and-- and Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. 285 00:15:19,209 --> 00:15:21,295 And John Wayne. 286 00:15:21,378 --> 00:15:25,507 He epitomized the masculine American male for, 287 00:15:25,591 --> 00:15:27,635 largely for 50 years. 288 00:15:27,718 --> 00:15:31,472 He was the iconic representation of the American West. 289 00:15:31,555 --> 00:15:33,849 That characteristic walk. 290 00:15:33,932 --> 00:15:35,267 The slow draw. 291 00:15:35,351 --> 00:15:37,811 Looks like you've got yourself around it. 292 00:15:37,895 --> 00:15:41,732 The massive brow and physical stature, 293 00:15:41,815 --> 00:15:45,361 embodied everything they thought the American West should be. 294 00:15:45,444 --> 00:15:46,320 He's known, 295 00:15:46,403 --> 00:15:51,950 and continues to be known as the big cowboy action star, 296 00:15:52,034 --> 00:15:54,328 who at one time for a very long time 297 00:15:54,411 --> 00:15:57,373 was probably the most famous person 298 00:15:57,456 --> 00:15:58,874 in the world. 299 00:16:01,543 --> 00:16:03,754 My father came from Iowa. 300 00:16:03,837 --> 00:16:08,467 He came from the core values of middle America. 301 00:16:08,550 --> 00:16:10,886 Uh he, appreciated this country for what it was. 302 00:16:10,969 --> 00:16:13,347 If you were willing to work hard, 303 00:16:13,430 --> 00:16:15,683 the opportunity was there to be a success. 304 00:16:15,766 --> 00:16:18,394 When Oscar Millard found out John Wayne 305 00:16:18,477 --> 00:16:19,937 was going to be starring in The Conqueror, 306 00:16:20,020 --> 00:16:24,066 he realized that it was going to be a terrible mistake. 307 00:16:24,149 --> 00:16:26,402 Because John Wayne was gonna butcher the dialogue. 308 00:16:27,236 --> 00:16:28,487 OSCAR:I called Dick Powell. 309 00:16:28,570 --> 00:16:31,407 He said, “Are you sitting down? 310 00:16:31,490 --> 00:16:33,242 Fox suspended Brando. 311 00:16:33,325 --> 00:16:35,119 So, we've got John Wayne.” 312 00:16:37,246 --> 00:16:38,747 “When he starts mangling those lines, 313 00:16:38,831 --> 00:16:40,666 he's going to be a big joke”, I said. 314 00:16:40,749 --> 00:16:42,292 “He's promised to work on him with a coach 315 00:16:42,376 --> 00:16:44,753 and tape recorder”, Powell said. 316 00:16:44,837 --> 00:16:45,838 “He's very enthusiastic. 317 00:16:45,921 --> 00:16:48,048 Swears he'll work his fanny off.” 318 00:16:49,425 --> 00:16:51,135 At our first meeting for a run through, 319 00:16:51,218 --> 00:16:55,055 Wayne was genial, complimentary, and drunk. 320 00:16:55,139 --> 00:17:00,310 JOHN WAYNE:In the United States of America, that this can happen, 321 00:17:00,394 --> 00:17:03,439 it's getting to be ri-goddamn-diculous. 322 00:17:04,398 --> 00:17:06,775 OSCAR:He dozed off after the first few pages 323 00:17:06,859 --> 00:17:10,112 and there was no more talk of his working on the dialogue. 324 00:17:13,115 --> 00:17:14,366 The challenge with The Conqueror 325 00:17:14,450 --> 00:17:16,744 was that it was a historical film 326 00:17:16,827 --> 00:17:19,079 taking place in the 13th century, 327 00:17:19,163 --> 00:17:22,541 and they needed to have these vast, wide open spaces. 328 00:17:22,624 --> 00:17:26,587 Dick Powell had actually found this area of St. George, Utah, 329 00:17:26,670 --> 00:17:27,504 um, and they felt 330 00:17:27,588 --> 00:17:29,882 this would look fantastic on camera. 331 00:17:29,965 --> 00:17:34,052 When the location scout said, “We need something, uh, 332 00:17:34,136 --> 00:17:38,307 similar to the Gobi Desert, maybe about the 12th century.” 333 00:17:38,390 --> 00:17:40,601 A man on the Chamber of Commerce, 334 00:17:40,684 --> 00:17:42,060 he said, “Ah. 335 00:17:42,144 --> 00:17:44,897 Uh, I was a pilot in World War II. 336 00:17:44,980 --> 00:17:47,566 And I used to fly over the hump, 337 00:17:47,649 --> 00:17:50,611 flying gasoline and supplies to China. 338 00:17:50,694 --> 00:17:52,112 And you know the deserts that I-- 339 00:17:52,196 --> 00:17:54,448 I flew over there, 340 00:17:54,531 --> 00:17:57,826 looked very much like the deserts we have here, 341 00:17:57,910 --> 00:18:00,746 in a place called, ‘Snow Canyon’.” 342 00:18:00,829 --> 00:18:02,289 Immediately, the knew, 343 00:18:02,372 --> 00:18:04,792 Snow Canyon in the St. George area 344 00:18:04,875 --> 00:18:07,044 was going to be the location for this film. 345 00:18:12,883 --> 00:18:17,179 Living in St. George in the ‘50s and ‘60s was magical. 346 00:18:17,262 --> 00:18:19,389 We grew up out on the little farm 347 00:18:19,473 --> 00:18:21,433 south of Cedar City. 348 00:18:21,517 --> 00:18:24,895 Small farm, enough to have a big garden. 349 00:18:24,978 --> 00:18:30,234 Um, we had our chickens and a cow once in a while, 350 00:18:30,317 --> 00:18:33,570 and a few pigs when we did our forage group. 351 00:18:33,654 --> 00:18:36,490 Neighbors had sheep and it was a great place, 352 00:18:36,573 --> 00:18:40,494 we played outside all day, and I had a great childhood. 353 00:18:40,577 --> 00:18:42,621 My parents had a-- had a-- 354 00:18:42,704 --> 00:18:45,791 about a 250-acre farm right in the center of the valley, 355 00:18:45,874 --> 00:18:47,417 at Beryl Junction. 356 00:18:47,501 --> 00:18:48,627 And loved it. 357 00:18:48,710 --> 00:18:49,628 Every second of it. 358 00:18:49,711 --> 00:18:51,296 I learned how to work there. 359 00:18:51,380 --> 00:18:54,591 I knew every adult in town, and every child, 360 00:18:54,675 --> 00:18:56,927 and their dogs, and their horses. 361 00:18:57,010 --> 00:18:58,679 Everybody knew where everybody lived, 362 00:18:58,762 --> 00:19:01,306 and everybody knew where everybody worked. 363 00:19:01,390 --> 00:19:03,100 And if we got into any kind of trouble, 364 00:19:03,183 --> 00:19:04,351 everybody knew everybody, 365 00:19:04,434 --> 00:19:06,436 and told their parents before we got home. 366 00:19:07,229 --> 00:19:10,357 We went, um, fishing on the weekends. 367 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,986 Swam in ponds with our dog. 368 00:19:14,069 --> 00:19:17,114 Uh, rode bikes, climbed trees. 369 00:19:17,197 --> 00:19:18,991 When it snowed, we would gather up snow. 370 00:19:19,074 --> 00:19:22,703 We'd put vanilla and sugar in it and pretend it was ice cream. 371 00:19:22,786 --> 00:19:25,581 The place to go to when I was young, 372 00:19:25,664 --> 00:19:28,959 and today is Judd's general store. 373 00:19:29,042 --> 00:19:32,170 Everybody went there, everybody still goes there. 374 00:19:32,254 --> 00:19:33,547 It's the place to hang out. 375 00:19:54,234 --> 00:19:56,570 We were all called to get up about 376 00:19:56,653 --> 00:19:57,988 2:00 in the morning. 377 00:20:00,157 --> 00:20:03,619 We went to a bunker in Nevada. 378 00:20:07,331 --> 00:20:09,708 We were put in trenches. 379 00:20:13,503 --> 00:20:17,716 We were told to uh, close our eyes. 380 00:20:17,799 --> 00:20:18,550 Three. 381 00:20:18,634 --> 00:20:22,679 And then put our hands over our eyes. 382 00:20:22,763 --> 00:20:24,056 Zero. 383 00:20:27,225 --> 00:20:31,063 The light was so bright, I could see through 384 00:20:31,146 --> 00:20:33,941 on the other side of my hands. 385 00:20:36,485 --> 00:20:41,907 And I could see the guy's feet through the leather 386 00:20:41,990 --> 00:20:43,951 standing next to me. 387 00:20:55,420 --> 00:20:58,507 And we were told that this would be uh, 388 00:20:58,590 --> 00:21:01,927 non-effective to our personal bodies 389 00:21:02,010 --> 00:21:03,762 by the military. 390 00:21:03,845 --> 00:21:05,263 That you don’t-- you don't have anything 391 00:21:05,347 --> 00:21:06,306 to worry about. 392 00:21:20,445 --> 00:21:23,031 We had drills all the time, 393 00:21:23,115 --> 00:21:25,534 because we were told the Russians are coming. 394 00:21:25,617 --> 00:21:28,829 I have just vivid memories of being in grade school 395 00:21:28,912 --> 00:21:30,247 and having the drills, 396 00:21:30,330 --> 00:21:31,957 where we had to jump under our desk 397 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:33,291 and cover our head. 398 00:21:33,375 --> 00:21:36,837 ♪ There was a turtle by the name of Bert ♪ 399 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,007 ♪ And Bert the turtle was very alert ♪ 400 00:21:40,090 --> 00:21:43,301 ♪ When danger threatened him, he never got hurt ♪ 401 00:21:43,385 --> 00:21:46,138 ♪ He knew just what to do ♪ 402 00:21:46,221 --> 00:21:49,766 ♪ Please duck and cover ♪ 403 00:21:49,850 --> 00:21:52,894 ♪ Duck and cover ♪ 404 00:21:52,978 --> 00:21:55,814 ♪ He did what we all must learn to do ♪ 405 00:21:55,897 --> 00:21:56,523 ♪ You ♪ 406 00:21:56,606 --> 00:21:57,232 ♪ And you ♪ 407 00:21:57,315 --> 00:21:57,983 ♪ And you ♪ 408 00:21:58,066 --> 00:21:59,651 ♪ And you ♪ 409 00:21:59,735 --> 00:22:00,944 ♪ Duck ♪ 410 00:22:01,028 --> 00:22:02,487 ♪ And cover ♪ 411 00:22:04,406 --> 00:22:06,658 The spring and summer of 1953 412 00:22:06,742 --> 00:22:09,911 were a critical turning point for atomic testing. 413 00:22:09,995 --> 00:22:13,123 You have hundreds different experiments happening, 414 00:22:13,206 --> 00:22:15,042 and there's a-- 415 00:22:15,125 --> 00:22:18,503 a real sense of Cold War urgency. 416 00:22:18,587 --> 00:22:23,800 And that is not necessarily the best way to do science. 417 00:22:23,884 --> 00:22:28,805 Uh, under these hasty emergency conditions, 418 00:22:28,889 --> 00:22:33,477 and there are some consequences in 1953. 419 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:37,022 And most infamously, the-- the Harry shot 420 00:22:37,105 --> 00:22:38,857 that is-- is bigger, 421 00:22:38,940 --> 00:22:41,568 and raises a much bigger cloud of debris 422 00:22:41,651 --> 00:22:43,361 than was anticipated. 423 00:22:43,445 --> 00:22:44,571 And it also happens at a time 424 00:22:44,654 --> 00:22:48,033 when the prevailing wind is heading directly 425 00:22:48,116 --> 00:22:50,285 toward Bunkerville and St. George, 426 00:22:50,368 --> 00:22:52,662 and Cedar City in Southern Utah. 427 00:22:54,039 --> 00:22:56,833 These are the people who are on the front lines 428 00:22:56,917 --> 00:22:59,377 of atomic warfare. 429 00:22:59,461 --> 00:23:04,091 And the AEC wants to reassure them 430 00:23:04,174 --> 00:23:06,760 and in the process reassure the American public 431 00:23:06,843 --> 00:23:10,222 that this continental testing is so appropriate 432 00:23:10,305 --> 00:23:11,973 and still safe. 433 00:23:15,977 --> 00:23:19,022 When they were doing the above ground testing 434 00:23:19,106 --> 00:23:21,149 at the Nevada test site. 435 00:23:21,233 --> 00:23:24,152 When they would have an announced test, 436 00:23:24,236 --> 00:23:27,781 families in the St. George area would come up here 437 00:23:27,864 --> 00:23:32,035 to the highest bluff and bring their families 438 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:34,454 for the evening tests or the early morning. 439 00:23:34,538 --> 00:23:39,751 And watch the tests that would be coming up over this bluff. 440 00:23:39,835 --> 00:23:42,212 And bring food, a picnic, 441 00:23:42,295 --> 00:23:45,507 whatever, they would spend hours. 442 00:23:45,590 --> 00:23:46,550 The kids would play, 443 00:23:46,633 --> 00:23:49,761 they'd communicate with their neighbors, have fun. 444 00:23:51,555 --> 00:23:55,142 The test had come up as a big ball of flame 445 00:23:55,225 --> 00:23:56,685 go up into the sky 446 00:23:56,768 --> 00:23:59,855 and then it’d dissipate into a mushroom cloud, 447 00:23:59,938 --> 00:24:03,150 depending on how the wind was blowing. 448 00:24:03,233 --> 00:24:07,529 It would either go north, south or drift this way. 449 00:24:07,612 --> 00:24:09,781 And typically, it would come this way, 450 00:24:09,865 --> 00:24:10,615 because they'd wait 451 00:24:10,699 --> 00:24:13,201 till the wind was blowing our direction. 452 00:24:13,827 --> 00:24:15,078 AEC REPRESENTATIVE 1:Ladies and gentlemen, 453 00:24:15,162 --> 00:24:18,915 we interrupt this program to bring you important news. 454 00:24:18,999 --> 00:24:21,293 Due to a change in wind direction, 455 00:24:21,376 --> 00:24:24,296 the residue from this morning's atomic detonation 456 00:24:24,379 --> 00:24:27,507 is drifting in the direction of St. George. 457 00:24:27,591 --> 00:24:30,677 To prevent unnecessary exposure to radiation, 458 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:33,680 it is better to take cover during this period. 459 00:24:33,763 --> 00:24:37,475 Parents need not be alarmed about children at school. 460 00:24:37,559 --> 00:24:40,228 No recesses outdoors will be permitted. 461 00:24:40,312 --> 00:24:42,272 There is no danger. 462 00:24:42,355 --> 00:24:44,816 This is simply routine safety procedure. 463 00:24:59,623 --> 00:25:02,167 NEVADA ATOMIC TESTS NARRATOR:Yes, the very nature of testing weapons 464 00:25:02,250 --> 00:25:03,627 for national defense 465 00:25:03,710 --> 00:25:05,754 requires we accept the possibility 466 00:25:05,837 --> 00:25:08,632 of some exposure to additional radiation. 467 00:25:09,466 --> 00:25:11,635 There is some potential risk. 468 00:25:13,136 --> 00:25:18,975 So a fallout quite simply is any particulate matter 469 00:25:19,059 --> 00:25:23,355 that is generated by a nuclear explosion, 470 00:25:23,438 --> 00:25:27,692 thrown into the atmosphere that then later falls down. 471 00:25:27,776 --> 00:25:29,110 Some of it could fall straight down. 472 00:25:29,194 --> 00:25:33,698 Some of it could go extremely high, 30-40,000 feet. 473 00:25:33,782 --> 00:25:36,451 And get pulled into the atmosphere. 474 00:25:36,534 --> 00:25:38,495 And circle the globe. 475 00:25:38,578 --> 00:25:42,749 Uh, so, these could be particles of dirt. 476 00:25:42,832 --> 00:25:45,585 They could be vaporized rock. 477 00:25:45,669 --> 00:25:49,589 They could be the particles of the tower 478 00:25:49,673 --> 00:25:54,886 and other parts of the military testing equipment. 479 00:25:54,970 --> 00:25:57,013 And they could also be particles of radiation. 480 00:25:58,014 --> 00:26:00,850 DEFENSE BRIEFING NARRATOR:Radioactive atoms produced in the explosion 481 00:26:00,934 --> 00:26:04,187 join with the particles of earth and debris. 482 00:26:04,271 --> 00:26:08,358 The mushroom shaped cloud forms and climbs higher. 483 00:26:08,441 --> 00:26:12,362 It now contains billions of highly radioactive particles. 484 00:26:12,445 --> 00:26:14,948 We call them, “fallout”. 485 00:26:15,031 --> 00:26:17,993 The winds of the upper altitudes blow on the cloud, 486 00:26:18,076 --> 00:26:20,745 sending it in one or more directions. 487 00:26:20,829 --> 00:26:23,707 Some of the very light particles may remain suspended 488 00:26:23,790 --> 00:26:25,709 in the atmosphere for years 489 00:26:25,792 --> 00:26:29,045 and travel thousands of miles before landing. 490 00:26:29,129 --> 00:26:31,548 But the heavy particles drop to the ground 491 00:26:31,631 --> 00:26:33,633 within 24 hours. 492 00:26:33,717 --> 00:26:35,385 These are the most hazardous, 493 00:26:35,468 --> 00:26:37,262 because they emit the largest amount 494 00:26:37,345 --> 00:26:39,431 of nuclear radiation. 495 00:26:39,514 --> 00:26:41,474 A 100 miles from the explosion, 496 00:26:41,558 --> 00:26:43,685 they are about the size of table salt 497 00:26:43,768 --> 00:26:45,353 or fine sand. 498 00:26:53,653 --> 00:26:57,949 When we would go to school, uh, in elementary, 499 00:26:58,033 --> 00:27:00,035 men would come in big black suits 500 00:27:00,118 --> 00:27:04,372 and check our thyroids, with Geiger counters. 501 00:27:04,456 --> 00:27:08,168 And when we'd light it up, I remember lighting it up once 502 00:27:08,251 --> 00:27:10,003 and asking what it meant, 503 00:27:10,086 --> 00:27:13,465 and being told it meant that I'd had a dental X-ray. 504 00:27:13,548 --> 00:27:17,802 Well, my mother was an RN and I knew what an X-ray was. 505 00:27:17,886 --> 00:27:19,346 And I-- 506 00:27:19,429 --> 00:27:22,015 back then you didn't go to the dentist for everything. 507 00:27:22,098 --> 00:27:25,435 And I knew I hadn't had a dental X-ray. 508 00:27:25,518 --> 00:27:28,229 I remember it in fourth grade, fifth grade, 509 00:27:28,313 --> 00:27:30,607 all the way through high school. 510 00:27:30,690 --> 00:27:32,942 They would come, check our thyroids 511 00:27:33,026 --> 00:27:36,196 with their fingers and say, “Take a sip. 512 00:27:36,279 --> 00:27:37,447 Swallow.” 513 00:27:37,530 --> 00:27:39,449 Give us a little sip of water 514 00:27:39,532 --> 00:27:42,035 and we did that, we went back to class. 515 00:27:42,118 --> 00:27:46,081 This is Atomic Test In Nevada. 516 00:27:46,164 --> 00:27:48,083 It's a booklet the government put out, 517 00:27:48,166 --> 00:27:52,045 one of their propaganda pieces in '57. 518 00:27:52,128 --> 00:27:54,756 Uh, to kind of assuage peoples' fears. 519 00:27:54,839 --> 00:27:57,509 So, it tells them they don't really have much 520 00:27:57,592 --> 00:27:58,802 to worry about. 521 00:27:58,885 --> 00:28:00,387 It's got pictures in it, 522 00:28:00,470 --> 00:28:03,223 like you can see the little cowboys, 523 00:28:03,306 --> 00:28:07,060 and it just makes it look like people here, 524 00:28:07,143 --> 00:28:08,770 a bunch of Western yahoos. 