1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:17,960 Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet 6 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:39,880 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. When actors performed together, they become like family. 7 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: Spending hours a day for months on set together tends 8 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: to bring them closer many experiences they have or shared, 9 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: which turn into stories told in interviews and memoirs if 10 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,640 Speaker 1: they get to live that long, that is. John Wayne 11 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,680 Speaker 1: was known as a tough guy, the king of the 12 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: Western who starred in films like Red River, The Searchers, 13 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: and True Grit. Throughout his career, he battled outlaws, Nazis, 14 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:07,360 Speaker 1: and Vietnamese soldiers. Off camera, he battled something much worse. 15 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: It started in nineteen sixty four with a lung cancer 16 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: diagnosis that required his left lung to be removed. Wayne 17 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: was known for smoking five packs of unfiltered cigarettes a day, 18 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: so it wasn't exactly a surprise when he got the news. 19 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: A little over a decade later, though, Wayne contracted stomach 20 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: cancer and died a short while later. Another actor of 21 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: the time, Susan Hayward, had made a name for herself, 22 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: starring in films alongside legendary performers like Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergmann, 23 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: and Gregory Peck. She won numerous awards and had a 24 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: very successful career spanning over three decades. In March of 25 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,959 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy two, Hayward visited her doctor, where it was 26 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: discovered that she had a tumor in her lung. One 27 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: year later, she suffered a seizure which revealed the terminal 28 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: diagnosis of brain cancer. She died in nineteen seventy five 29 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: at only fifty seven years old. In fact, a num 30 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: ber of actors, directors, and Hollywood crew members died of 31 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: cancer between nineteen sixty and nineteen eighty. Agnes moorehead of 32 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 1: Bewitched fame, passed away at seventy three years old in 33 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: April of nineteen seventy four. She had been diagnosed with 34 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: uterine cancer. Actor and director Dick Powell died in nineteen 35 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: sixty three after battling aggressive form of cancer that had 36 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: developed in his neck and chest. He was only fifty eight, 37 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: and these weren't random occurrences either. Every person on this 38 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: list was connected by one individual. Howard Hughes uses keen 39 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: business sense had earned him an incredible wealth, but his 40 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,840 Speaker 1: true passion was filmmaking. His early films were flops, yet 41 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: he always looked for waste to outdo himself in movies 42 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: like Hell's Angels, which used real airplanes and pilots for 43 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,119 Speaker 1: the dog fight scenes. In the nineteen fifties, Hughes made 44 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: another big budget picture. It was set in thirteenth century 45 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: Asia at a time of great unrest. Genghis Khan, the 46 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: violent chief of the Mongolian army, had fallen in love 47 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: with the daughter of a riot a leader, which would 48 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: spark a great war between two sides. It was called 49 00:03:04,840 --> 00:03:07,679 Speaker 1: The Conqueror, and Hughes decided to film it at one 50 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: area of the midwestern United States. He shot much of 51 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: the film in St. George, Utah, using its canyons and 52 00:03:13,840 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: deserts to stand in for the Asian landscape. Hughes spent 53 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: weeks there with his cast and crew, even going so 54 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: far as to dig up sixty tons of soil from 55 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,080 Speaker 1: the filming location to send back to Hollywood. He wanted 56 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:27,399 Speaker 1: things to look as close as possible when it came 57 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: time to do reshoots. Except Hughes didn't direct this film 58 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:33,520 Speaker 1: the way he had others. He was merely a producer. 59 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 1: He hired Dick Powell to direct for him instead. For 60 00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: his leading lady, he cast Susan Hayward, and alongside her 61 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: Agnes Moorehead Genghis Khan was played by none other than 62 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: John Wayne himself. But unlike other Hollywood tragedies, their deaths 63 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: were not due to a curse or a strange coincidence. 64 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: You see, Howard Hughes had made a grave mistake when 65 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: scouting for locations. St. George, Utah, was only one thirty 66 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: seven miles downwind of the Neve at a national security site, 67 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: a nuclear testing area used heavily. During nineteen three, a 68 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: few years before filming started, eleven nuclear weapons were detonated 69 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: at that site. The fallout traveled all the way to St. George, 70 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:17,400 Speaker 1: where it sat for years. Out of the two d 71 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: and twenty people Hughes had hired to work on the 72 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:24,839 Speaker 1: film eventually contracted some type of cancer. Of them, forty 73 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: six passed away. Hughes was so upset about what he 74 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: had done he spent twelve million dollars, buying up every 75 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:34,239 Speaker 1: copy of the film and storing it in his vault. 76 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,480 Speaker 1: Toward the end of his life, when he locked himself 77 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:40,160 Speaker 1: in his home theater and grown his hair and fingernails 78 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: two epic proportions. Hughes allegedly watched only two films the 79 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: entire time I stationed Zebra and the Conqueror. For most 80 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,119 Speaker 1: of the people involved, the real conqueror of the film 81 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 1: wasn't John Wayne's grossly miscast Genghis Khan. It was an 82 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: invisible threat, more deadly and more fearsome than they could 83 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 1: ever I've imagined one that didn't go away when the 84 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: director yelled cut. Ask any child what superpower they'd love 85 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: to have, and most will probably give you the same answer. 