• 10 months ago
The story of one of the great environmental disasters to befall the United States, and the terrible movie that help brin | dG1fVURYZEtKaGJXc3c
Transcript
00:00 [WATER SPLASHING]
00:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:15 To Howard Hughes, this film called The Conqueror
00:20 was his final masterpiece, a would-be epic, a total farce.
00:27 If I could describe The Conqueror in one word--
00:30 Unfortunate.
00:32 Ridiculous.
00:33 I've heard that it's a terrible movie.
00:35 The Conqueror has been called one of the worst
00:41 films of the 1950s, if not of all time.
00:45 You know, my dad playing Genghis Khan, are you serious?
00:48 I remember watching it and just thinking,
00:51 this is the cheesiest movie I've ever seen.
00:54 I feel this tired woman is for me.
00:56 My blood says, take her.
00:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:01 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
01:05 The Harry test deposited more radioactive fallout
01:11 over areas of the United States than any other test.
01:15 A new term, fallout, has occupied
01:18 citizens and the press.
01:19 There has been some exaggeration,
01:20 says the Atomic Energy Commission.
01:22 The tests do not produce dangerous fallout.
01:25 When we moved to St. George, we heard all about The Conqueror
01:29 being here and how the stars were here.
01:32 My dad, what's he doing this week?
01:33 Why he's going to Utah?
01:35 And he's going to be in--
01:36 he's doing a film called The Conqueror?
01:38 OK.
01:39 Living in St. George in the '50s and '60s was magical.
01:42 It was a dream for me.
01:44 Of the 220 people who were constantly on location
01:49 shooting in Utah, that 90 or 91 came down with cancer.
01:57 How many tests do you have to do before you know
02:01 what the consequences are?
02:03 Why do they keep doing it?
02:05 The area where The Conqueror was shot
02:08 contains some of the most radioactive land
02:10 areas in the world.
02:12 They actually brought tons of that radioactive soil
02:17 back to RKO, spread it on the floor of the studios,
02:20 and they were exposed to it.
02:22 It lost so much weight.
02:23 He actually wore a complete other suit of clothes
02:25 underneath it.
02:26 I think this is probably the first time I've ever really
02:29 discussed at any length and depth about what
02:32 my mother experienced.
02:34 I mean, her brain cancer was horrific.
02:37 It was absolutely horrific.
02:39 Why, Mr. Hughes, did you watch this film over and over,
02:42 as if searching for an answer, a reason?
02:45 Our youngest child, Bethany, was just
02:48 a beautiful, delightful child.
02:50 I'm done.
02:51 I am going to shout it from the rooftops.
02:55 I'm not going to be silent anymore.
02:59 [EXPLOSION]
03:02 [EXPLOSION]
03:06 [END PLAYBACK]
03:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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