525 00:28:09,604 --> 00:28:12,482 “You people who live near Nevada test site 526 00:28:12,565 --> 00:28:15,360 are in a very real sense active participants 527 00:28:15,443 --> 00:28:18,113 in the nation's atomic test program. 528 00:28:18,196 --> 00:28:20,281 You have been close observers of tests 529 00:28:20,365 --> 00:28:23,368 which have contributed greatly in building the defenses 530 00:28:23,451 --> 00:28:26,121 of our country and of the free world. 531 00:28:26,204 --> 00:28:29,249 Nevada tests have helped us make general progress 532 00:28:29,332 --> 00:28:32,085 in a few years and have been a vital factor 533 00:28:32,168 --> 00:28:34,587 in maintaining the peace of the world. 534 00:28:34,671 --> 00:28:37,966 Some of you may have been inconvenienced 535 00:28:38,049 --> 00:28:40,260 by our test operations.” 536 00:28:41,761 --> 00:28:43,638 That one always kills me. 537 00:28:48,017 --> 00:28:49,936 ♪ I am not scared ♪ 538 00:28:51,980 --> 00:28:53,857 ♪ I am pretty prepared ♪ 539 00:28:55,942 --> 00:28:58,069 ♪ I'll be spared ♪ 540 00:29:03,700 --> 00:29:05,994 ♪ I've got a fallout shelter ♪ 541 00:29:06,077 --> 00:29:08,037 ♪ It's nine by nine ♪ 542 00:29:08,121 --> 00:29:12,167 ♪ A hi-fi set and a jug of wine ♪ 543 00:29:12,250 --> 00:29:14,586 ♪ Let the missiles fly ♪ 544 00:29:14,669 --> 00:29:16,337 ♪ From nation to nation ♪ 545 00:29:16,421 --> 00:29:21,342 ♪ It's party time in all my radiation station ♪ 546 00:29:25,638 --> 00:29:27,140 ♪ I'm not spared ♪ 547 00:29:29,726 --> 00:29:33,104 I, Temujin, chief of all Mongols... 548 00:29:33,188 --> 00:29:34,606 And my dad playing Genghis Khan? 549 00:29:34,689 --> 00:29:35,690 Are you serious? 550 00:29:35,773 --> 00:29:36,441 Come on. 551 00:29:36,524 --> 00:29:39,527 I wish you well, Temujin Khan. 552 00:29:39,611 --> 00:29:41,654 Yes, it is odd. 553 00:29:41,738 --> 00:29:43,781 Was it unusual for the time? 554 00:29:43,865 --> 00:29:44,616 No. 555 00:29:44,699 --> 00:29:47,577 Who got the job was who was the big box office guy? 556 00:29:47,660 --> 00:29:51,122 There's no question that John Wayne had his fans 557 00:29:51,206 --> 00:29:54,459 and followers, who would come to a movie 558 00:29:54,542 --> 00:29:57,045 even where he's wearing a ridiculous painted on, 559 00:29:57,128 --> 00:29:59,214 Fu Manchu moustache. 560 00:29:59,923 --> 00:30:01,633 I do think the general assumption 561 00:30:01,716 --> 00:30:07,388 is that-- that Wayne may have read the script, 562 00:30:07,472 --> 00:30:08,806 but not when he was sober. 563 00:30:09,349 --> 00:30:11,267 OSCAR:I doubt if he looked at the script again 564 00:30:11,351 --> 00:30:13,686 until the day before the cameras were to roll. 565 00:30:13,770 --> 00:30:17,815 When he called me at home, “Oscar”, he said, 566 00:30:17,899 --> 00:30:20,777 “You got to do something about these effing lines. 567 00:30:20,860 --> 00:30:22,487 I can't read 'em.” 568 00:30:22,570 --> 00:30:24,447 “Duke”, I replied, 569 00:30:24,531 --> 00:30:26,366 “I'd have to rewrite the entire script for you. 570 00:30:26,449 --> 00:30:28,201 Why didn't you speak up sooner?” 571 00:30:28,284 --> 00:30:31,037 He muttered an expletive and hung up. 572 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:34,123 She's a woman, Jamuga. 573 00:30:34,207 --> 00:30:35,500 Much woman. 574 00:30:36,584 --> 00:30:39,629 Should her perfidy be less than that of other women? 575 00:30:40,463 --> 00:30:41,923 It's the dialogue. 576 00:30:43,424 --> 00:30:44,717 I take her with me. 577 00:30:44,801 --> 00:30:48,388 That people loved repeating. 578 00:30:48,471 --> 00:30:50,848 On those rare occasions, thank God they're rare, 579 00:30:50,932 --> 00:30:55,562 when my wife will be annoyed with me about something. 580 00:30:55,645 --> 00:30:57,188 I like to say... 581 00:30:57,272 --> 00:30:59,983 You're beautiful in your wrath. 582 00:31:00,066 --> 00:31:02,944 And then again, the line delivery. 583 00:31:03,027 --> 00:31:04,654 Eternal skies, 584 00:31:04,737 --> 00:31:07,699 Yessugai, my father, hear me. 585 00:31:07,782 --> 00:31:10,034 John Wayne's performance did not draw-- 586 00:31:10,952 --> 00:31:12,912 A great deal of critical praise. 587 00:31:17,625 --> 00:31:19,794 At the time, St. George, I believe had 588 00:31:19,877 --> 00:31:22,463 under 30 motels. 589 00:31:22,547 --> 00:31:26,092 So, they not only had to rent all of the hotels, 590 00:31:26,175 --> 00:31:29,470 but a lot of locals rented out their homes. 591 00:31:29,554 --> 00:31:33,224 Susan Hayward rented a home from a local 592 00:31:33,308 --> 00:31:37,228 and the enthusiasm, especially the young people 593 00:31:37,312 --> 00:31:41,065 was such that they had to limit autographing sessions 594 00:31:41,149 --> 00:31:42,775 to two and a half hours. 595 00:31:42,859 --> 00:31:44,527 My mother was my mother. 596 00:31:44,611 --> 00:31:47,989 Uh, and that other person, 597 00:31:48,072 --> 00:31:50,199 she had a job and that job was acting. 598 00:31:52,243 --> 00:31:54,287 Susan Hayward was uh, in many ways 599 00:31:54,370 --> 00:31:57,081 one of the quintessential stars of the 1950s. 600 00:31:57,165 --> 00:31:59,667 She was beautiful, she was talented. 601 00:31:59,751 --> 00:32:01,002 She was smart. 602 00:32:01,085 --> 00:32:03,421 She would come to Hollywood around 1937. 603 00:32:03,504 --> 00:32:06,382 Um, along with a whole lot of other Hollywood starlets 604 00:32:06,466 --> 00:32:07,383 who were being uh, 605 00:32:07,467 --> 00:32:09,510 tested for the role of Scarlett O'Hara 606 00:32:09,594 --> 00:32:10,803 in Gone with the Wind. 607 00:32:11,596 --> 00:32:13,097 Scarlett. 608 00:32:14,766 --> 00:32:15,975 What is it? 609 00:32:18,645 --> 00:32:20,521 I love you. 610 00:32:21,147 --> 00:32:25,234 Um, she didn't get the part, but she did stay around. 611 00:32:25,318 --> 00:32:28,363 She was always fighting for-- for the good movies. 612 00:32:28,446 --> 00:32:29,739 Um, but um, 613 00:32:29,822 --> 00:32:33,201 RKO had-- had contracted with Fox to get her on loan 614 00:32:33,284 --> 00:32:34,952 to do The Conqueror. 615 00:32:35,453 --> 00:32:36,954 It was an absurdity. 616 00:32:37,038 --> 00:32:38,289 Really off the wall. 617 00:32:38,373 --> 00:32:40,458 That-- I think that was-- that was evident to everybody 618 00:32:40,541 --> 00:32:41,834 who was connected with it. 619 00:32:42,418 --> 00:32:45,588 She knew with this was not gonna be great casting. 620 00:32:45,672 --> 00:32:46,756 It would be an odd choice, 621 00:32:46,839 --> 00:32:50,218 but Howard Hughes didn't really care. 622 00:32:50,301 --> 00:32:52,345 Hughes had personally wanted to work with her, 623 00:32:52,428 --> 00:32:53,805 because he wanted to-- 624 00:32:53,888 --> 00:32:55,598 he wanted to get Susan Hayward into bed 625 00:32:55,682 --> 00:32:57,225 is what it was. 626 00:32:57,308 --> 00:32:59,060 Susan Hayward decided, 627 00:32:59,143 --> 00:33:03,189 made a conscious decision not to change her appearance 628 00:33:03,272 --> 00:33:04,899 for The Conqueror. 629 00:33:04,982 --> 00:33:08,861 And that says a lot about her. 630 00:33:08,945 --> 00:33:11,572 She's not gonna changer her look at all, 631 00:33:11,656 --> 00:33:12,657 to be a Mongolian! 632 00:33:12,740 --> 00:33:13,408 Come on now! 633 00:33:14,033 --> 00:33:15,076 She's not gonna do this. 634 00:33:15,159 --> 00:33:17,370 She's gonna be the Hollywood actress, 635 00:33:17,453 --> 00:33:18,413 Susan Hayward. 636 00:33:18,496 --> 00:33:20,289 You could tell that this was a smart woman. 637 00:33:20,373 --> 00:33:21,916 She wasn't afraid. 638 00:33:21,999 --> 00:33:23,668 Whether it be for vanity. 639 00:33:23,751 --> 00:33:25,712 Maybe she didn't wanna see herself-- 640 00:33:26,421 --> 00:33:27,755 In that sort of makeup. 641 00:33:27,839 --> 00:33:29,215 But she-- she took a stance. 642 00:33:29,298 --> 00:33:31,217 I know she said at the time, she said, 643 00:33:31,300 --> 00:33:36,097 “I play a red-haired Tartar princess, 644 00:33:36,180 --> 00:33:40,059 as if some wild Irishman got lost 645 00:33:40,143 --> 00:33:43,229 on the way to the road to old Cathay, 646 00:33:43,312 --> 00:33:44,981 which is pretty clever comment. 647 00:33:45,690 --> 00:33:47,775 The one thing that Howard Hughes and Dick Powell did 648 00:33:47,859 --> 00:33:49,694 when they castThe Conqueror was, 649 00:33:49,777 --> 00:33:51,279 they did have a really re-- 650 00:33:51,362 --> 00:33:53,948 resounding supporting cast of people. 651 00:33:54,031 --> 00:33:57,660 Pedro Armendariz was a very successful actor in Hollywood, 652 00:33:57,744 --> 00:33:59,454 but also he had done a lot of uh, 653 00:33:59,537 --> 00:34:00,788 Mexico's version of Hollywood 654 00:34:00,872 --> 00:34:03,541 in Mexico's golden age of films. 655 00:34:03,624 --> 00:34:06,294 He was uh, a very ethnic-looking actor. 656 00:34:06,377 --> 00:34:08,713 He could fit in to a lot of really interesting roles. 657 00:34:08,796 --> 00:34:11,799 Whether he was playing a-- a Mexican or an Asian, 658 00:34:11,883 --> 00:34:14,135 or a Turk or whatever the role was. 659 00:34:14,218 --> 00:34:19,223 I know that John Wayne fought for Pedro getting roles 660 00:34:19,307 --> 00:34:22,727 and getting the credit uh, that he deserved. 661 00:34:22,810 --> 00:34:25,938 And there are a lot of scenes that are Jamuga, 662 00:34:26,022 --> 00:34:29,776 Pedro Armendariz interacting with Temujin, John Wayne. 663 00:34:29,859 --> 00:34:30,651 Tempting. 664 00:34:30,735 --> 00:34:32,153 Tempting, but unwise, my brother. 665 00:34:32,236 --> 00:34:32,904 Listen to me. 666 00:34:32,987 --> 00:34:34,739 There are moments for wisdom, Jamuga. 667 00:34:34,822 --> 00:34:36,532 Then I listen to you. 668 00:34:36,616 --> 00:34:39,410 There are moments for action, then I listen to my blood. 669 00:34:39,494 --> 00:34:43,706 And Pedro Armendariz actually-- 670 00:34:43,790 --> 00:34:46,918 and it is a sign of a very good actor, 671 00:34:47,001 --> 00:34:51,839 he seems, uh, a little bit more comfortable 672 00:34:51,923 --> 00:34:55,718 with this ridiculously stilted script. 673 00:34:55,802 --> 00:34:57,845 Speak then. 674 00:34:57,929 --> 00:34:59,972 - Deny it! - I will not. 675 00:35:00,056 --> 00:35:02,350 To deny it would give substance to your thought. 676 00:35:02,433 --> 00:35:03,684 This shame might spare you. 677 00:35:03,768 --> 00:35:05,103 Curb that silver tongue. 678 00:35:05,186 --> 00:35:06,437 Speak straight! 679 00:35:06,521 --> 00:35:08,481 But there's Spanish accent there. 680 00:35:09,524 --> 00:35:12,318 And that's a-- a little bit in-- 681 00:35:12,401 --> 00:35:13,361 incongruous. 682 00:35:16,614 --> 00:35:20,535 A fair prize, my son, if my eyes see well. 683 00:35:20,618 --> 00:35:22,245 Fairer than you, my mother. 684 00:35:22,328 --> 00:35:25,498 Agnes Moorehead was cast as John Wayne's mother. 685 00:35:25,581 --> 00:35:27,500 Even though she was only seven years older 686 00:35:27,583 --> 00:35:28,960 than he was. 687 00:35:29,043 --> 00:35:32,505 And then Agnes Moorehead, how did she get there? 688 00:35:32,588 --> 00:35:35,132 Spawn of evil. 689 00:35:35,216 --> 00:35:38,803 Let your slaves have their sport with her. 690 00:35:38,886 --> 00:35:40,513 I will not have her within our tents. 691 00:35:40,596 --> 00:35:42,598 We have Agnes Moorehead in this. 692 00:35:42,682 --> 00:35:44,350 Lee Van Cleef is in it. 693 00:35:44,433 --> 00:35:47,144 And uh-- and Conrad and-- and-- 694 00:35:47,228 --> 00:35:51,440 and all these white actors are in this film, 695 00:35:51,524 --> 00:35:52,692 which was common. 696 00:35:52,775 --> 00:35:55,403 Unfortunately, it was deemed acceptable 697 00:35:55,486 --> 00:35:59,657 to have yellowface played in Hollywood at the time. 698 00:35:59,740 --> 00:36:02,785 White men ran studios, 699 00:36:02,869 --> 00:36:09,792 and the culture at the time was anything other than Anglo 700 00:36:09,876 --> 00:36:12,128 is less than white. 701 00:36:12,211 --> 00:36:18,134 Racism was horribly prevalent at that time. 702 00:36:18,217 --> 00:36:22,638 John Wayne felt that he could play Genghis Khan, an Asian. 703 00:36:22,722 --> 00:36:29,812 It shows a lot of ego, and lack of self awareness, 704 00:36:29,896 --> 00:36:33,107 and lack of empathy towards the Asian race. 705 00:36:33,190 --> 00:36:34,901 The thing about the cultural appropriation 706 00:36:34,984 --> 00:36:41,490 in this movie, is there were Asian American actors 707 00:36:41,574 --> 00:36:44,410 who actually worked in Hollywood. 708 00:36:44,493 --> 00:36:46,245 I mean, why not? 709 00:36:46,329 --> 00:36:48,831 At least-- at least for some of the minor roles. 710 00:36:49,749 --> 00:36:51,751 What think of you that, Shaman? 711 00:36:51,834 --> 00:36:54,337 So grave a question demands a shorter answer. 712 00:36:54,420 --> 00:36:56,088 Let a sheep be slaughtered, 713 00:36:56,172 --> 00:36:57,840 and the shoulder blade brought hither. 714 00:36:57,924 --> 00:37:00,051 There's not a chance in the world 715 00:37:00,134 --> 00:37:02,929 they could make a film anything like this today. 716 00:37:03,012 --> 00:37:04,221 Can you imagine? 717 00:37:04,305 --> 00:37:08,476 The only director who could have handled this uh, film, 718 00:37:08,559 --> 00:37:11,103 I think successfully making it delightful 719 00:37:11,187 --> 00:37:12,605 would have been Mel Brooks. 720 00:37:25,618 --> 00:37:29,956 That summer, we would go to the local swimming hall, 721 00:37:30,039 --> 00:37:31,540 where all the other kids went. 722 00:37:31,624 --> 00:37:33,334 And we went to uh, 723 00:37:33,417 --> 00:37:36,087 we went to the morning church on uh, on Sundays. 724 00:37:37,254 --> 00:37:38,756 The casting crew of The Conqueror 725 00:37:38,839 --> 00:37:41,384 largely had set up houses in-- in St. George's. 726 00:37:41,467 --> 00:37:43,302 They'd rented homes in a-- on a block, 727 00:37:43,386 --> 00:37:44,971 and they all lived next to each other, 728 00:37:45,054 --> 00:37:45,930 across the street from each other. 729 00:37:46,013 --> 00:37:47,473 So, they all were sort of surrounding each other. 730 00:37:47,556 --> 00:37:49,850 And it was a-- a bit of a family atmosphere. 731 00:37:50,810 --> 00:37:52,812 My father never came up to St. George. 732 00:37:52,895 --> 00:37:56,023 And I don't recall us going back to Los Angeles 733 00:37:56,107 --> 00:37:57,274 to spend time with him. 734 00:37:57,358 --> 00:37:58,818 Yeah, they were going through a divorce. 735 00:37:58,901 --> 00:38:03,197 And it-- it was uh, it wasn't a real pleasant time. 736 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:04,949 It wasn't a pleasant for I-- 737 00:38:05,032 --> 00:38:06,617 I think for anybody in the family. 738 00:38:07,243 --> 00:38:08,995 But I remember John Wayne, 739 00:38:09,078 --> 00:38:11,580 because he lived across the street. 740 00:38:11,664 --> 00:38:13,749 He was a very personal guy. 741 00:38:13,833 --> 00:38:16,877 I had a-- a scar under this eye. 742 00:38:16,961 --> 00:38:18,796 So, John Wayne saw it and he asked me what it was. 743 00:38:18,879 --> 00:38:20,464 And I told him I got hit with a rock 744 00:38:20,548 --> 00:38:21,924 underneath my eye. 745 00:38:22,008 --> 00:38:23,342 And I remember him-- 746 00:38:23,426 --> 00:38:24,552 him laughing and him saying, 747 00:38:24,635 --> 00:38:25,970 “Put beef steak on it.” 748 00:38:26,762 --> 00:38:28,097 Susan Hayward um, 749 00:38:28,180 --> 00:38:30,349 always had this affection for John Wayne. 750 00:38:30,433 --> 00:38:32,685 She always thought he was one of her favorite leading men 751 00:38:32,768 --> 00:38:34,729 and she was attracted to him. 752 00:38:34,812 --> 00:38:37,898 And so, she-- she did make moves on Wayne. 753 00:38:37,982 --> 00:38:40,067 They said at one time she had a love scene on the set 754 00:38:40,151 --> 00:38:43,029 and she kissed him, and he said, 755 00:38:43,112 --> 00:38:46,073 she stuck her tongue in his mouth. 756 00:38:46,157 --> 00:38:47,158 One of the things that my brother 757 00:38:47,241 --> 00:38:48,492 and I liked to do 758 00:38:48,576 --> 00:38:52,038 was we liked to camp out on the front yard. 759 00:38:52,121 --> 00:38:54,582 And all I'm gonna say is this, that uh, 760 00:38:54,665 --> 00:38:56,709 one morning about 3:00 in the morning, 761 00:38:56,792 --> 00:38:58,252 we saw this figure. 762 00:38:58,335 --> 00:39:02,840 We were both up come running across the lawn uh, 763 00:39:02,923 --> 00:39:08,179 to the house across the street where John Wayne was living. 764 00:39:08,262 --> 00:39:09,764 And it was my mother. 765 00:39:09,847 --> 00:39:10,806 And I don't think uh, 766 00:39:10,890 --> 00:39:12,183 she was running over there, you know, 767 00:39:12,266 --> 00:39:14,852 to get a-- to get a bagel. 768 00:39:17,980 --> 00:39:19,523 When we moved to St. George, 769 00:39:19,607 --> 00:39:23,819 we heard all about The Conqueror being here, 770 00:39:23,903 --> 00:39:25,654 and how the stars were here. 771 00:39:25,738 --> 00:39:29,283 They were hanging out at the Big Hand Cafe. 772 00:39:29,366 --> 00:39:31,243 And there were a lot of pictures at the time 773 00:39:31,327 --> 00:39:34,538 before the Big Hand Cafe was torn down. 774 00:39:34,622 --> 00:39:39,460 A lot of pictures of John Wayne and Dick Powell. 