Fifties Cheesecake Dance No. 34

PLEASE READ THIS - Only Howard Hughes could produce a film in which (a) John Wayne, playing Genhis Khan as if he were a gunslinger, tears off Susan Hayward's dress in the opening scene; and (b) a seven-minute cheesecake dance sequence, consisting of four distinct parts, culminates in Susan Hayward indulging in some pelvic thrusting and Fruedian sword play. This was her very first on screen dance and it is reported that she received six weeks of dancing lessons to prepare for this epochal event.

This much-ridiculed Oriental Western is"The Conqueror" (1956), which earned inclusion in the book, "The Fifty Worst Movies of All Time" by Harry Medved and Randy Dreyfuss (CBS Consumer Publishing 1978). Wayne's performance is impossible to watch without feelings of gut-gnawing embarrassment and mirthful fascination. The glorious lines of dialogue in this clip illustrate beautifully the depth's of The Duke's thespian talents as he chews the scenery as Temujin, the Mongol chief who later became Genghis Khan. Susan Hayward, plays Bortai, the hot but reluctant Tartar bride of Temujin. Pedro Armendariz played Jamuga, Temujin's loyal and wise brother, while William Conrad played their more brutish brother, Kasar. Agnes Moorehead played Hunlun, their brave and loyal mother. The film was directed by the actor Dick Powell, who sidelined as a director and producer.

Wikipedia reports:
"The exterior scenes were shot on location near St. George, Utah, 137 miles downwind of the United States government's Nevada Test Site, Operation Upshot-Knothole, where extensive above-ground nuclear weapons testing occurred during the 1950s. The cast and crew spent many difficult weeks on the site. In addition, Hughes later shipped 60 tons of dirt back to Hollywood for re-shoots. The cast and crew knew about the nuclear tests, there are pictures of Wayne holding a Geiger counter during production, but the link between exposure to radioactive fallout and cancer was poorly understood then.

Powell died of cancer in January 1963, only a few years after the picture's completion. Hayward, Wayne, and Moorehead all died of cancer in the mid to late 1970s. Cast member actor John Hoyt died of lung cancer in 1991. Pedro Armendáriz was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1960 and committed suicide after he learned it was terminal. Skeptics point to other factors such as the wide use of tobacco— Wayne and Moorehead in particular were heavy smokers — and the notion that cancer resulting from radiation exposure does not have such a long incubation period."

Many thanks to Youtuber andrebontemp for suggesting this particular dance to me.

I am always looking for new ideas for this series. If you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• the
• conqueror
• john
• wayne
• susan
• hayward
• dick
• powell
• howard
• hughes
• agnes
• moorehead
• william
• conrad

[oldgypsytap]

The solo dancer from Samarkand is Sylvia Lewis

[pwgr2000]

Thanks for providing that useful and interesting information.

[andrebontemp]

hi Pgwgr

i was very pleased that you have followed my sugestion about Susan Hayward dance sequence with the two swords she is sensational and very sexy and i like her voice too.

the woman from samarkand is very strange she remind me

Yma SUMAC the peruvian singer and her dancing is very good .I finally buy the DVD and enjoy it very much

congratulations to you I will check for your new vids they are always excellent thanks again

JMB

[pwgr2000]

Many thanks for suggesting it. I apologise for not always acknowledging the people who make suggestions. There is often a long time between when I receive the suggestion and when I acquire the film and I have lost track of where the suggestion came from. I should probably try to keep a record so I can do that.

[Medusa22]

Brilliant- Thanks for posting!

[pwgr2000]

Ooh! My favourite fire-eating mermaid. Glad you liked it.

[gazebogrrl]

Wow! Now that's the best cheescake dancing ever! I gotta watch this film again!

[swanstep]

Thanks so much for posting this and for the great details/commentary pwgr2000. Man, one forgets just how great Hawks was. Even when a project was fundamentally bonkers like this one evidently was, the amount of energy in every frame still astounds. 

[localboyrlm]

you got that right pilgrim!!

[easyeasy900]

Every bit as Mongolian as a gun totin' cow poke from Texas!

[NabilaOrientalDance]

Excellent clip. If Susan Hayward really did only have only 6 weeks of lessons, they must have been pretty intense, as she did a great job; they had the nerve to put her right after the other dancer (who was terrific) and she still pulled it off.

[that70sguy1975]

Perhaps the worst movie John Wayne ever made, lol! It seems like in his day there was a shortage of ethnic peoples willing to act in his movies. Italian guys played indians, americans portrayed Viet Cong (green berets), and famous hollywood movie actresses portray dancing beauties from ancient kingdom of Siam, lol!