The Spoilers [Blu-ray]

Director: Ray Enright Ray Enright

Overview

In this adaptation of the rugged Rex Beach novel, prospector John Wayne is continually persecuted by crooked gold commissioner Randolph Scott, who has the law on his side. Eventually, the two men decide to settle their dispute man-to-man in a spectacular reel-long fistfight.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/10/2019
UPC:	0738329239589
Original Release:	1942
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:27:00
Sales rank:	31,034

Special Features

Audio Commentary by Film Historian Toby Roan; Animated Image Gallery; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

John Wayne	Cherry Malotte
Randolph Scott	Alexander McNamara
Marlene Dietrich	Cherry Malotte
Margaret Lindsay	Helen Chester
Harry Carey	Al Dextry
Richard Barthelmess	Bronco Kid Farrell
George Cleveland	Banty
Samuel S. Hinds	Judge Stillman
Russell Simpson	Flapjack Simms
William Farnum	Wheaton
Marietta Canty	Idabelle
Jack Norton	Mr. Skinner
Ray Bennett	Clark
Forrest Taylor	Bennett
Charles McMurphy	Deputy
Art Miles	Deputy
William Haade	Deputy
Charles Halton	Jonathan Struve
Bud Osborne	Marshall
Drew Demarest	Galloway
Robert W. Service	The Poet
Robert E. Homans	Sea Captain
Irving Bacon	Hotel Proprietor
Bob McKenzie	Restaurateur
Chester Clute	Montrose
Harry Woods	Complaining Miner
William Gould	Marshal Thompson
Willie Fung	Jailed Chinaman
Lloyd Ingraham	Kelly
H.J. Salter	Composer

Technical Credits

Ray Enright	Director
Frank Lloyd	Producer
Eddie Parker	Stunts
Alan Pomeroy	Stunts

Editorial Reviews

The Spoilers is a real corker of an Old West adventure-cum-romance, Alaskan style. Just about everything comes together the way it's supposed to in Spoilers, and does so in a lean 88 minutes that never feels rushed. Director Ray Enright uses that temporal economy to its best advantage; Spoilers moves at a quick but not nervy pace, taking just enough time here and there to slow down for a lovely moment with Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne or to linger for just a second on a particularly amusing grimace on Harry Carey's face. It establishes the world of the Alaskan gold rush with a few well-placed, concise lines and some shots of an elaborately clad Dietrich navigating the muddy streets via a few well-placed two-by-fours; nothing is belabored, simply shown and established so that the film can then move forward. Enright is helped in all of this by a cast that couldn't be bettered. Dietrich is heavenly, less morose than she's sometimes forced to be, a happier and more hopeful presence; even when pigheadedly letting her pride get in the way of her eventual reunion with John Wayne, her melancholy is less tragic than is often the case. For his part, Wayne displays a magnificent chemistry with her, and it brings out some of his most surprising line readings -- always natural and correct, yet somehow a bit unexpected. And as the third side of the romantic triangle, Randolph Scott is a wonderful heel. Spoilers had excitement, adventure, romance, comedy -- in short, it's a hell of a lot of fun.