775 00:39:39,543 --> 00:39:40,586 And those guys, 776 00:39:40,669 --> 00:39:42,922 and their pictures were plastered all over the walls. 777 00:39:43,005 --> 00:39:45,007 They were pretty proud of that. 778 00:39:45,091 --> 00:39:46,300 Dick's Cafe, 779 00:39:46,384 --> 00:39:49,428 a renowned restaurant in St. George, 780 00:39:49,512 --> 00:39:52,598 was not only the chief uh, dining spot, 781 00:39:52,681 --> 00:39:57,144 but Dick Hammer catered on location. 782 00:39:57,228 --> 00:40:01,398 A lot of the locals were used as security guards, 783 00:40:01,482 --> 00:40:02,900 As greensmen. 784 00:40:02,983 --> 00:40:04,318 As extras. 785 00:40:04,402 --> 00:40:07,696 Just about everyone was needed to be in the film. 786 00:40:07,780 --> 00:40:11,033 We were a movie set town and we got to be extras. 787 00:40:11,117 --> 00:40:12,535 It was a big deal. 788 00:40:12,618 --> 00:40:16,038 NARRATOR:The cast and crew took part in a charity softball game 789 00:40:16,122 --> 00:40:18,833 against the local Elks Club of St. George. 790 00:40:18,916 --> 00:40:20,668 Wayne signed autographs. 791 00:40:20,751 --> 00:40:22,795 Dick Powell entertained the crowd, 792 00:40:22,878 --> 00:40:24,922 and Susan Hayward kicked off her high heels 793 00:40:25,005 --> 00:40:26,632 to run around the bases. 794 00:40:26,715 --> 00:40:28,467 A local family, the Smoots, 795 00:40:28,551 --> 00:40:30,594 presented Susan Hayward with a giant cake 796 00:40:30,678 --> 00:40:31,637 for her birthday. 797 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:32,721 The whole town 798 00:40:32,805 --> 00:40:34,390 as well as Powell and Wayne were there, 799 00:40:34,473 --> 00:40:36,100 as Tim Barker recalls. 800 00:40:36,183 --> 00:40:37,393 It was on the set, 801 00:40:37,476 --> 00:40:39,937 and there were pictures of that with Dick Powell 802 00:40:40,020 --> 00:40:43,190 and John Wayne, and uh, some of the other principals. 803 00:40:43,274 --> 00:40:47,444 Uh, John Wayne cut the cake with his Mongol sword. 804 00:41:09,258 --> 00:41:11,469 They had 20 stuntmen. 805 00:41:16,223 --> 00:41:20,644 These stunts were very seriously dangerous. 806 00:41:20,728 --> 00:41:21,854 We're talking horse stunts, 807 00:41:21,937 --> 00:41:24,148 which the horses are tripping, falling. 808 00:41:24,231 --> 00:41:27,151 The men are falling into the sands. 809 00:41:27,234 --> 00:41:28,903 And there were lots of accidents. 810 00:41:31,822 --> 00:41:33,782 What I found fascinating about this 811 00:41:33,866 --> 00:41:35,159 and I don't know how they did it 812 00:41:35,242 --> 00:41:36,619 or whether they did it deliberately, 813 00:41:36,702 --> 00:41:38,412 is all the horses falling down. 814 00:41:39,163 --> 00:41:41,624 And maybe once they-- they had trip wires. 815 00:41:43,584 --> 00:41:45,502 But where was the SPCA? 816 00:41:48,088 --> 00:41:50,299 There was actually a-- a joke on the set at one point 817 00:41:50,382 --> 00:41:52,843 where there was gonna be a big action sequence 818 00:41:52,927 --> 00:41:53,802 and Dick Powell said, 819 00:41:53,886 --> 00:41:56,222 “This is where we separate the men from the boys, 820 00:41:56,305 --> 00:41:56,805 in this scene.” 821 00:41:56,889 --> 00:41:57,848 And John Wayne, 822 00:41:57,932 --> 00:41:59,308 you know, joked back to him and said, 823 00:41:59,391 --> 00:42:01,477 “Well, let's just hope we don't separate the men 824 00:42:01,560 --> 00:42:02,478 from the horses.” 825 00:42:08,442 --> 00:42:11,445 Sadly, a short time later, there was a-- a big action scene 826 00:42:11,528 --> 00:42:13,822 and Pedro Armendariz had been thrown from his horse, 827 00:42:13,906 --> 00:42:16,200 and his horse at the time, um, fell, 828 00:42:16,283 --> 00:42:17,785 and actually landed on top of him. 829 00:42:17,868 --> 00:42:19,078 So, he was injured and they-- 830 00:42:19,161 --> 00:42:20,454 at the time, they feared that he may have 831 00:42:20,538 --> 00:42:21,413 even broken his back 832 00:42:21,497 --> 00:42:24,708 and they actually had to, um, take him to the hospital. 833 00:42:24,792 --> 00:42:27,336 He was ended up not being hurt as badly as they'd feared, 834 00:42:27,419 --> 00:42:30,172 but it was one of those kind of serious mishaps. 835 00:42:37,513 --> 00:42:39,390 NARRATOR:After finishing shooting an action scene, 836 00:42:39,473 --> 00:42:41,392 Powell turned to Wayne and said, 837 00:42:41,475 --> 00:42:42,643 “There were no injuries. 838 00:42:42,726 --> 00:42:44,645 Do you think the stuntmen are getting better?” 839 00:42:44,728 --> 00:42:45,646 Wayne replied, 840 00:42:45,729 --> 00:42:48,399 “No, the horses are getting smarter.” 841 00:42:52,653 --> 00:42:56,115 The nature of The Conqueror taking place 842 00:42:56,198 --> 00:42:58,784 in 12th century, Mongolia, 843 00:42:58,867 --> 00:43:01,495 you have to hire hundreds of extras, 844 00:43:01,578 --> 00:43:04,748 who can be made up to look as close as possible 845 00:43:04,832 --> 00:43:09,336 to those who would be living in that area of Asia. 846 00:43:09,420 --> 00:43:12,381 The nearest and most practical people 847 00:43:12,464 --> 00:43:14,883 to hire were 300 members 848 00:43:14,967 --> 00:43:18,012 of the Shivwits Indian reservation, 849 00:43:18,095 --> 00:43:21,015 not far distant from St. George. 850 00:43:21,098 --> 00:43:22,391 Yes, a 130 degrees. 851 00:43:22,474 --> 00:43:24,977 They're wearing these Mongolian costumes. 852 00:43:25,060 --> 00:43:26,228 These kind of armor 853 00:43:26,312 --> 00:43:28,814 and these heavy winter animal skin, 854 00:43:28,897 --> 00:43:30,941 thick, kind of heavy costumes. 855 00:43:31,025 --> 00:43:33,027 These people were very hot. 856 00:43:33,110 --> 00:43:36,488 And hundreds of extras on horses and things, 857 00:43:36,572 --> 00:43:38,949 they would be out there for hours in this-- 858 00:43:39,033 --> 00:43:40,367 this grueling heat. 859 00:43:40,451 --> 00:43:43,787 Environment of the American West is harsh. 860 00:43:43,871 --> 00:43:45,789 Aridity and weather conditions 861 00:43:45,873 --> 00:43:49,460 that can be extreme ranging from heat to cold. 862 00:43:51,003 --> 00:43:53,797 And the desert is windy. 863 00:43:53,881 --> 00:43:57,176 It's one of the windiest parts of the United States. 864 00:43:57,259 --> 00:44:00,512 And the winds can be ferocious and unpredictable. 865 00:44:00,596 --> 00:44:04,266 So, there would be these vast scenes of blowing, 866 00:44:04,350 --> 00:44:06,769 you know, dirt and dust swirling around. 867 00:44:06,852 --> 00:44:09,980 And not only was it-- was it bad enough with the-- 868 00:44:10,064 --> 00:44:11,857 the natural winds that were happening. 869 00:44:11,940 --> 00:44:13,317 It was the fact that they were-- 870 00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:15,277 they were creating their own dust 871 00:44:15,361 --> 00:44:17,488 by having these massive fight scenes 872 00:44:17,571 --> 00:44:19,323 and these horses were running around 873 00:44:19,406 --> 00:44:20,491 and they were having this-- 874 00:44:20,574 --> 00:44:22,534 kicking up all this dust and debris, 875 00:44:22,618 --> 00:44:24,828 that was literally covering the actors. 876 00:44:24,912 --> 00:44:27,373 And so they-- they ended up coi-- calling it 877 00:44:27,456 --> 00:44:31,043 like “Utah chili powder”, because it was on everything. 878 00:44:31,126 --> 00:44:32,378 So, they would sit down to eat 879 00:44:32,461 --> 00:44:34,838 and it would be covering the food they were eating. 880 00:44:40,386 --> 00:44:42,012 NARRATOR:After two months in Utah, 881 00:44:42,096 --> 00:44:43,555 the cast and crew of The Conqueror, 882 00:44:43,639 --> 00:44:45,224 returned to Los Angeles, 883 00:44:45,307 --> 00:44:48,102 for interior shooting on the RKO sound stages. 884 00:44:48,185 --> 00:44:51,230 Let there be music and a feast befitting Temujin, 885 00:44:51,313 --> 00:44:52,439 chief of the Mongols. 886 00:44:54,817 --> 00:44:58,529 I was a harem girl lounging somewhere. 887 00:44:58,612 --> 00:44:59,655 You know, there's a lot of lounging 888 00:44:59,738 --> 00:45:01,323 when you're in a harem thing. 889 00:45:02,950 --> 00:45:03,951 And I-- 890 00:45:04,034 --> 00:45:05,953 I was looking around and I looked at Wayne, too, 891 00:45:06,036 --> 00:45:08,622 you know, and I thought, “This is really bad.” 892 00:45:10,040 --> 00:45:11,750 Genghis Khan, he's not. 893 00:45:14,711 --> 00:45:17,506 Between takes, I'd be there and he'd be there. 894 00:45:17,589 --> 00:45:21,468 He is sitting up on his throne and just hanging out. 895 00:45:21,552 --> 00:45:24,263 We knew he'd been drinking in the daytime. 896 00:45:24,346 --> 00:45:29,351 We all felt that he was drinking his way through that picture. 897 00:45:33,105 --> 00:45:38,152 The costume designer, Michael Woulfe, 898 00:45:38,235 --> 00:45:41,905 he wanted it to look as if I were naked. 899 00:45:43,907 --> 00:45:44,700 The censor, 900 00:45:44,783 --> 00:45:48,162 the haze office would decide that well, 901 00:45:48,245 --> 00:45:51,707 this scene is too racy, and they'd edit a film 902 00:45:51,790 --> 00:45:54,376 before they would open it in the city. 903 00:45:54,460 --> 00:45:58,046 My dance number was cut out of the film, 904 00:45:58,130 --> 00:46:01,216 in Baltimore, in Boston. 905 00:46:01,300 --> 00:46:03,135 I don't know where else. 906 00:46:03,218 --> 00:46:07,264 Woman of Samarkand, I recognize her by the uh... 907 00:46:07,347 --> 00:46:09,766 There are no finer dancers under the heavens. 908 00:46:09,850 --> 00:46:12,561 And without compare in the arts of love. 909 00:46:12,644 --> 00:46:14,146 After them all other women are like 910 00:46:14,229 --> 00:46:15,689 the second pressing of the grape. 911 00:46:17,483 --> 00:46:17,941 I didn't-- 912 00:46:18,025 --> 00:46:21,236 I thought it was, um, not good. 913 00:46:28,452 --> 00:46:32,456 There's so many strange things about this movie. 914 00:46:32,539 --> 00:46:36,001 And about Howard Hughes' participation. 915 00:46:36,084 --> 00:46:39,338 But one of the things that apparently he insisted upon, 916 00:46:39,421 --> 00:46:41,215 was they moved tons, 917 00:46:41,298 --> 00:46:45,886 literally tons of desert sand and-- and brought it 918 00:46:45,969 --> 00:46:47,679 onto a sound stage. 919 00:46:47,763 --> 00:46:51,308 In fact, Howard Hughes and the crew 920 00:46:51,391 --> 00:46:54,895 carried 60 tonnes of this stuff back to the studio, 921 00:46:54,978 --> 00:46:57,356 so that this deep, rich red sand 922 00:46:57,439 --> 00:47:00,400 could be spread on the floors of the sound stage. 923 00:47:00,484 --> 00:47:03,445 When they rebuilt parts of the village 924 00:47:03,529 --> 00:47:05,948 in Culver City at RKO. 925 00:47:06,031 --> 00:47:08,283 They have a campfire scene. 926 00:47:08,367 --> 00:47:10,077 They would actually shoot that in the stage. 927 00:47:10,160 --> 00:47:12,871 They'd bring all the sage brush, the sand, the rocks. 928 00:47:14,122 --> 00:47:16,959 So, when they shot these scenes with these close-ups 929 00:47:17,042 --> 00:47:18,335 of John Wayne, and Susan Hayward, 930 00:47:18,418 --> 00:47:20,587 and Agnes Moorehead, and Pedro Armendariz, 931 00:47:20,671 --> 00:47:22,214 it would fit with the film, 932 00:47:22,297 --> 00:47:24,675 so there wouldn't be a jarring difference. 933 00:47:24,758 --> 00:47:26,385 So, they ended up bringing back 934 00:47:26,468 --> 00:47:29,888 all this radioactive soil back for a sound stage filming. 935 00:47:29,972 --> 00:47:32,099 They would leave it there for all of the weeks 936 00:47:32,182 --> 00:47:35,269 that were necessary to film the interiors. 937 00:47:35,352 --> 00:47:36,895 They were exposed to it 938 00:47:36,979 --> 00:47:40,524 in these hermetically-sealed sound stages 939 00:47:40,607 --> 00:47:42,693 day after day, after day. 940 00:47:54,871 --> 00:47:58,500 JOHN:The Conqueror was released in 1956. 941 00:47:58,584 --> 00:48:00,502 And there was a big push for it. 942 00:48:00,586 --> 00:48:04,506 It-- it got a lot of promotion, a lot of publicity. 943 00:48:04,590 --> 00:48:06,133 Hughes had invested $2 million or something 944 00:48:06,216 --> 00:48:07,801 in promoting this film. 945 00:48:12,973 --> 00:48:14,182 The critics were not kind. 946 00:48:17,644 --> 00:48:20,731 A John Wayne fan all the way through childhood 947 00:48:20,814 --> 00:48:22,941 and adult life. 948 00:48:23,025 --> 00:48:26,236 The Conqueror, I cannot say that I ever saw it. 949 00:48:26,320 --> 00:48:28,655 And from what I've heard, we didn't miss anything. 950 00:48:28,739 --> 00:48:36,163 It was not quite my John Wayne uh, movie. 951 00:48:36,246 --> 00:48:36,997 It-- 952 00:48:37,080 --> 00:48:39,416 It was an incredibly cheesy movie that you know, 953 00:48:39,499 --> 00:48:42,711 even being young, we laughed at it. 954 00:48:42,794 --> 00:48:43,920 THE CONQUEROR NARRATOR:For a hundred years, 955 00:48:44,004 --> 00:48:46,256 the children of their loins ruled half the world. 956 00:48:49,593 --> 00:48:51,261 That's one of the things that's remarkable 957 00:48:51,345 --> 00:48:56,475 about the film is, it does feel like an epic. 958 00:48:56,558 --> 00:49:00,187 But it's only a-- a 111 minutes long. 959 00:49:01,146 --> 00:49:02,773 And it's has that-- a great virtue 960 00:49:02,856 --> 00:49:05,192 of feeling much longer than it is. 961 00:49:09,112 --> 00:49:12,949 As bad as they sayThe Conqueror was, 962 00:49:13,033 --> 00:49:14,826 it was not unsuccessful. 963 00:49:14,910 --> 00:49:18,080 The movie cost $6 million to make, 964 00:49:18,163 --> 00:49:21,166 but the movie made $12 million. 965 00:49:21,249 --> 00:49:22,668 $12 million in 1956 966 00:49:22,751 --> 00:49:26,963 would equate to about $130 to $135 million today. 967 00:49:27,047 --> 00:49:29,549 So, it-- it was a successful movie. 968 00:49:30,217 --> 00:49:32,302 NARRATOR:The cost to promote and market the film 969 00:49:32,386 --> 00:49:34,638 erased any profit for Hughes. 970 00:49:50,028 --> 00:49:53,073 NEVADA ATOMIC TESTS NARRATOR:That great flash in the western sky. 971 00:49:53,156 --> 00:49:55,367 An atomic bomb at the Nevada test site, 972 00:49:55,450 --> 00:49:58,745 140 miles to the west. 973 00:49:58,829 --> 00:50:01,248 But it's old stuff to St. George. 974 00:50:01,331 --> 00:50:02,457 Routine. 975 00:50:02,541 --> 00:50:06,294 They've seen a lot of them, ever since 1951. 976 00:50:06,378 --> 00:50:08,505 Nothing to get excited about anymore. 977 00:50:08,588 --> 00:50:12,342 I mean, they did 928 tests in that desert. 978 00:50:12,426 --> 00:50:14,469 That's 928 bombs. 979 00:50:14,553 --> 00:50:17,806 More powerful than Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 980 00:50:17,889 --> 00:50:20,225 that were dropped on our own country 981 00:50:20,308 --> 00:50:21,685 by our government. 982 00:50:22,853 --> 00:50:24,688 It was a common experience. 983 00:50:24,771 --> 00:50:28,984 When I'd feel that concussion, I knew exactly where to look. 984 00:50:29,067 --> 00:50:30,444 We'd be working out there in the field, 985 00:50:30,527 --> 00:50:31,153 and you know, 986 00:50:31,236 --> 00:50:33,739 you could see the mushroom cloud come up. 987 00:50:33,822 --> 00:50:37,659 My mom would come out to um, the field, 988 00:50:37,743 --> 00:50:39,995 and she would take us back home. 989 00:50:40,078 --> 00:50:41,329 And make us stay in the house 990 00:50:41,413 --> 00:50:44,332 when that cloud floated over the valley. 991 00:50:44,416 --> 00:50:46,793 This one time, 992 00:50:46,877 --> 00:50:50,172 I went and opened up the door. 993 00:50:50,255 --> 00:50:51,173 And looked at that cloud 994 00:50:51,256 --> 00:50:53,884 as it was drifting over the valley. 995 00:50:53,967 --> 00:50:58,638 And it had an eerie orangish red tint to it. 996 00:50:58,722 --> 00:51:01,391 You know, so you knew, that the cloud was hot. 997 00:51:04,102 --> 00:51:05,771 Starting in '53, 998 00:51:05,854 --> 00:51:10,150 there were sheep ranchers who were noticing 999 00:51:10,233 --> 00:51:13,111 disease effect on sheep. 1000 00:51:13,195 --> 00:51:16,865 Sheep that were dead, sheep that had lesions. 1001 00:51:16,948 --> 00:51:19,659 Things that they claimed they'd never seen before, 1002 00:51:19,743 --> 00:51:22,245 and that were happening in numbers 1003 00:51:22,329 --> 00:51:24,664 that were unprecedented. 1004 00:51:25,248 --> 00:51:26,708 During lambing season, 1005 00:51:26,792 --> 00:51:29,795 our neighbors had piles of dead lambs. 1006 00:51:29,878 --> 00:51:32,798 They were deformed lambs. 1007 00:51:32,881 --> 00:51:36,051 And I always thought that that was normal 1008 00:51:36,134 --> 00:51:39,930 to have piles of dead deformed lambs 1009 00:51:40,013 --> 00:51:41,890 during lambing season. 1010 00:51:41,973 --> 00:51:45,560 I remember the Bulloch family losing a lot of sheep 1011 00:51:45,644 --> 00:51:47,229 and not-- they weren't just dead, 1012 00:51:47,312 --> 00:51:48,855 they lost their livelihood. 