86 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,039 Speaker 1: Flight to soar above the trees and then come to 87 00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 1: a safe landing is the dream of comic book fans 88 00:05:30,080 --> 00:05:34,680 Speaker 1: and aspiring heroes everywhere. One man also had that dream, 89 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: and he came very close to achieving it, And even 90 00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: though he didn't quite succeed, he certainly left his mark 91 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: on this world. France was born in Austria but spent 92 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:48,400 Speaker 1: most of his life in Paris, France. He was a tailor, 93 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: by trade and opened a successful dressmaking shop in the city. 94 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: He spent over a decade catering to wealthy tourists from 95 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: his homeland, watching the world change around him. Over in 96 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,359 Speaker 1: the at It states, something miraculous was happening. Franz wanted 97 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: to be a part of it too. Some years earlier, 98 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:08,479 Speaker 1: two brothers had taken their motorized airplane on its first 99 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: successful flight in North Carolina. From that point forward, Man's 100 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: goal would be to fly higher and farther than he 101 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,040 Speaker 1: ever had before. Unfortunately, the dawn of the aviation age 102 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:23,120 Speaker 1: also brought with it numerous accidents and fatalities. The parachutes 103 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: that had been developed worked only under specific circumstances. No 104 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: one had built one that could be deployed after the 105 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: person had already jumped out of the plane, especially at 106 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: lower altitudes. But France had an idea. Rather than a 107 00:06:37,320 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: big balloon light canopy that opened overhead, he would make 108 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 1: a suit. It would have an ample amount of silk 109 00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:45,880 Speaker 1: fabrics sewn around the person, like a kind of webbing. 110 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:48,440 Speaker 1: As the pilot leapt from a tall enough height, the 111 00:06:48,440 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 1: wind would catch within the fabric and allow the pilot 112 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: to glide safely to Earth, so France got to work 113 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,400 Speaker 1: on a prototype, testing it on dummies by tying the 114 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:01,520 Speaker 1: one five pound massive silk around and then launching them 115 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: from the fifth floor of his apartment building. In his 116 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,599 Speaker 1: initial experiments, his homemade parachutes worked well, floating the dummies 117 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: softly to the ground. He then took his design to 118 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: the local Aero Club, a precursor to a regulated commercial 119 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: flight organization. If France's parachute suit didn't pass their sniff test, 120 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: it wouldn't be allowed in any airplane. Sadly, they told 121 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: him it wasn't strong enough to support a full grown 122 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: adult and encouraged him to go back to what he 123 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: did best, making dresses. Undeterred, France continued to work on 124 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: his suit by strengthening the canopy and conducting more tests 125 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,400 Speaker 1: with his dummies, but none of those tests proved fruitful. 126 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 1: His big chance to prove himself would come the following year, 127 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 1: when the Aero Club would announce a competition to develop 128 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: a workable parachute for pilots. The only rule they had 129 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: was that it had to be light, no more than 130 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: fifty five pounds, so France went back to work. He 131 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: cut much of the weight of his original design while 132 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: stretching it out to be wider, thus collecting more air 133 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: on the way down. It still didn't work, though, whenever 134 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,520 Speaker 1: he launched a dummy into his building's courtyard, it would 135 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 1: plummet to the ground with a thud. He even tried 136 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: testing it himself, jumping from a height of ten feet 137 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: into a pile of straw below. Good thing he'd placed 138 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,440 Speaker 1: the straw there too, as his parachute suit was of 139 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: no use. Afterward, he thought maybe the problem was that 140 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: he hadn't climbed high enough for the parachute to expand. 141 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 1: He took a few dummies to the first level of 142 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:29,240 Speaker 1: the Eiffel Tower and gave them a push, but it 143 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 1: still wasn't good enough. In order to test the viability 144 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: of his invention, he would have to test it from 145 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:37,760 Speaker 1: the top of the tower. He received permission from Paris 146 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: authorities in late nineteen eleven, and by February of nineteen 147 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 1: twelve he was finally ready. He showed up at the 148 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: tower on the morning of February four with his suit, 149 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: which looked very much like mechanics overalls with a large 150 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 1: hump on the back. It was much cleaner than his 151 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: original design and weighed only twenty pounds, well within the 152 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: competition's guidelines. Cinematographers had also come to film the attempt. 153 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: One remained on the ground, while another followed France up 154 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 1: to the top of the tower. In the film, it's 155 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: clear that the inventor is hesitant as he wavers at 156 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,440 Speaker 1: the edge, debating his decision. In the end, though, he 157 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: chose to pour every ounce of faith into his parachute, 158 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 1: much to the surprise of French police, who had no 159 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: idea that he would be performing the jump himself. They 160 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 1: had only authorized the test on the grounds that he 161 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:30,160 Speaker 1: would be using dummies, and perhaps he should have. France 162 00:09:30,240 --> 00:09:32,680 Speaker 1: Raquelt jumped off the top of the Eiffel Tower and 163 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: extended his arms. His parachute, though didn't work the way 164 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,320 Speaker 1: he had expected, rather than open up behind him, wrapped 165 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: itself around his body as he plummeted to the earth below. 166 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: He was declared dead at the scene, and ever since 167 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: his story has served as a cautionary tale for other 168 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: amateur inventors, reminding them to test their creations thoroughly and 169 00:09:55,960 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: not to fly too close to the sun. I hope 170 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,640 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. 171 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 172 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:13,679 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 173 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how 174 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 175 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:24,680 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 176 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 177 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.