Richard 'Skeets' Gallagher had a major supporting role which wound up largely deleted before the film's release. He does appear, albeit uncredited, in the final film.
According to modern sources, The Conquerors (1932), which cost $800,000 less than Cimarron (1931) to make, lost RKO $230,000 ($5.3M in 2023) at the box office. However, in subsequent years, The Conquerors (1932) has earned a reputation for being a highly entertaining look at the tumultuous changes America went through in its economic development from the 19th to the 20th century. The last 30 minutes of this film has a fascinating cinematic depiction of the 1929 Stock Market Crash.
RKO borrowed William A. Wellman from Warner Bros. for the production, which was billed as a successor to the popular Oscar-winning RKO epic Cimarron (1931), also starring Richard Dix, which had won the Academy® Award for Best Picture in 1931.
The described World War I experiences of the "Roger Lennox" character were identical to those of Wellman, according to Wellman's autobiography.
The described World War I experiences of the "Roger Lennox" character were identical to those of Wellman, according to Wellman's autobiography.