1013 00:51:48,939 --> 00:51:50,774 They lost their way to make a living. 1014 00:51:51,900 --> 00:51:56,404 It was determined that the sheep had died from starvation 1015 00:51:56,488 --> 00:51:57,989 and being cold. 1016 00:51:58,073 --> 00:52:00,951 Well, we knew those sheepherders. 1017 00:52:01,034 --> 00:52:03,078 We knew them personally. 1018 00:52:03,161 --> 00:52:05,872 They weren't starving their sheep. 1019 00:52:05,956 --> 00:52:07,833 Their sheep weren't freezing. 1020 00:52:10,502 --> 00:52:12,462 So, it was a low blow. 1021 00:52:12,546 --> 00:52:15,465 Those people lost their livelihoods 1022 00:52:15,549 --> 00:52:21,179 and that’d been generation after generation of farmers. 1023 00:52:33,525 --> 00:52:36,403 The Conqueror was the last film Howard Hughes produced. 1024 00:52:36,486 --> 00:52:37,779 Before the film's release, 1025 00:52:37,863 --> 00:52:40,615 Hughes sold RKO to General Teleradio 1026 00:52:40,699 --> 00:52:42,659 for $25 million. 1027 00:52:42,742 --> 00:52:46,621 By 1967, he was the richest man in America 1028 00:52:46,705 --> 00:52:51,084 valued at $1.37 billion. 1029 00:52:51,167 --> 00:52:52,377 The fact he bought back the rights 1030 00:52:52,460 --> 00:52:54,045 to his last two pictures, 1031 00:52:54,129 --> 00:52:57,340 Jet Pilot and The Conquerorfor $12 million, 1032 00:52:57,424 --> 00:52:59,175 led one observer to comment, 1033 00:52:59,259 --> 00:53:04,514 “It was the show business coup of the century for Teleradio. 1034 00:53:04,598 --> 00:53:07,392 What were you thinking Howard?” 1035 00:53:07,475 --> 00:53:08,810 Hughes got his wish 1036 00:53:08,894 --> 00:53:11,730 when he began an affair with Susan Hayward. 1037 00:53:13,440 --> 00:53:16,902 My mother dated Howard Hughes for a short period of time. 1038 00:53:16,985 --> 00:53:20,363 And Howard Hughes was a very weird man. 1039 00:53:20,447 --> 00:53:22,032 He was really trying to make an impression 1040 00:53:22,115 --> 00:53:22,949 on my mother, 1041 00:53:23,033 --> 00:53:25,160 and he came to the house one time, 1042 00:53:25,243 --> 00:53:26,661 and he met my brother and I. 1043 00:53:26,745 --> 00:53:28,997 He gave each of us a silver dollar. 1044 00:53:29,080 --> 00:53:33,418 And you know, my mother said, “Give me the silver dollars.” 1045 00:53:33,501 --> 00:53:35,420 She gave them back to him. 1046 00:53:35,503 --> 00:53:38,381 She didn't approve of the fact of-- of him, 1047 00:53:38,465 --> 00:53:42,969 giving stuff to children that he really didn't know. 1048 00:53:43,929 --> 00:53:45,347 NARRATOR:When Hayward discovered that 1049 00:53:45,430 --> 00:53:48,266 the wandering eyes of Hughes hadn't abated, 1050 00:53:48,350 --> 00:53:50,852 she terminated the short-lived romance. 1051 00:53:51,937 --> 00:53:54,105 My mother had this uncanny knack. 1052 00:53:54,189 --> 00:53:55,732 I understand it now, 1053 00:53:55,815 --> 00:54:00,195 but the men she had in her life were just totally inappropriate. 1054 00:54:00,278 --> 00:54:03,615 My mother repetitiously got involved with men 1055 00:54:03,698 --> 00:54:06,076 who you know, same guy, different face, 1056 00:54:06,159 --> 00:54:07,535 that kind of thing. 1057 00:54:07,619 --> 00:54:08,578 And uh, 1058 00:54:08,662 --> 00:54:11,414 a lot of her relationships didn't really last that long. 1059 00:54:23,218 --> 00:54:25,011 My father had a dairy. 1060 00:54:25,095 --> 00:54:27,514 Uh, it was called the “St. George Ice Company”. 1061 00:54:27,597 --> 00:54:30,266 They were the only ones that pasteurized milk, 1062 00:54:30,350 --> 00:54:33,478 uh, probably south of Provo. 1063 00:54:33,561 --> 00:54:37,065 My uncle, Grant Whitehead was a milkman, 1064 00:54:37,148 --> 00:54:39,526 that everybody knew and he was recruited to be 1065 00:54:39,609 --> 00:54:42,904 in the Atomic Energy Commission movie, 1066 00:54:42,988 --> 00:54:46,700 that told everybody this sleepy town. 1067 00:54:46,783 --> 00:54:48,535 NEVADA ATOMIC TESTS NARRATOR:Pretty deserted at this hour. 1068 00:54:48,618 --> 00:54:50,704 Everything is closed down. 1069 00:54:50,787 --> 00:54:52,706 Everyone's asleep. 1070 00:54:52,789 --> 00:54:55,834 Everyone that is, except a milkman. 1071 00:54:55,917 --> 00:54:58,962 Been delivering over the same route for 12 years. 1072 00:54:59,045 --> 00:55:00,171 Never missed a day. 1073 00:55:01,131 --> 00:55:05,343 They filmed The Conqueror here when I was a teenager. 1074 00:55:05,427 --> 00:55:06,344 So, I was often, 1075 00:55:06,428 --> 00:55:09,681 I uh, asked to go out and deliver milk to uh-- 1076 00:55:09,764 --> 00:55:13,184 to the onsite filming, but mostly up in Snow's Canyon, 1077 00:55:13,268 --> 00:55:14,477 not-- not far from here. 1078 00:55:14,561 --> 00:55:17,022 The cows ate the crops. 1079 00:55:17,105 --> 00:55:20,233 The kids drank the milk from the cow, 1080 00:55:20,316 --> 00:55:21,651 and adults did. 1081 00:55:21,735 --> 00:55:24,696 If radiation gets into the ground, 1082 00:55:24,779 --> 00:55:27,323 and then grass grows on that ground, 1083 00:55:27,407 --> 00:55:28,992 and cows eats that grass, 1084 00:55:29,075 --> 00:55:32,328 then the milk can have strontium, uh, 1085 00:55:32,412 --> 00:55:35,582 or other radioactive elements in it. 1086 00:55:35,665 --> 00:55:38,209 And that was a fact that was well known. 1087 00:55:40,754 --> 00:55:41,588 Growing up 1088 00:55:41,671 --> 00:55:44,549 many of my childhood friends were getting sick. 1089 00:55:44,632 --> 00:55:46,676 I had little Tammy Packer down the street, 1090 00:55:46,760 --> 00:55:50,430 who was probably 8 when I was 7. 1091 00:55:50,513 --> 00:55:55,185 And she came to school one day with her head shaved. 1092 00:55:55,268 --> 00:55:56,895 Because she had had a brain tumor 1093 00:55:56,978 --> 00:55:58,438 and had surgery. 1094 00:55:58,521 --> 00:56:00,607 Um, she ended up dying, 1095 00:56:00,690 --> 00:56:03,401 and you're not used to your little friends dying. 1096 00:56:03,485 --> 00:56:04,527 Four weeks later, 1097 00:56:04,611 --> 00:56:07,572 her 4-year-old brother died of testicular cancer. 1098 00:56:07,947 --> 00:56:10,867 Darwin Hoyt was in fifth grade. 1099 00:56:13,161 --> 00:56:15,622 And Bruce Stone was in sixth grade, 1100 00:56:15,705 --> 00:56:16,581 when he got sick. 1101 00:56:16,664 --> 00:56:18,958 And he died when we were in eighth grade. 1102 00:56:19,042 --> 00:56:20,418 He had his leg amputated, 1103 00:56:20,502 --> 00:56:24,089 and he actually lived till he was in eighth grade. 1104 00:56:24,172 --> 00:56:28,551 Darwin died, I believe, when he was in sixth grade. 1105 00:56:29,052 --> 00:56:31,888 I knew that Coleen may had cancer. 1106 00:56:31,971 --> 00:56:34,474 I knew that Mark Bradshaw's mother, 1107 00:56:34,557 --> 00:56:37,268 Welwyn, was going to died because she had cancer. 1108 00:56:37,352 --> 00:56:41,189 At my age, it wasn't until later on 1109 00:56:41,272 --> 00:56:43,942 that I started to really get a grasp 1110 00:56:44,025 --> 00:56:45,568 of what had happened. 1111 00:56:45,652 --> 00:56:47,862 Because so many of them were happening around me, 1112 00:56:47,946 --> 00:56:51,491 I grew up thinking it was just normal for people 1113 00:56:51,574 --> 00:56:52,408 to get cancer, 1114 00:56:52,492 --> 00:56:54,452 and for people to lose their dads, 1115 00:56:54,536 --> 00:56:56,454 and for the little kids to die. 1116 00:56:57,247 --> 00:57:00,583 Irma Thomas' daughter, Michelle, was a good friend of mine 1117 00:57:00,667 --> 00:57:02,961 and I spent a lot of time at their house. 1118 00:57:03,044 --> 00:57:08,341 And Irma had a hand-drawn map of St. George. 1119 00:57:08,424 --> 00:57:12,053 And she started marking X's on the houses of people 1120 00:57:12,137 --> 00:57:13,847 that had cancer. 1121 00:57:13,930 --> 00:57:17,142 And it became very apparent that like, 1122 00:57:17,225 --> 00:57:21,479 wait, there's a lot of people dying of cancer. 1123 00:57:21,563 --> 00:57:25,108 And it was because of Irma Thomas 1124 00:57:25,191 --> 00:57:26,609 that we really started to think, 1125 00:57:26,693 --> 00:57:29,571 “Wow, something's going on here.” 1126 00:57:29,654 --> 00:57:31,865 When Michelle Thomas contracted cancer, 1127 00:57:31,948 --> 00:57:32,657 I thought, 1128 00:57:32,740 --> 00:57:35,785 “And here's her mom trying to prove 1129 00:57:35,869 --> 00:57:38,413 that that government gave us all cancer 1130 00:57:38,496 --> 00:57:40,832 and then her own daughter gets cancer.” 1131 00:57:42,125 --> 00:57:46,921 When the exposure is to a young person, 1132 00:57:47,005 --> 00:57:49,799 the cancer may come then at any point in their life 1133 00:57:49,883 --> 00:57:50,550 in the future, 1134 00:57:50,633 --> 00:57:53,636 and many times the latency period for cancer 1135 00:57:53,720 --> 00:57:56,848 is on the order of 10, 20, 30, 40, 1136 00:57:56,931 --> 00:57:58,600 even 50 years later. 1137 00:57:58,683 --> 00:58:01,227 There were the questions. 1138 00:58:01,311 --> 00:58:04,189 But there was so much propaganda 1139 00:58:04,272 --> 00:58:05,607 that we were safe. 1140 00:58:05,690 --> 00:58:06,774 GREGORY:There has been some exaggeration 1141 00:58:06,858 --> 00:58:08,735 says the Atomic Energy Commission. 1142 00:58:08,818 --> 00:58:11,571 The tests do not produce dangerous fallout. 1143 00:58:15,783 --> 00:58:18,203 They said we were fine. 1144 00:58:18,286 --> 00:58:20,788 And they wouldn't do anything to harm us. 1145 00:58:36,971 --> 00:58:40,099 NARRATOR:Dick Powell would direct three more films, 1146 00:58:40,183 --> 00:58:41,559 and executive produced, 1147 00:58:41,643 --> 00:58:44,020 as well as hosted popular television shows. 1148 00:58:44,103 --> 00:58:46,064 ZANE GREY THEATER NARRATOR:Tonight's star, Dick Powell. 1149 00:58:47,232 --> 00:58:48,983 Most important of all the professional men 1150 00:58:49,067 --> 00:58:50,860 who moved to the frontier was the doctor. 1151 00:58:51,778 --> 00:58:54,822 NARRATOR:While directing a television program in 1962, 1152 00:58:54,906 --> 00:58:57,325 Powell's neck and face began to swell. 1153 00:58:57,408 --> 00:59:00,870 And he was diagnosed with cancer of the lymph glands. 1154 00:59:00,954 --> 00:59:02,705 Doctors told Powell's wife, 1155 00:59:02,789 --> 00:59:06,542 movie star June Allyson to prepare for the worst. 1156 00:59:06,626 --> 00:59:09,879 Dick Powell was one of the first to kind of succumb to cancer. 1157 00:59:09,963 --> 00:59:12,548 Dick Powell was the guy who was-- 1158 00:59:12,632 --> 00:59:14,717 he was there through the entire thing. 1159 00:59:14,801 --> 00:59:17,553 He was there probably longer and in more, 1160 00:59:17,637 --> 00:59:19,138 um, danger than anybody. 1161 00:59:19,222 --> 00:59:21,266 Because he was sitting in the director's chair 1162 00:59:21,349 --> 00:59:23,810 in this huge boom, sitting there, 1163 00:59:23,893 --> 00:59:27,146 just being hit with this dust in his face for hours. 1164 00:59:28,106 --> 00:59:32,235 My dad uh, frequently wore a-- a mask. 1165 00:59:32,318 --> 00:59:33,987 Then when he was talking to the actors, he-- 1166 00:59:34,070 --> 00:59:36,281 he-- he took it off. 1167 00:59:36,364 --> 00:59:38,908 Some of the actors were only in portions of the film 1168 00:59:38,992 --> 00:59:40,952 who could kind of come and go. 1169 00:59:41,035 --> 00:59:42,745 Dick Powell was there all the time. 1170 00:59:46,541 --> 00:59:48,459 NARRATOR:Allyson learned that the nuclear tests 1171 00:59:48,543 --> 00:59:50,295 done near the set of The Conqueror, 1172 00:59:50,378 --> 00:59:52,422 after Powell's death. 1173 00:59:52,505 --> 00:59:54,382 She was later heard to remark, 1174 00:59:54,465 --> 00:59:56,718 “Had I stayed longer on location with Richard, 1175 00:59:56,801 --> 01:00:00,346 I might not be alive today nor the children.” 1176 01:00:07,854 --> 01:00:10,440 On the set of the second James Bond feature, 1177 01:00:10,523 --> 01:00:11,607 From Russia with Love, 1178 01:00:11,691 --> 01:00:14,902 Armendariz was fighting a losing battle. 1179 01:00:14,986 --> 01:00:17,864 He took the part of Kerim Bey, the Bond ally, 1180 01:00:17,947 --> 01:00:20,074 in order to provide for his family. 1181 01:00:20,616 --> 01:00:23,494 Take a look, you should remember him. 1182 01:00:23,578 --> 01:00:25,788 This man kills for pleasure. 1183 01:00:26,706 --> 01:00:29,334 Pedro kept the fact he was dying from lymph cancer 1184 01:00:29,417 --> 01:00:32,879 that had spread to his hips making walking difficult. 1185 01:00:32,962 --> 01:00:36,507 He kept working with regular doses of morphine. 1186 01:00:40,720 --> 01:00:43,639 When From Russia with Love went into the editing phase, 1187 01:00:43,723 --> 01:00:47,018 Armendariz was admitted to the UCLA Medical Center. 1188 01:00:47,101 --> 01:00:48,353 He asked his wife, Carmen, 1189 01:00:48,436 --> 01:00:50,897 to get a ham sandwich for him to eat. 1190 01:00:50,980 --> 01:00:52,065 She leaves. 1191 01:00:52,148 --> 01:00:54,901 Pedro goes into the drawer in the stand next to him 1192 01:00:54,984 --> 01:00:56,736 and pulls out a gun. 1193 01:00:56,819 --> 01:00:58,112 When Carmen returns, 1194 01:00:58,196 --> 01:01:00,448 she finds him dead from a gunshot wound 1195 01:01:00,531 --> 01:01:01,657 through the heart. 1196 01:01:01,741 --> 01:01:03,284 He was 51. 1197 01:01:06,746 --> 01:01:10,583 Someone had gotten him a gun and he-- he took his own life. 1198 01:01:10,666 --> 01:01:12,335 I mean, it was terrible. 1199 01:01:12,418 --> 01:01:14,879 Everybody was in a state of shock. 1200 01:01:14,962 --> 01:01:17,423 I mean, he had-- obviously had terminal cancer, 1201 01:01:17,507 --> 01:01:18,758 and he didn't wanna deal with it. 1202 01:01:18,841 --> 01:01:21,386 I can understand that completely. 1203 01:01:21,469 --> 01:01:22,512 He didn't want to-- 1204 01:01:22,595 --> 01:01:25,181 He didn't want to exist, you know, 1205 01:01:25,264 --> 01:01:27,475 unless the quality of life is good. 1206 01:01:27,558 --> 01:01:28,476 You know, what is the point? 1207 01:01:29,727 --> 01:01:31,646 NARRATOR:When learning of his friend's death, 1208 01:01:31,729 --> 01:01:34,649 Wayne stated, “I don't blame Pete. 1209 01:01:34,732 --> 01:01:36,359 I'd do the same thing.” 1210 01:01:44,659 --> 01:01:47,370 ♪ My friends all tell me, go to him, run to him ♪ 1211 01:01:47,453 --> 01:01:48,913 ♪ Say sweet, lovely things to him ♪ 1212 01:01:48,996 --> 01:01:55,420 ♪ Tell him, he's the one ♪ 1213 01:01:55,503 --> 01:01:56,754 ♪ Deep in my heart ♪ 1214 01:01:56,838 --> 01:01:59,173 ♪ I know it, but it’s so hard to show it ♪ 1215 01:01:59,257 --> 01:02:02,260 ♪ ‘Cause it's easier ♪ 1216 01:02:02,343 --> 01:02:05,596 ♪ Easier said than done ♪ 1217 01:02:05,680 --> 01:02:06,556 ♪ My buddies tell me ♪ 1218 01:02:06,639 --> 01:02:08,349 ♪ Fly to him, sigh to him ♪ 1219 01:02:08,433 --> 01:02:10,101 ♪ Tell him I would die for him ♪ 1220 01:02:10,184 --> 01:02:16,607 ♪ Tell him he's the one ♪ 1221 01:02:16,691 --> 01:02:18,401 ♪ Although, he gives me a feeling ♪ 1222 01:02:18,484 --> 01:02:20,278 ♪ That sets my heart a-reeling ♪ 1223 01:02:20,361 --> 01:02:23,156 ♪ Yeah, it's easier ♪ 1224 01:02:23,239 --> 01:02:25,450 ♪ Easier said than done ♪ 1225 01:02:27,201 --> 01:02:27,952 ♪ Well, I know ♪ 1226 01:02:28,035 --> 01:02:28,953 ♪ I know ♪ 1227 01:02:29,036 --> 01:02:30,580 ♪ That I love him so ♪ 1228 01:02:30,663 --> 01:02:34,083 ♪ But I'm afraid that he'll never know ♪ 1229 01:02:34,167 --> 01:02:39,422 JOHN F. KENNEDY:Continued unrestricted testing by the nuclear powers 1230 01:02:39,505 --> 01:02:42,425 will increasingly contaminate the air 1231 01:02:42,508 --> 01:02:46,179 that all of us must breathe. 1232 01:02:46,262 --> 01:02:49,223 The loss of even one human life 1233 01:02:49,307 --> 01:02:52,643 or the malformation of even one baby, 1234 01:02:52,727 --> 01:02:56,939 who may be born long after all of us have gone, 1235 01:02:57,023 --> 01:02:58,524 should be of concern to us all. 1236 01:03:01,861 --> 01:03:08,743 ♪ Easier said than done ♪ 1237 01:03:10,828 --> 01:03:15,291 They banned atmospheric testing and uh, 1238 01:03:15,374 --> 01:03:16,834 the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 1239 01:03:16,918 --> 01:03:21,297 was one of the big achievements of the Kennedy administration. 1240 01:03:21,380 --> 01:03:26,177 Tragically, it came too late for Pedro Armendariz, 1241 01:03:26,260 --> 01:03:27,678 and John Wayne, and Susan Hayward, 1242 01:03:27,762 --> 01:03:31,057 and Dick Powell, and um, so many other people. 1243 01:03:32,099 --> 01:03:35,269 A fast ship going in harm's way. 1244 01:03:37,313 --> 01:03:41,984 Lousy situation, Commander Eddington 1245 01:03:42,068 --> 01:03:45,988 John Wayne's first direct encounter 1246 01:03:46,072 --> 01:03:49,951 with the scourge of cancer occurred in 1964. 1247 01:03:50,034 --> 01:03:53,287 Uh, he had just completed filming In Harm's Way 1248 01:03:53,371 --> 01:03:54,330 in Hawaii. 1249 01:03:54,413 --> 01:03:56,582 He was coughing like crazy. 