The Conqueror
Our final entry isn’t so much one of the top Hollywood curses as it is an example of really bad judgment. Future recluse Howard Hughes produced this film about the life of Genghis Khan and cast John Wayne in the lead role (nevermind the fact that Wayne wasn’t the least bit Asian). Lead actress Susan Hayward was almost killed by a panther during filming, but the worst part came during shoots in Utah’s Snow Canyon. Since it was nearby to the Yucca Flats, the site of numerous nuclear bomb tests, cast and crew were subjected to dangerous amounts of radiation. In fact, photos exist of John Wayne and others holding Geiger counters with the needle in the red. Ninety-one of the 220 cast and crew would eventually be diagnosed with cancer, including Wayne, Susan Hayward, and director Dick Powell. To make matters worse, The Conqueror proved to be a critical and commercial failure.