A white guy playing a Mongul... - The Conqueror (1956) Discussion

[–] WalterDenton 19 years ago

That's the way it was at times back then and actually on the larger scale westerns, real native Americans usually portrayed the "Indians". As for looking funny, no one watching then had the revisionist view about the movie as some do now when watching old films.

"It's the stuff that dreams are made of."

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[–] rachid_usmc 19 years ago

heh..what about the white guys playing black people? now thats something else....

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[–] willjohn 12 years ago

Those old "Jungle Jim" movies that Johnny Weissmuller made when he got too fat to play Tarzan used to crack me up. All those fine featured guys with dark fake suntans.

Michael Pate was a white Australian actor who made a fortune playing native Americans. Chuck Connors was fair haired and fair skinned and played Geronimo.

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[–] inneroscator2 18 years ago

In a movie called "The Outrage", Paul Newman played a mexican. I can`t help thinking that Newman would get a pass from you because he`s a leftie. By the way, there is no u in mongol.

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[–] agentalbert (3080) 19 hours ago

Cut the guy some slack. He at least got the correct number of unnecessary ellipsis.

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[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] DwightFry 17 years ago

In 1956, in Hollywood, there was no way an Asian actor would get the lead. Still, the main problem is not that the lead is not Asian, the problem is that it's John Wayne. However, the screenwriter wanted Marlon Brando for the role, which would have been equally as awful but in a cheap stereotype way (Teahouse of the August Moon anyone?) instead of Wayne's Texas Temujin.

The only reasonable choice in 1956 would have been Yul Brynner, IMHO.

SAY NO TO WINDOWS VISTA

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[–] kiwistarfish33 17 years ago

Yul Brynner would have been PERFECT! I had not even thought of him... such a great presence in any movie he did. So missed!

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[–] DawnMuse29 17 years ago

An actor should be able to play any role, with the proper makeup, learning the gestures and studying the speech patterns of whoever he is portrayng.

Mexican actors can play Arabs. Chinese actors can do King Lear. Whites can play blacks and vice versa. That's what ACTING is all about.

Charlton Heston played a Mexican in "TOUCH OF EVIL".. He played a Spaniard in "EL CID." He played a Mongol in "GENGHIS KHAN"

Mel Ferrer played the artist, EL GRECO very convincingly.

Tim Allan even played A DOG.

There is a Russian character actor who played Mexicans, Asians, Vikings, you name it. His name escapes me, but when I remember it, I will post it.

Ahhh, just got it! His name was Vladimir Sokolov!

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[–] DawnMuse29 17 years ago

Forgot another one: JACK PALANCE played an Indian in "ARROWHEAD" -- one of his best roles ever.

Hey wait! Didn't DUSTIN HOFFMAN play an Indian-raised white guy in "LITTLE BIG MAN?"

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[–] AmarR123 17 years ago

Who gives a sh*t? Those are all fictional portrayals of fictional people that you guys mentioned...

You want to make a movie based on the life of a historical figure? Than do it right. Don't call this a "bio-epic" when it's got no shred of historical accuracy even down to the appearance of the characters.

Don't cast some gung-ho white guy who couldn't pass for a European let alone Mongolian.

When the Defecation hits the Oscillation.

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[–] bradford-1 16 years ago

FYI, there is a 1965 film called GENGHIS KHAN, that stars Omar Sharif as Temujin, Stephen Boyd as Jemuga, along with Eli Wallach, James Mason and Robert Morley (as the Emperor of China!) Has anyone ever seen it? One assumes it isn't the laff riot CONQUEROR is.

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[–] bradford-1 13 years ago

The much-later "Genghis Khan" was even crazier when it came to badly-cast Mongols, IMHO. I'm willing to give Omar Sharif a pass, but not the following: Woody Strode, Stephen Boyd, Francoise Dorleac (blonde and green-eyed?) and Telly Savalas. Plus, James Mason & Robert Morley as Chinese!
"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is more than she ever did."

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[–] scotbpens 15 years ago

There is a Russian character actor who played Mexicans, Asians, Vikings, you name it. His name escapes me, but when I remember it, I will post it.

Ahhh, just got it! His name was Vladimir Sokolov!

Yul Brynner, who played all sorts of ethnic types, was also Russian-born.

Sure, ideally, any part should be available to any actor who can play it convincingly. But in the current socio-political climate, it's no longer acceptable for Caucasian actors to perform in blackface, or "yellowface" or "redface" for that matter. The last white actor of note to portray Shakespeare's Othello in blackface was Sir Laurence Olivier in his 1964 film, and he took flak for it even back then.

The flipside is that roles that formerly were available only to white actors can now be played by non-whites. For example, James Earl Jones played Big Daddy in a stage production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" with an otherwise all-white cast. A revival of "Carousel" featured a black actress in the lead role of Julie Jordan. Diahann Carroll played Norma Desmond in the musical "Sunset Boulevard," and Patrick Stewart played Othello in a production where all the OTHER actors were black! He called it a "photo-negative" version of the play.

Of course, this sort of non-traditional casting works in live theater, but would probably seem ridiculously unrealistic in movies.

All the universe . . . or nothingness. Which shall it be, Passworthy? Which shall it be?

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[–] Studman_Productions 12 years ago

quite versatile, this man was

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[–] nanodon4 14 years ago

"the main problem is not that the lead is not Asian, the problem is that its John Wayne"

I"m with you. And yes, Marlon Brando would have been ugly, but having "John Wayne; All American" as Temujin?

Yes, an action can play any race and role with the proper makup and training, but obviously, Wayne did not.

"Is it safe?"

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[–] indigo942 13 years ago

Well today we have a black guy playing 'Heimdall the Whitest of the Gods' and a half Mexican/ half Black Spiderman, why can't we have a White Mongolian? Unless it's only White characters who can be played by any race?

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[–] MariMcCabe 13 years ago

[quote]Well today we have a black guy playing 'Heimdall the Whitest of the Gods' and a half Mexican/ half Black Spiderman, why can't we have a White Mongolian? Unless it's only White characters who can be played by any race?[/quote

You named two fictional characters. Surely you know Peter Parker isn't real, nor are mythical Gods?

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[–] willjohn 15 years ago

Not to mention that at 6'4" Wayne was about a foot taller than the average modern Mongolian.

About the only place you see tall men claiming to be "Mongolian" is in professional wrestling, like the "Mongolian Stomper", active in the 1960s, who was a white Canadian.

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[–] nimmy1 13 years ago

What are these idiots on about. Big names play the biggest part.

Only those with no valid argument pick holes in people's spelling and grammar.

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[–] joe-2797 11 years ago

Judging yesterday's behavior by modern sensibilities shows one to unable to frame history in historical context. This was how it was done in that time. Like dead white guys owning slaves in 1776, or dead black guys enslaving other black guys in Africa to sell to those dead white guys... That was the accepted norm of that era. Or how about puffing smoke on a newborn child in a car with no seat belts or baby seats. How terrible. That is HOW IT WAS! Please realize that customs, attitudes, behaviors and norms are ever evolving, and doing so rapidly.

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[–] Movie_Piranha_1979 13 years ago

Yeah! I always thought it was a ridiculous cast choice! Filmmakers should cast Yul Brynner instead!

Prostitute: What the *beep* are you doing?
Johnny: I'm gonna kill a bunch of people.

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[–] joe-2797 11 years ago

Haven't you heard of Henry Brandon who was called the *beep* Apache by the Navahos who extraed in the Ford movies stein Monument Valley? Look HIM up!

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