1250 01:03:56,666 --> 01:04:01,462 His wife, uh, Pilar asked him to go get checked out. 1251 01:04:01,546 --> 01:04:04,674 They discovered a rather large-sized tumor 1252 01:04:04,757 --> 01:04:06,008 on one of his lungs, 1253 01:04:06,092 --> 01:04:08,553 and diagnosed him with lung cancer, 1254 01:04:08,636 --> 01:04:11,138 and in very short order, 1255 01:04:11,222 --> 01:04:13,015 the lung was removed in its entirety, 1256 01:04:13,099 --> 01:04:15,059 along with two ribs. 1257 01:04:15,142 --> 01:04:17,895 He had a procedure where they broke his sternum open 1258 01:04:17,979 --> 01:04:18,854 like this. 1259 01:04:18,938 --> 01:04:22,984 They took out a lobe of his lung and sewed him back up. 1260 01:04:23,067 --> 01:04:26,195 He was-- he was in the hospital for six weeks 1261 01:04:26,279 --> 01:04:29,073 after the procedure in convalescence. 1262 01:04:29,156 --> 01:04:31,367 He was so swollen up, he looked like Jabba the Hutt. 1263 01:04:31,450 --> 01:04:34,120 I was absolutely just scared to death. 1264 01:04:34,203 --> 01:04:36,122 I just thought that was gonna be the end of it. 1265 01:04:36,205 --> 01:04:39,250 Somehow, he made it through this experience. 1266 01:04:42,837 --> 01:04:46,591 I was just finishing my 199th picture. 1267 01:04:46,674 --> 01:04:48,551 Never felt better in my life 1268 01:04:48,634 --> 01:04:49,760 And I said to myself, 1269 01:04:49,844 --> 01:04:54,265 “When this is finished, I'm going out on my boat.” 1270 01:04:54,348 --> 01:04:57,893 And then I got nagged into going for a medical checkup. 1271 01:04:57,977 --> 01:04:59,854 They found a spot on the X-rays. 1272 01:04:59,937 --> 01:05:01,063 It was lung cancer. 1273 01:05:01,147 --> 01:05:03,566 If I'd waited a few more weeks, I wouldn't be here now. 1274 01:05:05,109 --> 01:05:07,528 The whole anti smoking movement was kind of, 1275 01:05:07,612 --> 01:05:09,822 just being born in that era. 1276 01:05:09,905 --> 01:05:11,991 Smoke now, pay later. 1277 01:05:13,242 --> 01:05:17,455 He would get uh, requests to be a spokesperson. 1278 01:05:17,538 --> 01:05:19,415 And ironically, and interestingly, 1279 01:05:19,498 --> 01:05:21,167 he always said no. 1280 01:05:21,250 --> 01:05:24,420 And the reason he gave for saying no, 1281 01:05:24,503 --> 01:05:27,673 was that no one had proven to his satisfaction, 1282 01:05:27,757 --> 01:05:30,968 that his cancer was caused by cigarette smoking. 1283 01:05:31,052 --> 01:05:33,262 So, why don't all of you do yourselves a favor? 1284 01:05:33,346 --> 01:05:34,555 Get a checkup. 1285 01:05:41,562 --> 01:05:44,231 NARRATOR:It was also during the summer of 1963, 1286 01:05:44,315 --> 01:05:47,193 that Agnes Moorehead's career began to rise. 1287 01:05:48,235 --> 01:05:49,654 Though not in the recognition factor, 1288 01:05:49,737 --> 01:05:51,322 as Wayne or Hayward. 1289 01:05:51,405 --> 01:05:53,032 She worked constantly, 1290 01:05:53,115 --> 01:05:55,993 and won acclaim in the comedy television series, 1291 01:05:56,077 --> 01:05:57,703 Bewitched. 1292 01:05:57,787 --> 01:06:01,082 The Conquerorwas the last thing on her mind. 1293 01:06:01,165 --> 01:06:04,293 During a routine checkup at the Mayo Clinic, 1294 01:06:04,377 --> 01:06:07,046 Moorehead was diagnosed with uterine cancer, 1295 01:06:07,129 --> 01:06:09,298 that was spreading. 1296 01:06:09,382 --> 01:06:13,427 Alas, there is no peace even for him 1297 01:06:13,511 --> 01:06:15,846 who seeks only to enjoy his hard-won riches. 1298 01:06:16,389 --> 01:06:18,182 And then there were a bunch of other people 1299 01:06:18,265 --> 01:06:20,685 that were on the cast and crew that were not known, 1300 01:06:20,768 --> 01:06:22,853 not named actors who would have cancer 1301 01:06:22,937 --> 01:06:24,397 that were-- would die. 1302 01:06:24,480 --> 01:06:25,606 This was just happened 1303 01:06:25,690 --> 01:06:27,858 to be one of the movies they made. 1304 01:06:27,942 --> 01:06:30,945 Of course, it was the multiple sicknesses 1305 01:06:31,028 --> 01:06:37,243 and the ultimate multiple deaths of similar cause. 1306 01:06:37,326 --> 01:06:41,163 That's when people started to talk about 1307 01:06:41,247 --> 01:06:47,128 the likelihood of them being exposed up on location. 1308 01:06:47,211 --> 01:06:49,797 Those of us who had worked on the picture, the dancers, 1309 01:06:49,880 --> 01:06:53,509 started realizing something really horrible 1310 01:06:53,592 --> 01:06:55,511 had likely taken place. 1311 01:06:55,594 --> 01:06:58,556 And were we the luckiest people in the world 1312 01:06:58,639 --> 01:07:00,307 not to have been there? 1313 01:07:00,391 --> 01:07:02,810 Lucky you didn't go on location, 1314 01:07:02,893 --> 01:07:05,771 because these people are dying that did. 1315 01:07:05,855 --> 01:07:07,523 That was the word around town. 1316 01:07:08,441 --> 01:07:11,402 My sister and I, uh, were there the whole time. 1317 01:07:11,485 --> 01:07:13,154 You know, I was digging in that dirt. 1318 01:07:13,237 --> 01:07:15,114 She was riding horses. 1319 01:07:15,197 --> 01:07:19,994 Uh, and uh, my sister and I had been uh, 1320 01:07:20,077 --> 01:07:22,621 cancer-free all-- all of these years. 1321 01:07:22,705 --> 01:07:23,330 Yes. 1322 01:07:23,414 --> 01:07:26,959 And I consider us both very, very lucky. 1323 01:07:27,042 --> 01:07:31,672 Of the 220 people who were constantly on location 1324 01:07:31,756 --> 01:07:37,887 shooting in Utah, 90 or 91 came down with cancer. 1325 01:07:38,929 --> 01:07:40,806 NARRATOR:Agnes Moorehead confided to close friend 1326 01:07:40,890 --> 01:07:43,267 and confidante, Debbie Reynolds, 1327 01:07:43,350 --> 01:07:45,978 “I should never have taken that part.” 1328 01:07:46,061 --> 01:07:47,229 I think she told Debbie Reynolds, 1329 01:07:47,313 --> 01:07:48,647 who was a friend of hers, 1330 01:07:48,731 --> 01:07:50,483 that she had never should have gone there, 1331 01:07:50,566 --> 01:07:51,984 and made The Conqueror. 1332 01:08:07,958 --> 01:08:10,252 My father was a delightful person. 1333 01:08:10,336 --> 01:08:13,088 His name was Orville Wardle, 1334 01:08:13,172 --> 01:08:16,717 and he worked on road construction. 1335 01:08:16,801 --> 01:08:20,054 He had been healthy his whole life. 1336 01:08:20,137 --> 01:08:24,058 Suddenly, he got very sore muscles. 1337 01:08:24,934 --> 01:08:27,186 He went to the doctor. 1338 01:08:27,269 --> 01:08:31,816 He was sent up to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City. 1339 01:08:31,899 --> 01:08:35,653 And the doctor said, “We opened up your dad 1340 01:08:35,736 --> 01:08:38,572 and he's completely full of cancer. 1341 01:08:38,656 --> 01:08:40,950 All over lungs, all over his pancreas, 1342 01:08:41,033 --> 01:08:41,909 everything. 1343 01:08:41,992 --> 01:08:43,911 There's absolutely nothing we can do. 1344 01:08:43,994 --> 01:08:46,747 We are sewing him back together right now.” 1345 01:08:47,373 --> 01:08:53,170 In 1997, dad was diagnosed with leukemia. 1346 01:08:53,254 --> 01:08:57,633 They basically gave dad two weeks to live. 1347 01:08:57,716 --> 01:09:00,010 Uh, which was a little bit of a shock. 1348 01:09:00,094 --> 01:09:04,557 Uncle Stan was asking dad what his uh, symptoms were. 1349 01:09:04,640 --> 01:09:08,269 And dad started telling his symptoms to him. 1350 01:09:08,352 --> 01:09:10,104 And Uncle Stan looked at him, and said, 1351 01:09:10,187 --> 01:09:12,273 “Those are exactly the same symptoms 1352 01:09:12,356 --> 01:09:14,859 as Grandma Holt.” 1353 01:09:14,942 --> 01:09:19,363 And Grandma passed away in about 1967. 1354 01:09:19,446 --> 01:09:22,867 At the time, they had no idea what caused the-- 1355 01:09:22,950 --> 01:09:24,660 my grandma's death. 1356 01:09:24,743 --> 01:09:29,707 But uh, dad and Uncle Stan felt very, very positive 1357 01:09:29,790 --> 01:09:32,042 that it was uh, leukemia. 1358 01:09:32,126 --> 01:09:33,752 Very similar to what dad had. 1359 01:09:35,004 --> 01:09:37,882 In the summer before my 29th birthday, 1360 01:09:37,965 --> 01:09:42,845 I found a lump on my neck, 1361 01:09:42,928 --> 01:09:44,597 and it was like the size of a piece of corn. 1362 01:09:44,680 --> 01:09:45,890 And I kept moving it up and down. 1363 01:09:45,973 --> 01:09:47,850 It didn't hurt. I didn't think anything of it. 1364 01:09:47,933 --> 01:09:50,394 Then I got bronchitis and I got pretty sick. 1365 01:09:50,477 --> 01:09:52,730 I went to the doctor for the bronchitis 1366 01:09:52,813 --> 01:09:53,772 and she's feeling my throat. 1367 01:09:53,856 --> 01:09:56,108 And she says, “Oh, you have a lump here. 1368 01:09:56,192 --> 01:09:57,359 Hmm. 1369 01:09:57,443 --> 01:09:59,111 Well, we should probably check it.” 1370 01:09:59,194 --> 01:10:01,155 I thought, “Hm, okay.” 1371 01:10:01,238 --> 01:10:05,326 So, she sent me to an endocrinologist 1372 01:10:05,409 --> 01:10:08,704 and he took a biopsy and I was getting ready to go 1373 01:10:08,787 --> 01:10:11,206 with my then-husband to a concert he was playing 1374 01:10:11,290 --> 01:10:12,166 when the phone rang. 1375 01:10:12,249 --> 01:10:17,087 It was the doctor and he said, “Um, you've got cancer.” 1376 01:10:17,671 --> 01:10:22,551 My doctor said I had uh, the beginning of uh, 1377 01:10:22,635 --> 01:10:24,178 prostrate cancer. 1378 01:10:24,261 --> 01:10:32,895 In 1955, they excised the prostrate. 1379 01:10:33,479 --> 01:10:37,650 It was just the most painful time of our lives. 1380 01:10:37,733 --> 01:10:42,404 We took my dad home and laid him on the couch, 1381 01:10:42,488 --> 01:10:44,573 and we watched him die little by little. 1382 01:10:44,657 --> 01:10:46,408 And he was in terrible pain. 1383 01:10:47,826 --> 01:10:50,371 After he was diagnosed with cancer, 1384 01:10:50,454 --> 01:10:54,124 dad lived two and a half years. 1385 01:10:54,208 --> 01:10:56,418 About 2006, 2005, 1386 01:10:56,502 --> 01:11:00,130 my mom was diagnosed with lymphoma. 1387 01:11:00,214 --> 01:11:05,052 Mom lived for about six to eight months after that. 1388 01:11:05,135 --> 01:11:07,262 My sister, three years ago, 1389 01:11:07,346 --> 01:11:10,808 passed away with pancreatic cancer. 1390 01:11:10,891 --> 01:11:12,643 So, my sister and my parents 1391 01:11:12,726 --> 01:11:15,312 have all passed away with cancer. 1392 01:11:15,396 --> 01:11:17,481 But life is life. 1393 01:11:17,564 --> 01:11:20,985 You take the challenges and go with it. 1394 01:11:21,068 --> 01:11:23,487 And I do have to say that 1395 01:11:23,570 --> 01:11:29,076 I wouldn't want to wish cancer on anyone. 1396 01:11:30,744 --> 01:11:32,705 I had surgery right away. 1397 01:11:32,788 --> 01:11:37,084 They removed my thyroid and then they had 1398 01:11:37,167 --> 01:11:39,837 to remover lymph nodes around it. 1399 01:11:39,920 --> 01:11:44,091 And when my mother started crying 1400 01:11:44,174 --> 01:11:46,093 as they wheeled me into the operating room, 1401 01:11:46,176 --> 01:11:49,304 I thought maybe this is worse than I think. 1402 01:11:49,388 --> 01:11:51,432 Maybe this isn't so good. 1403 01:11:53,434 --> 01:11:55,060 So, because they removed my thyroid, 1404 01:11:55,144 --> 01:11:57,062 I had no thyroid hormone, 1405 01:11:57,146 --> 01:12:00,441 which meant that I had to be on thyroid medicine 1406 01:12:00,524 --> 01:12:02,276 for the rest of my life. 1407 01:12:02,359 --> 01:12:03,652 And I-- I did ask ‘em, 1408 01:12:03,736 --> 01:12:05,696 I said, “What would have happen if I just never 1409 01:12:05,779 --> 01:12:06,322 took this again?” 1410 01:12:06,405 --> 01:12:08,240 They go, “Well, you-- you die.” 1411 01:12:09,491 --> 01:12:10,868 And it did make me think, 1412 01:12:10,951 --> 01:12:13,620 “I've just gotta always be sure to have extra.” 1413 01:12:27,009 --> 01:12:31,096 NARRATOR:Interior, Desert Princess Hotel, Las Vegas, day. 1414 01:12:31,180 --> 01:12:32,848 Medium shot. 1415 01:12:32,931 --> 01:12:36,435 Howard Hughes is now a recluse in his Las Vegas hotel, 1416 01:12:36,518 --> 01:12:39,021 rarely venturing from his top floor suite. 1417 01:12:39,104 --> 01:12:41,273 He has become consumed by irrational fears 1418 01:12:41,356 --> 01:12:42,858 of germs and diseases. 1419 01:12:42,941 --> 01:12:45,360 He would only communicate through edicts and memos 1420 01:12:45,444 --> 01:12:46,987 to select employees. 1421 01:12:47,071 --> 01:12:50,699 Hughes by the 1970s had become an enigma, 1422 01:12:50,783 --> 01:12:52,826 surrounded in mystery. 1423 01:12:52,910 --> 01:12:53,786 Hughes read with horror 1424 01:12:53,869 --> 01:12:55,746 about the continued atomic testing 1425 01:12:55,829 --> 01:12:57,539 near his desert paradise, 1426 01:12:57,623 --> 01:12:59,208 and decided to do whatever it took 1427 01:12:59,291 --> 01:13:00,876 to stop the testing. 1428 01:13:00,959 --> 01:13:03,587 He sent his top aide, Robert Maheu, 1429 01:13:03,670 --> 01:13:05,714 to meet President Lyndon Johnson 1430 01:13:05,798 --> 01:13:08,801 and offer him $1 million after he left office 1431 01:13:08,884 --> 01:13:11,303 if he would stop the testing. 1432 01:13:15,641 --> 01:13:18,310 NARRATOR:The tests went off as planned. 1433 01:13:20,145 --> 01:13:22,856 Why was Hughes concerned about atomic testing 1434 01:13:22,940 --> 01:13:25,067 in the area 135 miles 1435 01:13:25,150 --> 01:13:27,486 from where he produced The Conqueror? 1436 01:13:31,448 --> 01:13:33,867 Before production began on The Conqueror, 1437 01:13:33,951 --> 01:13:35,953 RKO would have made some effort 1438 01:13:36,036 --> 01:13:38,330 to make sure that the area was safe. 1439 01:13:38,413 --> 01:13:39,706 So, RKO, Dick Powell, 1440 01:13:39,790 --> 01:13:42,292 would have had conversations with the government 1441 01:13:42,376 --> 01:13:44,545 about the nuclear testing program. 1442 01:13:44,628 --> 01:13:48,298 They knew of all this, because the location departments, 1443 01:13:48,382 --> 01:13:50,300 but they also had a weather department. 1444 01:13:50,384 --> 01:13:52,427 They had other departments relating to-- 1445 01:13:52,511 --> 01:13:54,763 to permitting from the United States government 1446 01:13:54,847 --> 01:13:56,557 for shooting on national parks. 1447 01:13:56,640 --> 01:13:59,768 So, when they were thinking of shooting in these areas 1448 01:13:59,852 --> 01:14:01,895 near where the Yucca Flats is. 1449 01:14:01,979 --> 01:14:03,772 Of course, they were told. 1450 01:14:03,856 --> 01:14:06,567 They all knew that the 1953 tests, 1451 01:14:06,650 --> 01:14:09,778 11 tests were done in Yucca Flats there. 1452 01:14:10,612 --> 01:14:17,202 The AEC consistently indicated that the conditions were safe. 1453 01:14:17,286 --> 01:14:22,708 They talked less about the fact that they had done studies 1454 01:14:22,791 --> 01:14:26,253 that indicated that the series in the spring 1455 01:14:26,336 --> 01:14:30,841 and summer of '53 had generated downwind levels of radiation 1456 01:14:30,924 --> 01:14:34,636 that exceeded their own existing standards 1457 01:14:34,720 --> 01:14:37,389 for what would be an appropriate level, uh, 1458 01:14:37,472 --> 01:14:39,558 of radiation exposure. 1459 01:14:40,475 --> 01:14:43,729 The government told people what they knew 1460 01:14:43,812 --> 01:14:45,606 they wanted to hear, 1461 01:14:45,689 --> 01:14:47,274 and what they wanted to tell them, 1462 01:14:47,357 --> 01:14:49,234 but they really didn't know for sure 1463 01:14:49,318 --> 01:14:52,112 what the long-term impacts were of these things. 1464 01:14:52,196 --> 01:14:54,239 NEVADA ATOMIC TESTS NARRATOR:There is no danger. 1465 01:14:54,907 --> 01:14:59,077 JAMES:The Conqueror was the last movie that Hughes produced. 1466 01:14:59,161 --> 01:15:03,665 And he ended up buying up all the prints 1467 01:15:03,749 --> 01:15:05,667 that were in circulation at the time 1468 01:15:05,751 --> 01:15:08,754 to the biggest movie he had ever made. 1469 01:15:08,837 --> 01:15:10,255 Why? 1470 01:15:10,881 --> 01:15:13,133 Some people question as to whether Howard Hughes 1471 01:15:13,217 --> 01:15:16,011 did that out of some feeling of guilt. 1472 01:15:17,179 --> 01:15:20,182 That he had somehow brought these people together in-- 1473 01:15:20,265 --> 01:15:21,767 in Utah to film The Conqueror, 1474 01:15:21,850 --> 01:15:24,853 and that he was somehow responsible for their deaths. 1475 01:15:26,688 --> 01:15:29,149 No one saw the movie for-- for 25 years. 1476 01:15:31,235 --> 01:15:33,862 He removed it from distribution. 1477 01:15:33,946 --> 01:15:37,366 And the fact that he was addicted 1478 01:15:37,449 --> 01:15:39,910 to watching The Conqueror again and again, 1479 01:15:39,993 --> 01:15:45,958 it was as if only he himself had the right to feast his eyes 1480 01:15:46,041 --> 01:15:50,420 on the splendor of its wild magnificence. 