Conquest on AllMovie

H.B. Warner, so convincing as Jesus Christ in DeMille's The King of Kings, does a complete about-face in the early talkie Conquest. Warner plays James Farnham, a no-good rat who deserts his best friend during an expedition to the South Pole. He then accepts military honors for bravery that should have gone to his deceased friend, capping his misdeeds by claiming the dead man's sweetheart Diane Holden (Lois Wilson). When good-guy Donald Overton (Monte Blue) confronts Farnham with evidence of his skullduggery, Farnham tries to do the younger man in with a hammer. This time, however, Farnham pays for his perfidy -- undoubtedly to the dismay of the audience, who realized early on that H.B. Warner was the best actor in the picture.