‘Where’s the one with John Wayne playing Genghis Khan?’
one of Hollywood’s most ridiculous portrayals ever...along with Susan Hayward playing the daughter of the Tatar ruler, and Agnes Moorhead as a Mongol matriarch...
But in those days financing was based largely on the star power of the actors in the lead roles. Without John Wayne the move would not have got the green light. Same with casting Kirk Douglass to play Spartacus - a Thracian. That was the movie biz.
Liz Taylor as Cleopatra. Yul Brynner King of Siam.