1481 01:16:03,892 --> 01:16:09,523 ♪ Well, you say you got the blues ♪ 1482 01:16:09,606 --> 01:16:12,943 ♪ You got holes in both holes of your shoes ♪ 1483 01:16:13,026 --> 01:16:14,236 ♪ Yeah ♪ 1484 01:16:14,319 --> 01:16:17,531 ♪ You’re feelin' alone and confused ♪ 1485 01:16:17,614 --> 01:16:19,992 ♪ You got to keep on smilin' ♪ 1486 01:16:20,075 --> 01:16:22,452 ♪ Just keep on smilin' ♪ 1487 01:16:22,536 --> 01:16:24,037 ♪ Yeah, you're... ♪ 1488 01:16:24,121 --> 01:16:28,292 ♪ You're about to go insane ♪ 1489 01:16:28,375 --> 01:16:32,963 ♪ ‘Cause your woman’s playing games, ♪ 1490 01:16:33,046 --> 01:16:36,258 ♪ And she says that you're to blame ♪ 1491 01:16:36,341 --> 01:16:38,677 ♪ You got to keep on smilin' ♪ 1492 01:16:38,760 --> 01:16:40,804 ♪ Just keep on smilin' ♪ 1493 01:16:40,887 --> 01:16:47,686 ♪ Keep on smilin' through the rain ♪ 1494 01:16:47,769 --> 01:16:52,065 ♪ Laughin' at the pain ♪ 1495 01:16:52,149 --> 01:16:56,320 ♪ Just rolling with the changes ♪ 1496 01:16:56,403 --> 01:16:59,531 ♪ Till the sun comes out again ♪ 1497 01:16:59,614 --> 01:17:06,705 ♪ Keep on smiling through the rain ♪ 1498 01:17:06,788 --> 01:17:10,709 ♪ Laughin' at the pain ♪ 1499 01:17:10,792 --> 01:17:15,422 ♪ Just rolling with the changes ♪ 1500 01:17:15,505 --> 01:17:18,008 ♪ And we’re singin' this refrain ♪ 1501 01:17:21,219 --> 01:17:24,139 NARRATOR:On the night of January, the 22nd, 1971, 1502 01:17:24,222 --> 01:17:27,893 Susan Hayward awoke to a fire and a smoke-filled apartment. 1503 01:17:27,976 --> 01:17:30,354 She had fallen asleep with a cigarette in her hand 1504 01:17:30,437 --> 01:17:32,522 and a vodka bottle nearby. 1505 01:17:32,606 --> 01:17:35,192 She barely escaped with her life. 1506 01:17:35,275 --> 01:17:36,943 Now absent from the big and small screen 1507 01:17:37,027 --> 01:17:38,403 for several years, 1508 01:17:38,487 --> 01:17:41,198 she underwent a hysterectomy to remove tumors 1509 01:17:41,281 --> 01:17:42,741 from her uterus. 1510 01:17:42,824 --> 01:17:44,826 And then more tumors were discovered 1511 01:17:44,910 --> 01:17:47,329 in her vocal cords and brain. 1512 01:17:47,412 --> 01:17:49,122 Too frail and ill to work, 1513 01:17:49,206 --> 01:17:52,292 Susan Hayward bravely made her last public appearance 1514 01:17:52,376 --> 01:17:54,920 at the 1974 Academy Awards. 1515 01:17:57,005 --> 01:18:01,176 Those nominated for the best performance by an actress. 1516 01:18:02,219 --> 01:18:04,930 I watched it and I found out later 1517 01:18:05,013 --> 01:18:08,892 that after she had made the presentation, uh, 1518 01:18:08,975 --> 01:18:12,646 she had a seizure backstage and had immediately had-- 1519 01:18:12,729 --> 01:18:14,648 had to go to the hospital. 1520 01:18:15,982 --> 01:18:17,984 I got a call from her accountant 1521 01:18:18,068 --> 01:18:19,277 and he had talked to my brother, 1522 01:18:19,361 --> 01:18:20,487 and then he called me and he said, 1523 01:18:20,570 --> 01:18:23,407 “Tim, uh, your mom's got a problem. 1524 01:18:23,490 --> 01:18:29,037 She's got about $60,000 worth of unpaid bills 1525 01:18:29,121 --> 01:18:31,456 sitting on her desk and she can't-- 1526 01:18:31,540 --> 01:18:34,876 She's no longer capable of-- of opening up her checkbook 1527 01:18:34,960 --> 01:18:36,294 and-- and writing checks.” 1528 01:18:36,378 --> 01:18:37,712 I said, “What is going on?” 1529 01:18:37,796 --> 01:18:38,505 And he said, 1530 01:18:38,588 --> 01:18:41,425 “Your mother's in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, 1531 01:18:41,508 --> 01:18:44,261 and they're giving her two weeks to live.” 1532 01:18:44,344 --> 01:18:47,013 She had, uh, adenocarcinoma, 1533 01:18:47,097 --> 01:18:50,225 uh, metastatic brain cancer with multiple tumors. 1534 01:18:50,308 --> 01:18:53,395 They were all over the place in-- in her brain. 1535 01:18:53,478 --> 01:18:57,149 I mean, that-- that just got dropped on me like a bombshell. 1536 01:18:57,232 --> 01:18:59,985 And uh, you know the next thing I know, 1537 01:19:00,068 --> 01:19:03,864 I'm-- I’m with my brother, uh, walking in-- 1538 01:19:03,947 --> 01:19:08,243 into this hospital room and my mother's in this bed 1539 01:19:08,326 --> 01:19:10,704 and she doesn't recognize either one of us. 1540 01:19:12,789 --> 01:19:16,960 She had an aneurysm of the aorta and it just blew up. 1541 01:19:17,043 --> 01:19:19,296 And her death was almost instantaneous. 1542 01:19:28,388 --> 01:19:29,764 I think this is probably the first time 1543 01:19:29,848 --> 01:19:32,559 I've ever really discussed at any-- 1544 01:19:32,642 --> 01:19:34,644 at any length and depth 1545 01:19:34,728 --> 01:19:36,980 about what my mother experienced. 1546 01:19:37,063 --> 01:19:41,109 I mean, her brain cancer was horrific. 1547 01:19:41,193 --> 01:19:43,236 It was absolutely horrific. 1548 01:19:53,455 --> 01:19:54,706 Mr. Shatner-- 1549 01:19:54,789 --> 01:19:57,083 Ranchers testified they have lost thousands of sheep in Utah 1550 01:19:57,167 --> 01:19:58,627 to radioactive fallout. 1551 01:19:58,710 --> 01:20:00,670 But they charged the Atomic Energy Commission 1552 01:20:00,754 --> 01:20:02,672 refused to admit it. 1553 01:20:02,756 --> 01:20:03,340 He said, 1554 01:20:03,423 --> 01:20:05,467 “Jack, the easiest thing we could do 1555 01:20:05,550 --> 01:20:07,844 would be to pay for these sheep. 1556 01:20:07,928 --> 01:20:11,848 But if we paid for 'em, every woman that got pregnant 1557 01:20:11,932 --> 01:20:14,184 and every woman that didn't would sue us.” 1558 01:20:15,060 --> 01:20:16,937 NARRATOR:Newly declassified documents and minutes 1559 01:20:17,020 --> 01:20:18,647 from the Atomic Energy Commission meetings 1560 01:20:18,730 --> 01:20:20,065 during the 1950s 1561 01:20:20,148 --> 01:20:22,817 warranted congressional hearings in 1979, 1562 01:20:22,901 --> 01:20:24,319 due to pressures from the citizens 1563 01:20:24,402 --> 01:20:25,779 of Southern Utah. 1564 01:20:26,738 --> 01:20:28,698 Chaired by Senator Edward Kennedy, 1565 01:20:28,782 --> 01:20:30,450 the hearing exposed a government 1566 01:20:30,534 --> 01:20:31,952 that was indifferent and callous 1567 01:20:32,035 --> 01:20:34,538 towards its own citizens. 1568 01:20:34,621 --> 01:20:36,373 Documents show that the US government 1569 01:20:36,456 --> 01:20:39,751 covered up the known dangers of fallout path of atomic bombs. 1570 01:20:41,461 --> 01:20:45,840 If you read the minutes of The Atomic Energy Commission, 1571 01:20:45,924 --> 01:20:50,095 from the very beginning, they knew it wasn't safe. 1572 01:20:50,178 --> 01:20:51,429 And they would have arguments. 1573 01:20:51,513 --> 01:20:54,432 I mean those minutes read like high drama. 1574 01:20:54,516 --> 01:20:57,102 There would be a commissioner who said, “Sheep are dying, 1575 01:20:57,185 --> 01:20:58,603 people are starting to get sick”, 1576 01:20:58,687 --> 01:21:02,983 and there was one commissioner, who just shouted at him. 1577 01:21:03,066 --> 01:21:05,986 “People have got to live with the facts of life.” 1578 01:21:06,069 --> 01:21:09,906 And parts of the facts of life are fallout. 1579 01:21:09,990 --> 01:21:10,991 Commissioner Murray, 1580 01:21:11,074 --> 01:21:13,743 we must not let anything interfere 1581 01:21:13,827 --> 01:21:16,037 with this series of tests. 1582 01:21:16,121 --> 01:21:17,581 - Nothing. - “Nothing.” 1583 01:21:29,467 --> 01:21:31,052 I thought she was dead. 1584 01:21:32,971 --> 01:21:34,139 Not hardly. 1585 01:21:34,681 --> 01:21:36,808 NARRATOR:For his final film The Shootist, 1586 01:21:36,891 --> 01:21:39,269 Wayne portrayed a man dying of cancer. 1587 01:21:39,352 --> 01:21:41,146 He comes home to settle scores. 1588 01:21:42,939 --> 01:21:45,650 Shooting took place in Carson City, Nevada, 1589 01:21:45,734 --> 01:21:48,153 which was at the opposite end of the testing site 1590 01:21:48,236 --> 01:21:50,697 where the wind blew towards St. George, Utah. 1591 01:21:50,780 --> 01:21:52,032 And where he filmed The Conqueror 1592 01:21:52,115 --> 01:21:53,867 20 years earlier. 1593 01:21:54,200 --> 01:21:56,536 The story is about an aging gunman 1594 01:21:56,620 --> 01:21:58,913 who's trying to hole up 1595 01:21:58,997 --> 01:22:02,292 and die quietly from a particularly vicious cancer. 1596 01:22:02,375 --> 01:22:04,210 You have a cancer. 1597 01:22:04,294 --> 01:22:05,503 Advanced. 1598 01:22:05,587 --> 01:22:06,838 How much time do I have? 1599 01:22:06,921 --> 01:22:07,922 Two months. 1600 01:22:08,006 --> 01:22:09,132 Six weeks. 1601 01:22:09,215 --> 01:22:10,467 There's no way to tell. 1602 01:22:10,550 --> 01:22:13,511 The character, in trying to do the right thing, 1603 01:22:13,595 --> 01:22:16,681 decided if he gets killed, it's not such a bad thing. 1604 01:22:16,765 --> 01:22:18,683 Going out in a blaze of glory 1605 01:22:18,767 --> 01:22:20,727 is better than going out with cancer. 1606 01:22:20,810 --> 01:22:24,773 And I'm-- I’m pretty darn sure that that's correct. 1607 01:22:24,856 --> 01:22:25,649 That that is the way 1608 01:22:25,732 --> 01:22:29,069 John Wayne would have enjoyed going out. 1609 01:22:29,152 --> 01:22:33,948 I would not die at death like I just described. 1610 01:22:34,032 --> 01:22:35,617 Not if I had your courage. 1611 01:22:36,785 --> 01:22:39,162 It's the finest performance he ever gave as an actor. 1612 01:22:39,245 --> 01:22:40,538 He's a human being. 1613 01:22:40,622 --> 01:22:42,248 He's not a cardboard cutout. 1614 01:22:42,332 --> 01:22:44,709 Uh, it was a hard film for me to look at for a long time, 1615 01:22:44,793 --> 01:22:46,836 because it was so close to reality, 1616 01:22:46,920 --> 01:22:49,214 but um, he does a great job. 1617 01:22:50,131 --> 01:22:53,218 Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. John Wayne. 1618 01:22:55,595 --> 01:22:56,721 That was rough, yeah. 1619 01:22:56,805 --> 01:22:58,431 He had um, lost a lot of weight 1620 01:22:58,515 --> 01:22:59,849 and was in pretty bad shape. 1621 01:22:59,933 --> 01:23:03,478 He had a tuxedo, but he had another suit, 1622 01:23:03,561 --> 01:23:05,814 one of his other suits underneath the tuxedo, 1623 01:23:05,897 --> 01:23:07,982 so that-- so it wouldn't hang on him. 1624 01:23:08,066 --> 01:23:09,943 He actually wore a complete other suit of clothes 1625 01:23:10,026 --> 01:23:11,861 underneath it. 1626 01:23:11,945 --> 01:23:13,697 Pretty-- pretty remarkable. 1627 01:23:15,824 --> 01:23:17,951 I was in uh, Westwood. 1628 01:23:18,034 --> 01:23:19,077 It was the same day 1629 01:23:19,160 --> 01:23:21,079 that he had to go into the hospital, 1630 01:23:21,162 --> 01:23:23,164 UCLA Medical Center. 1631 01:23:23,248 --> 01:23:24,249 I saw him on the street. 1632 01:23:24,332 --> 01:23:27,043 And I walked up to him and I introduced myself. 1633 01:23:27,127 --> 01:23:27,877 And I said, 1634 01:23:27,961 --> 01:23:29,212 “That you won't-- probably won't remember this, 1635 01:23:29,295 --> 01:23:31,923 but you gave me a picture of yourself 1636 01:23:32,006 --> 01:23:34,384 and signed it, you know, ‘Put beef steak on your eye.’” 1637 01:23:34,467 --> 01:23:35,343 And he goes, 1638 01:23:35,427 --> 01:23:37,345 “You're-- you’re one of Susan's boys, aren't you?” 1639 01:23:37,429 --> 01:23:38,638 I said, “Yeah.” 1640 01:23:38,722 --> 01:23:39,973 And so we-- we chatted, 1641 01:23:40,056 --> 01:23:41,599 you know, for a while on the street. 1642 01:23:41,683 --> 01:23:42,350 And he said, 1643 01:23:42,434 --> 01:23:44,144 “I've gotta go into the hospital today.” 1644 01:23:44,227 --> 01:23:46,354 This was after my mother had passed away. 1645 01:23:46,438 --> 01:23:47,772 And uh, I said, 1646 01:23:47,856 --> 01:23:50,066 “You know, best of luck to you, Mr. Wayne.” 1647 01:23:50,150 --> 01:23:52,235 And then that was it. 1648 01:23:52,318 --> 01:23:58,283 Cancer returned unfortunately to John Wayne's life in 1979 1649 01:23:58,366 --> 01:24:01,494 and he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. 1650 01:24:01,578 --> 01:24:03,496 By the time they figured out what he had, 1651 01:24:03,580 --> 01:24:06,416 it was really pretty far gone. 1652 01:24:06,499 --> 01:24:09,961 And he was in the hospital for six weeks. 1653 01:24:10,045 --> 01:24:12,797 And he was slowly dying. 1654 01:24:12,881 --> 01:24:13,923 He was dying, 1655 01:24:14,007 --> 01:24:16,342 but you would never know that from this man. 1656 01:24:16,426 --> 01:24:17,886 He had bedsores the size of my palm 1657 01:24:17,969 --> 01:24:19,095 that just ate right through his skin, 1658 01:24:19,179 --> 01:24:20,221 separating flesh. 1659 01:24:20,305 --> 01:24:21,681 You couldn't-- couldn't heal it. 1660 01:24:21,765 --> 01:24:22,974 He was just in total pain. 1661 01:24:23,057 --> 01:24:25,977 And never complained about any of this stuff. 1662 01:24:26,060 --> 01:24:28,188 But he keep-- keep going on, you know. 1663 01:24:28,271 --> 01:24:29,397 And my brothers and sisters and I thought, 1664 01:24:29,481 --> 01:24:32,025 “You know, this guy is uh, bulletproof.” 1665 01:24:32,108 --> 01:24:34,110 He just willed himself to wake up 1666 01:24:34,194 --> 01:24:35,904 and say goodbye to his kids. 1667 01:24:35,987 --> 01:24:39,491 And then-- and then he um, he left. 1668 01:24:39,574 --> 01:24:40,617 He went. 1669 01:24:40,700 --> 01:24:46,247 ♪ Flied away ♪ 1670 01:24:47,665 --> 01:24:59,761 ♪ Flied away ♪ 1671 01:25:14,776 --> 01:25:16,569 I was assigned by People Magazine 1672 01:25:16,653 --> 01:25:19,197 to photograph Irma Thomas, 1673 01:25:19,280 --> 01:25:22,826 because of the leukemia rate in St. George, Utah. 1674 01:25:22,909 --> 01:25:26,204 Irma was extremely committed to her vision 1675 01:25:26,287 --> 01:25:29,707 and to explain to the world what this-- 1676 01:25:29,791 --> 01:25:31,292 what had happened in St. George. 1677 01:25:31,376 --> 01:25:33,127 Because no one was listening to her, 1678 01:25:33,211 --> 01:25:34,504 and then in the middle of that, 1679 01:25:34,587 --> 01:25:38,800 she told me this great story about how John Wayne had-- 1680 01:25:38,883 --> 01:25:40,760 had made this movie called “The Conqueror” 1681 01:25:40,844 --> 01:25:42,637 in St. George. 1682 01:25:42,720 --> 01:25:45,139 I had a very good friend, Michael Wayne, 1683 01:25:45,223 --> 01:25:46,933 John Wayne's oldest son. 1684 01:25:47,016 --> 01:25:47,851 And I thought, 1685 01:25:47,934 --> 01:25:51,020 “This is something I should talk to Michael about.” 1686 01:25:51,104 --> 01:25:52,856 And so I called Michael, and I said, 1687 01:25:52,939 --> 01:25:54,732 “Did you make a movie called‘The Conqueror’, 1688 01:25:54,816 --> 01:25:55,733 Howard Hughes' movie?” 1689 01:25:55,817 --> 01:25:56,734 He said, “Yeah. 1690 01:25:56,818 --> 01:26:00,363 In fact, I got sick on the set and Patrick was there.” 1691 01:26:00,446 --> 01:26:03,783 And I went, “This is an amazing story.” 1692 01:26:03,867 --> 01:26:06,494 He really at that point was very excited about it. 1693 01:26:06,578 --> 01:26:08,538 Didn't think much of the movie. 1694 01:26:08,621 --> 01:26:09,414 He couldn't quite figure out 1695 01:26:09,497 --> 01:26:11,583 why did dad was playing a Mongolian. 1696 01:26:11,666 --> 01:26:14,043 Michael gave me all the daily notes 1697 01:26:14,127 --> 01:26:18,006 that you have on the show and the crew list. 1698 01:26:18,089 --> 01:26:20,967 And so we started investigating that crew list. 1699 01:26:21,050 --> 01:26:25,263 We systematically went down from the director of photography 1700 01:26:25,346 --> 01:26:27,098 to the different departments 1701 01:26:27,181 --> 01:26:29,517 and we went one by one, you know, 1702 01:26:29,601 --> 01:26:32,770 to see who had contracted cancer at this point. 1703 01:26:32,854 --> 01:26:34,647 And it basically hit me like a ton of bricks. 1704 01:26:35,815 --> 01:26:38,109 We had to really get more information 1705 01:26:38,192 --> 01:26:39,819 and that's why we went to Washington, 1706 01:26:39,903 --> 01:26:41,613 you know, to see what we could get. 1707 01:26:41,696 --> 01:26:45,033 And the Atomic Energy Commission didn't wanna talk to us. 1708 01:26:45,116 --> 01:26:47,076 They just slammed the door in our face. 1709 01:26:47,160 --> 01:26:51,205 It was a cover-up and we had hit a brick wall. 1710 01:26:51,289 --> 01:26:54,876 My partner on-- on the story was Karen Jackovich 1711 01:26:54,959 --> 01:26:56,628 and we decided that, 1712 01:26:56,711 --> 01:26:59,172 we should go to the Freedom of Information Act 1713 01:26:59,255 --> 01:27:01,007 and they cooperated a little bit, 1714 01:27:01,090 --> 01:27:03,593 so we figured we had enough information 1715 01:27:03,676 --> 01:27:05,136 to go to bed with it. 1716 01:27:06,220 --> 01:27:08,514 NARRATOR:A few months after Wayne's death, 1717 01:27:08,598 --> 01:27:11,184 a People Magazine article linked the deaths of the cast 1718 01:27:11,267 --> 01:27:12,477 and crew of The Conqueror 1719 01:27:12,560 --> 01:27:14,771 to the atomic tests and the radiation 1720 01:27:14,854 --> 01:27:16,981 that envelops St. George. 1721 01:27:18,441 --> 01:27:21,194 There was a general awareness by everyone, 1722 01:27:21,277 --> 01:27:24,155 that it may have been more than just, you know uh, 1723 01:27:24,238 --> 01:27:26,366 coincidence that uh, 1724 01:27:26,449 --> 01:27:29,202 all of our uh, parents, our relatives, 1725 01:27:29,285 --> 01:27:32,413 uh, had come down with cancer. 1726 01:27:32,497 --> 01:27:34,540 I mean the numbers are-- are pretty high. 1727 01:27:34,624 --> 01:27:37,126 What were the implications of this fallout? 1728 01:27:37,210 --> 01:27:39,629 A reasonable-thinking person would have 1729 01:27:39,712 --> 01:27:43,174 to assume that it had some effect on what happens 1730 01:27:43,257 --> 01:27:45,635 to these people's lives. 