The Spoilers (1942)

★ 6.2 1h 27m IMDb
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When honest ship captain Roy Glennister gets swindled out of his mine claim, he turns to saloon singer Cherry Malotte for assistance in his battle with no-good town kingpin Alexander McNamara.

The Spoilers

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Cast

Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich as Cherry Malotte Died 1992 · Berlin, Germany Marlene Dietrich (1901–1992) was a German-American actress and singer, widely regarded as one of the most iconic figures of classic Hollywood. She rose to fame in the 1930s with films like The Blue An...
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott as McNamara Died 1987 · Orange County, Virginia, USA George Randolph Scott (January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987) was an American actor, best known for his roles in Western films. His career spanned from 1928 to 1962, during which he appeared in over 100 fi...
John Wayne
John Wayne as Glennister Died 1979 · Winterset, Iowa, USA Marion Mitchell Morrison (born Marion Robert Morrison) (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed Duke, was an American actor and filmmaker. An Academy Award-winn...
Margaret Lindsay
Margaret Lindsay as Helen Chester Died 1981 · Dubuque, Iowa, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Margaret Lindsay (born Margaret Kies; September 19, 1910 – May 9, 1981) was an American film actress. Her time as a Warner Bros. contract player during the 1930s...
Harry Carey
Harry Carey as Dextry Died 1947 · The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA Henry DeWitt Carey II (January 16, 1878 - September 21, 1947) was an American actor and one of silent film's earliest superstars, usually cast as a Western hero. One of his best known performances is...
Richard Barthelmess
Richard Barthelmess as Bronco Kid Died 1963 · New York City, New York, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Richard Semler "Dick" Barthelmess (May 9, 1895 – August 17, 1963) was an Oscar-nominated silent film star. Barthelmess was educated at Hudson River Military A...

Audience Reviews

John Chard 7/10 Jun 03, 2019
No fighting in here allowed unless it's over me.

We are in Nome, Alaska, miner Roy Glennister (John Wayne) and his partner Dextry (Harry Carey), are forced to fight to save their gold claims from the crooked commissioner, Alexander McNamara (Randolph Scott). Backed by sultry saloon owner and entertainer Cherry Malotte (Marlene Dietrich), the team must overcome both the odds and suspect politicians in order to get their just deserts.

Rex Beach's novel has been adapted five times thus far, and it's not hard to see why because the story is as solid as it gets. This take on the source has a wonderful sense of fun and adventure oozing from it, the cast are uniformly great and the direction from Ray Enright is tight and unobtrusive. Some fine set pieces dot themselves throughout the picture, culminating in a right royal (and lengthy) punch up between Wayne & Scott. No overkilling or tediously ham sequences are here, this is simply an enjoyable Western achieving all it set out to achieve from the off. 7/10
CinemaSerf 6/10 Jun 26, 2022
An oddly mis-matched cast of Marlene Dietrich, John Wayne and Randolph Scott star in this adaptation of Rex Beach's adventure tale of two miners (financed by Dietrich - a saloon owner/entertainer) who have to put up a fight against the corrupt land commissioner who is bent on stealing all the lucrative claims from their rightful owners. The cast don't really gel but that actually helps it along - it's very implausibility (e.g. Wayne in ladies' apparel) and a decent wise-cracking dialogue makes it quite entertaining. The ending is never in doubt - good will out - but it's quite an enjoyable ride to the finish with a journeyman cast of supporting actors - and a great bar brawl too!
Wuchak 7/10 Sep 04, 2022
**_Worthwhile old Western about Alaskan prospectors vs. corrupt officials with Wayne, Scott and Dietrich_**

In 1900, the Nome Gold Rush attracts claim-jumpers, including a smooth gold commissioner (Randolph Scott), who’s in league with a crooked judge (Samuel S. Hinds). An alluring saloon owner (Marlene Dietrich) is aware of the corruption as her old beau (John Wayne) arrives on the same ship as the ‘judge,’ arm-in-arm with his winsome niece (Margaret Lindsay). The situation builds to a confrontation between the honest miners and the thieves masquerading as “the law.”

"The Spoilers" (1942) is a B&W Western and one of five cinematic versions of the 1906 Rex Beach novel that was based on real-life corrupt officials, such as Alexander McKenzie, who seized gold mines from hard-working prospectors, which Beach himself witnessed when prospecting. While the film’s hindered by some understandable quaint elements (the B&W photography, the score and bits of goofy side amusement involving a couple of sourdoughs), you can’t beat the notable cast of Wayne, Scott and Dietrich.

Both Marlene (Cherry) and Margaret (Helen) are appealing in different ways. Although the flick is talky, you get to know the characters and find yourself involved in the story, assuming you can roll with the old-fashioned style. As far as thrills go, there’s a gunfight or two, a saloon fight, a jailbreak, a train crash and, best of all, a mano a mano melee between the characters played by Wayne and Scott, which took five days to plot and execute. I heard Randolph mistimed one punch and broke John’s nose, which of course delayed filming.

The movie runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at Lake Arrowhead, San Bernardino National Forest, which is just east of the Los Angeles area, as well as Universal Studios. Some second unit work was done in Sunland, California (just north of L.A.), and possibly Yukon, Canada.

GRADE: B

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