Don't listen to the negative reviews

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

When you consider that the film was made in 1932 it is certainly impressive, especially with the intermittent montages to show the passage of time.I'm a big fan of Ann Harding and this is one of her best films ("It Happened on 5th Ave" and "Magnificent Yankee" are my favorites). And you can never go wrong with Edna May Oliver and Guy Kibbee, although perhaps they lay it on a little strong in this one.I've never been a fan of Richard Dix. I thought he was wooden. But in this film he ages 60 years and the elder Dix does a fine job. FWIW he has a few scenes with himself as a young man, and he appears to be mocking his own acting there as the young man. So I gained a new appreciation for him as an actor.Another reason to watch the film is the director, Wild Bill Wellman, known for films like "Wings" (1927), "Public Enemy" (1931), "A Star is Born" (1937), "The Ox Bow Incident" (1943), "The Story of GI Joe" (1945), and "The High and the Mighty" (1954) among many others.Seen in the context of 1932, with Herbert Hoover in the White House, the economy still slipping, banks continuing to fail, etc. this is one brave film.

Not only Richard Dix plays the banker from youth to old age ,but he also portrays his grandson and the scene in which "they" are together is fascinating."The conquerors is a fascinating saga:although rather short,it's so compact we have the strange feeling of having watched a hours + work.remarkable sequences (and ****SpOILERS)-the death of the young boy and the old doc: avoiding any trick of the tearjerkers ,Wellman shows the mother picking up the toys on the bedroom floor and putting them into the chest ;she and her husband close the chest :that's all but it's enough to make us feel their despair.-The scene in which the clients ask for their money which predates that of Frank Capra 's 'it's a wonderful life" by more than 10 years; -The birth of the grandson while at the very same moment,the father takes his own life.-The old banker talking to the portrait of his late wife.William Wellman ,like his equal Frank Borzague ,shows an infinite sympathy for his characters;it shows in such works as this one,but also in "wild boys of the road" "heroes for sale" or "the ox -bow incident'

In less than an hour and a half, we get: young love, courtship, robbery, shooting, hanging, alcoholism, banking, multi-generation family drama, railroads, tragic accident, childbirth, suicide, the dawn of cinema, the stock market crash -- all supporting a theme of westward expansion and hanging tough when the economy turns rotten, which must have been a comfort to a Depression-weary audience. I'm a sucker for these early-talkie near-epics with loudly American themes (other worthy, less-known titles: "Silver Dollar," "The World Changes"), and this one is handsomely produced, well acted, and blessed with vibrant characterizations, most notably Edna May Oliver, indispensable as always, in one of her best roles. Also, Ann Harding, always so womanly and sympathetic without becoming cloying, like Irene Dunne with more backbone. And Richard Dix, a bit thick around the middle, but ably personifying the era's idea of the solid American male. With William Wellman's virile direction and some eye-filling montages by Slavko Vorkapich, it's handsomely shot, and supported by an obvious but stirring Max Steiner score. The continuity doesn't quite add up -- the horseless carriage appears on a Nebraska street circa 1894, a bit early, and Edna May's character would have to be about 120 by the fadeout. But it's rousing entertainment.

The last thirty minutes of this film have a fascinating cinematic depiction of the 1929 stock market crash. Check it out.Edna May Oliver is a gem. The acting style is super theatrical; so much so that it's almost post modern, actors commenting on acting on stage. It would be interesting to remake this picture now with a film within a film screenplay, the actors of that period moving in and out of character.Take a look with your nostalgic eyeballs in your head and you'll enjoy this old RKO picture.