1731 01:27:45,718 --> 01:27:47,512 Including your father? 1732 01:27:47,595 --> 01:27:50,014 Well, yeah, my father was there, sure. 1733 01:27:50,098 --> 01:27:53,810 The People Magazine article that came out was huge. 1734 01:27:53,893 --> 01:27:55,353 And I always loved the line in there, 1735 01:27:55,436 --> 01:27:56,312 the official who said, 1736 01:27:56,396 --> 01:27:59,232 “Oh my God, I hope we didn't John Wayne.” 1737 01:27:59,315 --> 01:28:01,526 You know, they didn't care about all the other people 1738 01:28:01,609 --> 01:28:03,403 who had been killed all those years before, 1739 01:28:03,486 --> 01:28:06,864 but they didn't want it to have been John Wayne. 1740 01:28:06,948 --> 01:28:12,120 It was the first time I'd ever heard that our cancer 1741 01:28:12,203 --> 01:28:16,040 and John Wayne's cancer might be tied together. 1742 01:28:16,124 --> 01:28:19,335 I remember we were in this pitch Cold War, 1743 01:28:19,419 --> 01:28:22,380 so uranium was at a-- a premium, you know, 1744 01:28:22,463 --> 01:28:24,632 and everybody was you know, “We're gonna get rich.” 1745 01:28:24,716 --> 01:28:26,509 And we had Geiger counters on the set 1746 01:28:26,592 --> 01:28:29,262 and we turned these Geiger counters on, 1747 01:28:29,345 --> 01:28:30,680 and they would rattle like, 1748 01:28:30,763 --> 01:28:33,016 we're standing on a uranium deposit. 1749 01:28:33,099 --> 01:28:34,017 And we were so excited. 1750 01:28:34,100 --> 01:28:36,394 We thought we're gonna find the richest uranium 1751 01:28:36,477 --> 01:28:37,812 or whatever it be. 1752 01:28:37,895 --> 01:28:38,771 We come to find out later 1753 01:28:38,855 --> 01:28:42,233 that that was fallout from tests that were going on up north. 1754 01:28:42,317 --> 01:28:44,068 And the wind would blow all of this, uh, 1755 01:28:44,152 --> 01:28:45,987 radioactive fallout down here. 1756 01:28:46,070 --> 01:28:48,531 I was glad that they-- 1757 01:28:48,614 --> 01:28:51,492 and grateful that they had tied that together. 1758 01:28:51,576 --> 01:28:53,494 Because that catapulted us 1759 01:28:53,578 --> 01:28:56,456 into more of a national spotlight. 1760 01:28:56,539 --> 01:28:58,416 The story seemed to hit a nerve 1761 01:28:58,499 --> 01:29:00,752 within the media that, you know, 1762 01:29:00,835 --> 01:29:02,754 “Did America kill John Wayne?” 1763 01:29:02,837 --> 01:29:06,883 If it took John Wayne to get things rolling 1764 01:29:06,966 --> 01:29:10,303 and noticed, then I'll be it. 1765 01:29:10,386 --> 01:29:14,974 We'd all flown up to um, Utah to uh, 1766 01:29:15,058 --> 01:29:17,060 scout a location for the film. 1767 01:29:17,143 --> 01:29:20,146 And nobody ever told anybody that, 1768 01:29:20,229 --> 01:29:22,023 there was any radiation up there. 1769 01:29:22,106 --> 01:29:24,776 Or that anything had been tested. 1770 01:29:24,859 --> 01:29:30,281 And so, um, they-- we spent months in that area, 1771 01:29:30,364 --> 01:29:33,117 and there were dust storms. 1772 01:29:33,201 --> 01:29:35,995 Horrible dust storms and we had to wear masks 1773 01:29:36,079 --> 01:29:37,830 a good lot of the time. 1774 01:29:37,914 --> 01:29:38,831 Yeah. 1775 01:29:38,915 --> 01:29:41,667 And a lot of the crew, as you said, 1776 01:29:41,751 --> 01:29:43,252 - have died of cancer. -Mm-hmm. 1777 01:29:43,336 --> 01:29:44,670 And a lot of the stars in the film. 1778 01:29:44,754 --> 01:29:45,755 You’re expectation’s a lot people? 1779 01:29:45,838 --> 01:29:46,297 Yes. 1780 01:29:46,380 --> 01:29:49,384 Now, this is just horrifying. 1781 01:29:49,467 --> 01:29:51,427 Well, did John Wayne really die, 1782 01:29:51,511 --> 01:29:53,721 because of the excessive exposure 1783 01:29:53,805 --> 01:29:57,391 to radioactive fallout while on location? 1784 01:29:57,475 --> 01:30:00,019 When he was uh, very well known 1785 01:30:00,103 --> 01:30:04,941 even at that time to be a very heavy smoker, 1786 01:30:05,024 --> 01:30:09,195 as were some of the other cast and crew members. 1787 01:30:09,278 --> 01:30:11,114 How does one determine that? 1788 01:30:11,948 --> 01:30:14,659 NARRATOR:Five years before he died, John Wayne gave an interview 1789 01:30:14,742 --> 01:30:16,828 to biographer, Michael Munn, 1790 01:30:16,911 --> 01:30:18,037 where he discussed the connection 1791 01:30:18,121 --> 01:30:20,498 between The Conquerorand cancer. 1792 01:30:20,581 --> 01:30:24,252 True to his patriotic roots, he denied a connection. 1793 01:30:24,335 --> 01:30:26,921 “All I can tell you is that I smoked, 1794 01:30:27,004 --> 01:30:28,339 so did Dick Powell, 1795 01:30:28,422 --> 01:30:29,966 so did Susan Hayward, 1796 01:30:30,049 --> 01:30:31,467 so did Pedro. 1797 01:30:31,551 --> 01:30:33,427 And I guess you can say that in those days, 1798 01:30:33,511 --> 01:30:36,180 at least 50% of the population smoked. 1799 01:30:38,099 --> 01:30:39,809 As for developing nuclear weapons, 1800 01:30:39,892 --> 01:30:41,102 we had to. 1801 01:30:41,185 --> 01:30:43,729 Russia had developed its own atom bomb 1802 01:30:43,813 --> 01:30:45,231 and when Stalin was alive, 1803 01:30:45,314 --> 01:30:47,608 he was mad enough to threaten the world. 1804 01:30:49,068 --> 01:30:50,653 As for The Conqueror, 1805 01:30:50,736 --> 01:30:53,781 the lesson of that film is don't make an ass of yourself 1806 01:30:53,865 --> 01:30:56,451 trying to play a part that you aren't suited for.” 1807 01:31:01,289 --> 01:31:02,248 In recent years, 1808 01:31:02,331 --> 01:31:05,460 there has been growing concern that cases of cancer occurring 1809 01:31:05,543 --> 01:31:07,128 in the state of Utah, 1810 01:31:07,211 --> 01:31:08,963 may be related to the nuclear tests 1811 01:31:09,046 --> 01:31:12,592 in the neighboring state of Nevada in the ‘50s and ‘60s. 1812 01:31:12,675 --> 01:31:14,552 Today, a major scientific attempt 1813 01:31:14,635 --> 01:31:17,513 to study the possible cause and effect relationship 1814 01:31:17,597 --> 01:31:20,057 is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. 1815 01:31:20,141 --> 01:31:22,685 The study finds that the leukemia rate for children 1816 01:31:22,768 --> 01:31:25,438 living in areas which received heavy fallout 1817 01:31:25,521 --> 01:31:26,814 was two in one half times 1818 01:31:26,898 --> 01:31:29,192 the rate for children not exposed. 1819 01:31:29,275 --> 01:31:32,945 Dr. Lyon, you are 80% convinced based on your study, 1820 01:31:33,029 --> 01:31:34,488 that there is a link between leukemia 1821 01:31:34,572 --> 01:31:36,115 and the children, and the atomic test. 1822 01:31:36,199 --> 01:31:38,201 Is that correct, sir? 1823 01:31:38,284 --> 01:31:40,912 I'd say that's a correct statement. 1824 01:31:40,995 --> 01:31:43,873 What keeps you from being 100% sure? 1825 01:31:43,956 --> 01:31:46,292 The nature of epidemiologic research 1826 01:31:46,375 --> 01:31:48,377 which makes it hard for us, 1827 01:31:48,461 --> 01:31:49,587 particularly in a case like this, 1828 01:31:49,670 --> 01:31:50,463 where we would-- 1829 01:31:50,546 --> 01:31:53,507 did not have precise follow-up of all the individuals 1830 01:31:53,591 --> 01:31:56,260 in the study, uh, to know whether this-- 1831 01:31:56,344 --> 01:31:57,553 this occurred, 1832 01:31:57,637 --> 01:32:00,765 because of the radiation or was some other chance factor. 1833 01:32:00,848 --> 01:32:04,518 Did not study any possible link involving adults? 1834 01:32:04,602 --> 01:32:05,603 Is that correct? 1835 01:32:05,686 --> 01:32:06,270 That's correct. 1836 01:32:06,354 --> 01:32:07,104 And we didn't do that, 1837 01:32:07,188 --> 01:32:09,649 because we simply don't have a group of people, 1838 01:32:09,732 --> 01:32:12,443 uh, of adults in the state of Utah, who are not exposed. 1839 01:32:13,402 --> 01:32:15,321 A lot of times we forget 1840 01:32:15,404 --> 01:32:18,908 that every girl is born with every egg 1841 01:32:18,991 --> 01:32:21,285 she's ever gonna have. 1842 01:32:21,369 --> 01:32:24,288 A radiation exposure to a woman who is pregnant 1843 01:32:24,372 --> 01:32:27,833 has the potential to impact the woman 1844 01:32:27,917 --> 01:32:29,794 who is pregnant, 1845 01:32:29,877 --> 01:32:33,005 her fetus or embryo, 1846 01:32:33,089 --> 01:32:37,176 and if it's a fetus with fully-formed ovaries 1847 01:32:37,260 --> 01:32:42,098 then the ova that will become that woman's grandchildren. 1848 01:32:45,142 --> 01:32:48,437 Our youngest child, Bethany, was just 1849 01:32:48,521 --> 01:32:51,148 a beautiful, delightful child. 1850 01:32:51,232 --> 01:32:53,567 The minute she was born, 1851 01:32:53,651 --> 01:32:57,196 I just couldn't get enough of this child. 1852 01:32:57,280 --> 01:33:02,785 I loved everything about her. 1853 01:33:02,868 --> 01:33:10,376 Bethany started to complain that her legs hurt 1854 01:33:10,459 --> 01:33:13,754 and she didn't wanna play. 1855 01:33:13,838 --> 01:33:17,758 She was lethargic and the doctor said to me, 1856 01:33:17,842 --> 01:33:21,762 “I can promise you nothing's wrong with this child. 1857 01:33:21,846 --> 01:33:23,889 She's just constipated.” 1858 01:33:23,973 --> 01:33:25,224 And so, I just-- 1859 01:33:25,308 --> 01:33:28,769 My mom and I just packed her up in the middle of the night, 1860 01:33:28,853 --> 01:33:31,230 and took her to the ER, 1861 01:33:31,314 --> 01:33:33,274 and they started to do some tests. 1862 01:33:33,357 --> 01:33:37,069 And I was down in the library 1863 01:33:37,153 --> 01:33:39,864 and they called me back to her room. 1864 01:33:41,032 --> 01:33:44,785 And when I hit the end of the floor, 1865 01:33:44,869 --> 01:33:49,874 I could see these doctors lined up outside of her room 1866 01:33:49,957 --> 01:33:54,920 and it was just like I was being sucked down a hollow. 1867 01:33:55,004 --> 01:33:58,799 There were just lined up to talk to me. 1868 01:33:58,883 --> 01:34:02,261 And I just up curled up on-- on her bed, 1869 01:34:02,345 --> 01:34:06,015 ‘cause she wasn't back yet, and put a pillow over my head, 1870 01:34:06,098 --> 01:34:08,017 and I just said, “I don't-- I-- I can't. 1871 01:34:08,100 --> 01:34:10,186 I don't wanna hear it, I don't wanna hear it.” 1872 01:34:11,979 --> 01:34:16,400 She had neuroblastoma stage four. 1873 01:34:16,484 --> 01:34:19,487 I was devastated, 1874 01:34:19,570 --> 01:34:22,573 ‘cause I knew it meant that she would die. 1875 01:34:26,535 --> 01:34:30,164 She had a tumor the size of an orange 1876 01:34:30,247 --> 01:34:35,419 in her little tiny tummy and a nine-hour surgery, 1877 01:34:35,503 --> 01:34:40,257 and seven hours of radiation, and was off-treatment 1878 01:34:40,341 --> 01:34:43,427 making medical history. 1879 01:34:43,511 --> 01:34:46,263 And she was gonna get to go back to school. 1880 01:34:48,432 --> 01:34:53,687 And then she got sick again. 1881 01:34:55,439 --> 01:34:57,525 We went to Salt Lake 1882 01:34:57,608 --> 01:35:03,406 and found out she had acute monoblastic leukemia. 1883 01:35:03,489 --> 01:35:06,033 But at the same time, my sister was really sick. 1884 01:35:06,117 --> 01:35:09,662 She had melanoma that had spread everywhere. 1885 01:35:09,745 --> 01:35:11,789 And so Bethany and I went to the hospital 1886 01:35:11,872 --> 01:35:15,501 and said goodbye to Cathy, and we went to Salt Lake 1887 01:35:15,584 --> 01:35:17,962 and they wanted to start chemo. 1888 01:35:18,045 --> 01:35:19,046 And I said, 1889 01:35:19,130 --> 01:35:23,926 “Well, we need to go home first and then we'll come back.” 1890 01:35:24,009 --> 01:35:25,719 Got home about 2:00 in the morning, 1891 01:35:25,803 --> 01:35:28,180 and the hospital called about five minutes 1892 01:35:28,264 --> 01:35:31,767 after I got home and said, Cathy was in a coma. 1893 01:35:34,937 --> 01:35:38,649 So, I went to the hospital 1894 01:35:38,732 --> 01:35:40,609 and I just crawled on the bed with Cathy, 1895 01:35:40,693 --> 01:35:41,318 and I just said, 1896 01:35:41,402 --> 01:35:44,780 “Right, you're just gonna have to come 1897 01:35:44,864 --> 01:35:46,699 and take Bethany with you, 1898 01:35:46,782 --> 01:35:50,703 because I just can't let her go by herself. 1899 01:35:51,620 --> 01:35:54,081 You're gonna have to be there with her.” 1900 01:35:56,709 --> 01:35:58,794 Cathy died. 1901 01:36:01,130 --> 01:36:03,757 Without ever even making a move. 1902 01:36:05,718 --> 01:36:11,765 Bethany spent a month on chemotherapy 1903 01:36:11,849 --> 01:36:15,519 and she died a month later. 1904 01:36:15,603 --> 01:36:18,522 She was 6. 1905 01:36:18,606 --> 01:36:21,859 The night before she died, she said to me, 1906 01:36:21,942 --> 01:36:28,908 “Oh mom, there's Aunt Cathy dancing on the table.” 1907 01:36:28,991 --> 01:36:32,286 So, I knew Cathy had come to take her. 1908 01:36:41,504 --> 01:36:46,217 I was secretary to Mayor James G. Larkin. 1909 01:36:46,300 --> 01:36:47,968 In 1978, 1910 01:36:48,052 --> 01:36:53,807 the Atomic Energy Commission invited the mayor of St. George 1911 01:36:53,891 --> 01:36:58,395 to bring a bus full of people to the Nevada test site. 1912 01:36:58,479 --> 01:37:01,815 I had the opportunity to go out there. 1913 01:37:01,899 --> 01:37:04,860 An arts magazine I was freelancing for 1914 01:37:04,944 --> 01:37:05,736 called me and said, 1915 01:37:05,819 --> 01:37:08,322 “There's a photojournalist coming to town 1916 01:37:08,405 --> 01:37:09,907 who's been photographing 1917 01:37:09,990 --> 01:37:12,326 and taking histories of downwinders. 1918 01:37:12,409 --> 01:37:14,119 And we want you to do a piece.” 1919 01:37:14,203 --> 01:37:18,707 So, I spent time with her and she would tell-- 1920 01:37:18,791 --> 01:37:21,168 She started telling me about all the diseases 1921 01:37:21,252 --> 01:37:23,546 that were caused by fallout exposure. 1922 01:37:23,629 --> 01:37:27,675 And she ticked them off and she got to thyroid cancer. 1923 01:37:27,758 --> 01:37:31,637 And I just stopped and said, “Oh, I had thyroid cancer.” 1924 01:37:31,720 --> 01:37:35,015 Redbook Magazine had-- had done an article 1925 01:37:35,099 --> 01:37:39,937 while Bethany was um, on treatment. 1926 01:37:40,020 --> 01:37:42,606 And I was invited 1927 01:37:42,690 --> 01:37:46,527 to the first radiation victims conference in New York. 1928 01:37:46,610 --> 01:37:51,323 I had no clue that these things were going on. 1929 01:37:51,407 --> 01:37:52,908 We stayed one night. 1930 01:37:52,992 --> 01:37:56,537 They put us up at a very nice hotel 1931 01:37:56,620 --> 01:38:01,166 and that night they fed us steak and lobster. 1932 01:38:01,250 --> 01:38:01,834 Then I thought, 1933 01:38:01,917 --> 01:38:03,252 “Well, why would they feed us that? 1934 01:38:03,335 --> 01:38:05,254 They could have given us hot dogs and hamburgers 1935 01:38:05,337 --> 01:38:06,839 and we would've been fine.” 1936 01:38:06,922 --> 01:38:08,215 That's when she started questioning me. 1937 01:38:08,299 --> 01:38:09,466 She's like, “Well, when?” 1938 01:38:09,550 --> 01:38:11,677 And I told her. “Well, where'd you grow up?” 1939 01:38:11,760 --> 01:38:12,595 I said, “Salt Lake.” 1940 01:38:12,678 --> 01:38:13,596 “Did you drink milk?” 1941 01:38:13,679 --> 01:38:14,346 I said, “Oh yeah, 1942 01:38:14,430 --> 01:38:17,099 and sometimes we'd go to my grandfather's 1943 01:38:17,182 --> 01:38:18,601 and we'd drink it straight from the cow.” 1944 01:38:18,684 --> 01:38:19,727 And she just kind of stopped. 1945 01:38:19,810 --> 01:38:23,230 And she said, “I wanna interview you. 1946 01:38:23,314 --> 01:38:25,482 You got thyroid cancer from testing.” 1947 01:38:25,899 --> 01:38:28,319 When we got out to the test site, 1948 01:38:28,402 --> 01:38:30,154 it was barren desert. 1949 01:38:30,237 --> 01:38:33,574 But there were many, many huge craters. 1950 01:38:33,657 --> 01:38:37,870 Way bigger than I had ever imagined. 1951 01:38:37,953 --> 01:38:40,623 But the whole time, they were convincing us 1952 01:38:40,706 --> 01:38:42,875 about how important the work was out there, 1953 01:38:42,958 --> 01:38:45,711 how safe it was, how good it was. 1954 01:38:45,794 --> 01:38:48,631 And I look back at it now and it was just a PR program, 1955 01:38:48,714 --> 01:38:50,299 where just they tried to shut us up. 1956 01:38:50,382 --> 01:38:51,300 “No, no, no, no. 1957 01:38:51,383 --> 01:38:54,428 I grew up in Salt Lake, not Southern Utah.” 1958 01:38:54,511 --> 01:38:56,680 And she said, “You people are so naive. 1959 01:38:56,764 --> 01:38:59,433 You think it stopped at borders of counties 1960 01:38:59,516 --> 01:39:00,768 and states.” 1961 01:39:00,851 --> 01:39:04,313 And that's when she showed me the map by Richard Miller 1962 01:39:04,396 --> 01:39:06,940 of everywhere that fallout had gone. 1963 01:39:07,024 --> 01:39:10,110 And it was like being punched in the gut. 1964 01:39:10,194 --> 01:39:12,738 And I thought, “Oh my God. 1965 01:39:12,821 --> 01:39:15,115 I'm-- I'm one of them. 1966 01:39:15,199 --> 01:39:16,492 I'm a downwinder.” 