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The correct answer to the trivia question is The Conqueror (1956)
This infamous film, a historical epic starring John Wayne as the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, is a notorious example in Hollywood history, not for its artistic achievements or box office success, but for its alarming connection to serious health issues among its cast and crew.
“The Conqueror” was filmed in the desert outside of St. George, Utah, alarmingly close to the Nevada National Security Site, a primary nuclear testing facility for the U.S. Government.
In the years following the film’s production, nearly half of the cast and crew, including Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, and director Powell, contracted cancer.
The film was, quite literally, shot under a radioactive cloud.
Between 1951 and 1962, over 100 atomic bombs were detonated at the Nevada site.
The year before “The Conqueror” began production, 11 nuclear tests were conducted as part of Operation Upshot-Knothole.
Despite assurances from the Atomic Energy Commission about the safety of nuclear testing, the long-term effects of radiation exposure were not well-understood at the time.
As the film faced production challenges, nuclear fallout was silently drifting over the set.
The repercussions of filming in such a hazardous location became evident in the years that followed.
An investigation in 1980 revealed that 91 of the 220 people on set had developed cancer, with 46 succumbing to the disease.
The leukemia rates in St. George were found to be five times higher than the national average.
Victims of the nuclear fallout, known as “downwinders,” have since received over $2.2 billion in compensation.
Producer Howard Hughes, deeply affected by the tragic outcomes, reportedly spent $12 million to buy every print of “The Conqueror” to keep it out of the public eye.
It’s believed that Hughes, wracked with guilt, watched the film repeatedly in his private residence, perhaps as a form of self-punishment.
The film remained unavailable to the public until 1979 when Universal acquired it from Hughes’ estate.
The film itself, beyond the health issues, was critically panned and is often cited as one of the worst films ever made, partly due to the miscasting of John Wayne, a quintessential American Western star, as the Mongol leader.