5. John Wayne - The Conqueror
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq1K0Y-I6vg Why was the movie made? In retrospect, I'm not sure anybody knows. John Wayne signed on to play Genghis Khan, and the rest is movie history (if here "movie history" means "forgotten and ridiculed forever"). And we all know that John Wayne wasn't the best actor in the world, but he was an icon, and it didn't matter - as long as he stuck to roles that were suited to him. Cowboys. War veterans. You know the types: men. American men. And then he's here, as the infamous Mongol Emperor Genghis Khan, in The Conqueror. On first viewing, you might be convinced that Wayne isn't even doing an accent, but you'd be wrong. Apparently the Duke made sure that he changed his voice to imitate something of Khan's supposed accent, and decided that talking slowly and emphasizing the occasional word would be enough to justify the fact that he was playing somebody from a different part of the world. Also the characters keep saying "Wang Khan," which really doesn't help proceedings.