1967 01:39:16,575 --> 01:39:20,788 One of our congressman, Jim Hansen, 1968 01:39:20,871 --> 01:39:23,624 when I sat down and talked to him, 1969 01:39:23,707 --> 01:39:27,378 he had the audacity to say to me, 1970 01:39:27,461 --> 01:39:32,383 “Sometimes small sacrifices have to be made.” 1971 01:39:32,466 --> 01:39:36,845 And he knew the minute he'd said it what he'd said. 1972 01:39:36,929 --> 01:39:38,555 And I'm going, “The sac-- 1973 01:39:38,639 --> 01:39:42,267 the small sacrifice you're asking is my daughter. 1974 01:39:42,351 --> 01:39:45,646 And it wasn't your sacrifice to make.” 1975 01:39:46,063 --> 01:39:49,358 All of the people in St. George that were leaders, 1976 01:39:49,441 --> 01:39:52,069 they all knew that we were gonna go out there 1977 01:39:52,152 --> 01:39:53,987 and be wined and dined, 1978 01:39:54,071 --> 01:40:00,369 and fed a bunch of garbage to try to get us to be quiet. 1979 01:40:00,452 --> 01:40:01,704 And it did the opposite. 1980 01:40:01,787 --> 01:40:05,082 I am going to shout it from the rooftops. 1981 01:40:05,165 --> 01:40:09,378 I'm not going to be silent anymore. 1982 01:40:10,337 --> 01:40:14,717 Then we got organized. 1983 01:40:14,800 --> 01:40:16,802 You and your family must take cover. 1984 01:40:25,394 --> 01:40:27,438 Mr. Udall, what is the basis of the claims 1985 01:40:27,521 --> 01:40:28,856 your clients are making? 1986 01:40:28,939 --> 01:40:31,650 Uh, their claims are based on the fact that they were 1987 01:40:31,734 --> 01:40:32,735 US citizens. 1988 01:40:35,404 --> 01:40:37,114 Who were not warned 1989 01:40:37,197 --> 01:40:38,949 about what the government was doing. 1990 01:40:39,032 --> 01:40:40,659 And that it was dangerous to them 1991 01:40:40,743 --> 01:40:42,870 and this was inflicted upon them. 1992 01:40:43,787 --> 01:40:44,788 The sub committee says 1993 01:40:44,872 --> 01:40:46,749 Congress should pass a special law. 1994 01:40:48,417 --> 01:40:50,669 Warren Hatch finally came to me and said, 1995 01:40:50,753 --> 01:40:53,046 “So what's your wishlist?” 1996 01:40:53,130 --> 01:40:55,048 I said, “Very good. 1997 01:40:55,132 --> 01:40:56,300 It's about time.” 1998 01:40:57,217 --> 01:41:01,096 NARRATOR:In 1991, the US Congress finally passed 1999 01:41:01,180 --> 01:41:04,975 the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, 2000 01:41:05,058 --> 01:41:07,186 also known as RECA. 2001 01:41:07,269 --> 01:41:08,979 Today, the House of Representatives 2002 01:41:09,062 --> 01:41:11,273 restores our nation's honor 2003 01:41:11,356 --> 01:41:12,983 by holding the American government 2004 01:41:13,067 --> 01:41:16,028 responsible for Cold War abuses, 2005 01:41:16,111 --> 01:41:18,614 which stained our collective consciences 2006 01:41:18,697 --> 01:41:21,116 by causing death and injury to its own people. 2007 01:41:25,120 --> 01:41:28,457 ♪ Looking for the black gas ♪ 2008 01:41:28,540 --> 01:41:31,043 ♪ Switch up your seal ♪ 2009 01:41:31,126 --> 01:41:33,295 NARRATOR:The bill would provide tiered compensation 2010 01:41:33,378 --> 01:41:35,923 for individuals affected by nuclear testing 2011 01:41:36,006 --> 01:41:37,466 from onsite workers 2012 01:41:37,549 --> 01:41:40,177 to those living in downwind communities. 2013 01:41:40,260 --> 01:41:41,929 The areas covered by the bill are limited 2014 01:41:42,012 --> 01:41:43,972 to just 22 counties. 2015 01:41:45,182 --> 01:41:47,059 Also listed are the diseases 2016 01:41:47,142 --> 01:41:50,646 that would qualify a candidate for payment. 2017 01:41:50,729 --> 01:41:54,441 The compensation is capped at $50,000. 2018 01:41:54,525 --> 01:41:57,110 No children or grandchildren are eligible. 2019 01:41:59,071 --> 01:42:01,824 The downwinder community are lobbying Congress 2020 01:42:01,907 --> 01:42:03,200 to expand the bill, 2021 01:42:03,283 --> 01:42:06,537 both geographically and generationally. 2022 01:42:06,620 --> 01:42:11,583 And they don't recognize any second generation cancers. 2023 01:42:11,667 --> 01:42:14,920 I would like to amend the bill. 2024 01:42:15,003 --> 01:42:17,798 People got $50,000. 2025 01:42:17,881 --> 01:42:19,925 So, is that what a human life's worth? 2026 01:42:20,008 --> 01:42:22,427 $50,000. 2027 01:42:22,511 --> 01:42:24,388 It doesn't cover your chemo. 2028 01:42:24,471 --> 01:42:27,558 I filed seven times for my dad's compensation 2029 01:42:27,641 --> 01:42:29,560 for my mother to get that. 2030 01:42:29,643 --> 01:42:33,522 They said you can't prove that your dad lived 2031 01:42:33,605 --> 01:42:35,774 in Southern Utah. 2032 01:42:35,858 --> 01:42:38,443 I went through the downwinder questioning period 2033 01:42:38,527 --> 01:42:42,406 and so forth, and ended up collecting $50,000. 2034 01:42:43,365 --> 01:42:48,412 Yes, it was a good amount, but I would much rather have-- 2035 01:42:48,495 --> 01:42:51,582 have my parents, you know, still have them. 2036 01:42:51,665 --> 01:42:55,294 I am personally flabbergasted at the fact 2037 01:42:55,377 --> 01:42:57,254 that anybody would think 2038 01:42:57,337 --> 01:43:00,924 that handing my mother a check for $50,000 2039 01:43:01,008 --> 01:43:02,968 replaces my dad. 2040 01:43:03,051 --> 01:43:05,888 But what it does do is it admits guilt. 2041 01:43:05,971 --> 01:43:08,473 The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act 2042 01:43:08,557 --> 01:43:10,142 was a-- a step. 2043 01:43:10,225 --> 01:43:12,436 It was an important step. 2044 01:43:12,519 --> 01:43:14,938 It never went far enough. 2045 01:43:15,314 --> 01:43:17,858 NARRATOR:A group that did not initially benefit from RECA 2046 01:43:17,941 --> 01:43:19,318 was the Shivwit tribe. 2047 01:43:19,401 --> 01:43:22,362 We had a lot of native Americans 2048 01:43:22,446 --> 01:43:26,909 but a lot of the people that lived here 2049 01:43:26,992 --> 01:43:28,744 didn't have any records. 2050 01:43:28,827 --> 01:43:30,579 Didn't keep records. 2051 01:43:30,662 --> 01:43:33,999 Couldn't really prove where they were. 2052 01:43:34,082 --> 01:43:36,919 And so the compensation was difficult to get. 2053 01:43:37,002 --> 01:43:39,671 I believe that a lot of them got sick, uh, 2054 01:43:39,755 --> 01:43:41,214 after the movie. 2055 01:43:41,298 --> 01:43:43,759 It was difficult to find out what happened to them. 2056 01:43:43,842 --> 01:43:46,511 We weren't able, I don't think, to go to their tribe 2057 01:43:46,595 --> 01:43:48,347 and get the information that we needed. 2058 01:43:49,681 --> 01:43:53,435 NARRATOR:The Harry test deposited more radioactive fallout 2059 01:43:53,518 --> 01:43:57,689 over areas of the United States than any other test. 2060 01:43:57,773 --> 01:43:59,608 With the largest accumulation 2061 01:43:59,691 --> 01:44:03,153 having fallen in the vicinity of St. George, Utah. 2062 01:44:03,570 --> 01:44:05,447 The issue of fallout is-- 2063 01:44:05,530 --> 01:44:09,409 is relevant today, uh, as it's ever been. 2064 01:44:09,493 --> 01:44:12,329 Radiation can last for tens of thousands of years. 2065 01:44:13,622 --> 01:44:17,668 The Trinity test, the world's first atomic test 2066 01:44:17,751 --> 01:44:22,089 generated radiation that circled the globe. 2067 01:44:22,172 --> 01:44:26,510 There was radiation detected in milk in Chicago. 2068 01:44:26,593 --> 01:44:30,472 So, from the very beginning of the nuclear age, 2069 01:44:30,555 --> 01:44:33,392 everyone involved was aware that radiation moves. 2070 01:44:33,475 --> 01:44:36,186 NARRATOR:The National Cancer Institution has determined 2071 01:44:36,269 --> 01:44:40,273 that the entire population of the US in the 1950s 2072 01:44:40,357 --> 01:44:43,986 received on average a dose of thyroid radiation 2073 01:44:44,069 --> 01:44:48,323 around 20 times greater than normal background radiation. 2074 01:44:48,407 --> 01:44:50,075 Their report also states 2075 01:44:50,158 --> 01:44:53,245 that this radiation could result in an added 10,000 2076 01:44:53,328 --> 01:44:56,665 to 75,000 cases of thyroid cancer. 2077 01:45:08,885 --> 01:45:12,931 The vast majority of downwinders will never know they were. 2078 01:45:13,015 --> 01:45:14,850 They'll never know. 2079 01:45:14,933 --> 01:45:18,020 Um, but there were a lot more of ‘em 2080 01:45:18,103 --> 01:45:19,771 than anybody ever thought. 2081 01:45:21,106 --> 01:45:22,441 NARRATOR:In 1992, 2082 01:45:22,524 --> 01:45:26,486 the United States ended a nuclear test moratorium. 2083 01:45:26,570 --> 01:45:29,531 The US Congress apologized to the downwinders 2084 01:45:29,614 --> 01:45:31,366 on behalf of the nation. 2085 01:45:56,308 --> 01:45:59,770 Beth, your tree needs some water. 2086 01:46:02,314 --> 01:46:07,652 Bethany, I miss you everyday. 2087 01:46:09,738 --> 01:46:11,782 Every single day. 2088 01:46:21,458 --> 01:46:24,836 The whole cemetery is full of people 2089 01:46:24,920 --> 01:46:31,051 that have lost their lives from what our own government 2090 01:46:31,134 --> 01:46:32,302 did to us. 2091 01:46:32,385 --> 01:46:35,889 There's a lot of sorrow and suffering that were-- 2092 01:46:35,972 --> 01:46:42,395 was unnecessary right here that didn't need to happen. 2093 01:46:42,479 --> 01:46:46,733 And we're not so naïve as to think people don't get sick, 2094 01:46:46,817 --> 01:46:48,610 but not in the numbers. 2095 01:46:48,693 --> 01:46:52,322 And now the second generations and the third generations 2096 01:46:52,405 --> 01:46:54,741 is not normal. 2097 01:46:54,825 --> 01:46:56,034 If something's wrong, 2098 01:46:56,118 --> 01:46:59,412 you don't just walk by and let it happen. 2099 01:46:59,496 --> 01:47:00,413 You fix it. 2100 01:47:03,792 --> 01:47:06,253 We're losing the history of what happened 2101 01:47:06,336 --> 01:47:07,796 at the test site. 2102 01:47:09,422 --> 01:47:12,884 We're losing the stories, because people are dying. 2103 01:47:14,719 --> 01:47:16,847 We have to tell our stories. 2104 01:47:16,930 --> 01:47:20,058 If we don't tell our stories, nobody's gonna care. 2105 01:47:20,142 --> 01:47:23,061 We have to talk about what happened to us, 2106 01:47:23,145 --> 01:47:24,479 because to me, 2107 01:47:24,563 --> 01:47:27,440 story is like the most powerful tool we have. 2108 01:47:27,524 --> 01:47:29,192 You can have all the facts you want 2109 01:47:29,276 --> 01:47:30,318 and give them facts, 2110 01:47:30,402 --> 01:47:33,363 but it's the story that's gonna get to them. 2111 01:47:37,117 --> 01:47:40,078 NARRATOR:Howard Hughes did not live to see the downwinders’ fight 2112 01:47:40,162 --> 01:47:42,330 for justice prevail. 2113 01:47:42,414 --> 01:47:43,999 The great aviator died in a flight back 2114 01:47:44,082 --> 01:47:47,169 to the United States for medical treatment. 2115 01:47:47,252 --> 01:47:49,337 That he died while on an airplane, 2116 01:47:49,421 --> 01:47:51,381 where he was perhaps the happiest, 2117 01:47:51,464 --> 01:47:53,258 seems like a fitting end 2118 01:47:53,341 --> 01:47:56,595 to one of America's most enigmatic figures. 2119 01:48:01,183 --> 01:48:03,393 HUNLUN:My son, a miracle has been wrought! 2120 01:48:03,476 --> 01:48:04,895 You live! 2121 01:48:05,604 --> 01:48:07,939 BORTAI:I know the nature of this man. 2122 01:48:08,023 --> 01:48:10,942 No torture will persuade him like a woman's gentleness. 2123 01:48:13,195 --> 01:48:14,946 JAMUGA:Will bring sorrow between me and him, 2124 01:48:15,030 --> 01:48:17,115 and disaster upon his people. 2125 01:48:18,533 --> 01:48:21,870 TEMUJIN:There are moments for action then I listen to my blood. 2126 01:48:24,664 --> 01:48:27,667 NARRATOR:Several years after Howard Hughes' death 2127 01:48:27,751 --> 01:48:31,004 and over 25 years after it was filmed, 2128 01:48:31,087 --> 01:48:34,966 The Conqueror would finally be re released. 2129 01:48:35,467 --> 01:48:40,180 Most would agree it was not worth the wait. 2130 01:48:41,097 --> 01:48:43,225 I take you for a wife. 2131 01:48:43,308 --> 01:48:44,893 I think the legacy of The Conqueror, 2132 01:48:44,976 --> 01:48:48,480 if anything is, as bad as a movie it was, 2133 01:48:48,563 --> 01:48:52,651 if it did anything, it helped create a movement. 2134 01:48:52,734 --> 01:48:54,736 It certainly did raise the profile 2135 01:48:54,819 --> 01:48:57,822 that something was going on in St. George 2136 01:48:57,906 --> 01:48:59,783 and in the surrounding community. 2137 01:48:59,866 --> 01:49:03,119 The fact that it was filmed in Utah, 2138 01:49:03,203 --> 01:49:05,538 downwind of where this nuclear fallout came 2139 01:49:05,622 --> 01:49:07,082 from this nuclear testing, 2140 01:49:07,165 --> 01:49:09,334 that makes the movie relevant and interesting, 2141 01:49:09,417 --> 01:49:12,128 and that backstory to that is probably more fascinating 2142 01:49:12,212 --> 01:49:13,713 than the movie itself. 2143 01:49:13,797 --> 01:49:15,465 Coming to terms with The Conqueror 2144 01:49:15,548 --> 01:49:17,926 and the nuclear tests, 2145 01:49:18,009 --> 01:49:22,597 might remind us that some of the nuclear dangers 2146 01:49:22,681 --> 01:49:27,644 that we were being terrified about as little kids 2147 01:49:27,727 --> 01:49:29,312 have not entirely disappeared. 2148 01:49:33,483 --> 01:49:36,152 NARRATOR:Whatever happened to the 60 tonnes of sand, 2149 01:49:36,236 --> 01:49:37,904 that were shipped from Snow Canyon 2150 01:49:37,988 --> 01:49:41,157 to Studio 15 on the RKO lot? 2151 01:49:41,241 --> 01:49:42,617 Opinions differ. 2152 01:49:43,243 --> 01:49:47,163 I remember a few years back, we went over to RKO Studios 2153 01:49:47,247 --> 01:49:50,709 and there was still a big pile of this dirt on the backlot 2154 01:49:50,792 --> 01:49:52,127 at RKO, and we went there 2155 01:49:52,210 --> 01:49:56,214 and it was still radioactive from, you know, 2156 01:49:56,298 --> 01:49:57,507 two decades before. 2157 01:49:57,590 --> 01:49:59,718 So, it was kind of spooky and scary. 2158 01:49:59,801 --> 01:50:01,803 Michael Wayne went with me. 2159 01:50:01,886 --> 01:50:05,974 It was the middle of the night when we went to the back lot 2160 01:50:06,057 --> 01:50:08,059 and it was still hot. 2161 01:50:08,143 --> 01:50:09,185 I believe, 2162 01:50:09,269 --> 01:50:12,105 as the guy that went in there with a Geiger counter, 2163 01:50:12,188 --> 01:50:12,689 that-- 2164 01:50:14,065 --> 01:50:15,775 That um, it's still there. 2165 01:50:15,859 --> 01:50:17,694 Later I was told and read that, 2166 01:50:17,777 --> 01:50:21,031 all this was removed and brought to the Baldwin Hills 2167 01:50:21,114 --> 01:50:23,408 right over the La Ballona Creek in Culver City 2168 01:50:23,491 --> 01:50:24,576 where it is now. 2169 01:50:24,659 --> 01:50:25,410 Where is it there? 2170 01:50:25,493 --> 01:50:25,952 We-- 2171 01:50:26,036 --> 01:50:27,203 Nobody knows what the sand is there. 2172 01:50:27,954 --> 01:50:30,040 Not only was it taken to Culver City, 2173 01:50:30,123 --> 01:50:32,459 it was dumped out in Simi Valley, where my uh-- 2174 01:50:32,542 --> 01:50:34,377 my youngest daughter lives. 2175 01:50:34,461 --> 01:50:35,503 Where do you get rid of it? 2176 01:50:35,587 --> 01:50:37,839 I mean, where are you gonna put it? 2177 01:50:37,922 --> 01:50:40,508 My dad's idea was how about when those big caves 2178 01:50:40,592 --> 01:50:41,843 where you dug out the arraign? 2179 01:50:41,926 --> 01:50:44,637 How about putting the stuff back in there? 2180 01:50:44,721 --> 01:50:45,930 Makes sense to me. 2181 01:51:50,829 --> 01:51:56,709 ♪ Well, you say you got the blues ♪ 2182 01:51:56,793 --> 01:51:59,712 ♪ You got holes in both of your shoes ♪ 2183 01:51:59,796 --> 01:52:00,964 ♪ Yeah ♪ 2184 01:52:01,047 --> 01:52:04,426 ♪ You're feelin' alone and confused ♪ 2185 01:52:04,509 --> 01:52:09,347 ♪ You got to keep on smilin', just keep on smilin' ♪ 2186 01:52:09,431 --> 01:52:15,145 ♪ Yeah, you're about to go insane ♪ 2187 01:52:15,228 --> 01:52:20,024 ♪ ‘Cause your woman's playing games ♪ 2188 01:52:20,108 --> 01:52:23,027 ♪ And she said that you're to blame, ♪ 2189 01:52:23,111 --> 01:52:27,824 ♪ You got to keep smilin', just keep on smilin' ♪ 2190 01:52:27,907 --> 01:52:34,664 ♪ Keep on smiling through the rain ♪ 2191 01:52:34,747 --> 01:52:39,169 Laughin' at the pain ♪ 2192 01:52:39,252 --> 01:52:46,634 ♪ Just rollin' with the changes till the sun comes out again ♪ 2193 01:52:46,718 --> 01:52:53,433 ♪ Keep on smilin' through the rain ♪ 2194 01:52:53,516 --> 01:52:57,854 ♪ Laughin' at the pain ♪ 2195 01:52:57,937 --> 01:53:04,944 ♪ Just rollin' with the changes and singin' this refrain ♪ 2196 01:53:07,113 --> 01:53:11,534 ♪ Singin' in a honky tonk cafe ♪ 2197 01:53:11,618 --> 01:53:14,537 ♪ Nobody's hearin' what you play ♪ 2198 01:53:14,621 --> 01:53:15,705 ♪ Yeah ♪ 2199 01:53:15,788 --> 01:53:19,042 ♪ They're too busy drinkin' anyway ♪ 2200 01:53:19,125 --> 01:53:21,544 ♪ You got to keep on smilin' ♪ 2201 01:53:21,628 --> 01:53:24,047 ♪ Brother, keep on smilin' ♪ 2202 01:53:24,130 --> 01:53:29,594 ♪ You say you found a piece of land ♪ 2203 01:53:29,677 --> 01:53:32,972 ♪ Gonna change from city boy to country man ♪ 2204 01:53:33,056 --> 01:53:34,349 ♪ Yeah ♪ 2205 01:53:34,432 --> 01:53:37,769 ♪ Try to build your life with your hands ♪ 2206 01:53:37,852 --> 01:53:40,480 ♪ And just keep on smilin' ♪ 2207 01:53:40,563 --> 01:53:41,397 ♪ Keep on smilin' ♪