THE SPOILERS (1942) B/W 87m dir: Ray Enright

w/Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott, John Wayne, Margaret Lindsay, Harry Carey, Richard Barthelmess, George Cleveland, Samuel S. Hinds, Russell Simpson, William Farnum, Marietta Canty, Jack Norton, Ray Bennett, Forrest Taylor, Charles McMurphy, Art Miles, Charles Halton, Bud Osborne, Drew Demarest, William Haade, Robert W. Service, Robert E. Homans, Irving Bacon, Bob McKenzie, Chester Clute, Harry Woods, William Gould, Willie Fung, Lloyd Ingraham

This Rex Beach adventure tale has been told many times by Hollywood: besides this version, the story was filmed in 1914, 1923, 1930, and again in 1955.

From Variety's contemporary review of the film: "The Spoilers in its present form is still a teeming, raw saga of Alaska in its 1898 gold rush days. It tells of Randolph Scott, as the crooked gold commissioner, an equally unscrupulous judge (Samuel S. Hinds) and their 'legal' confiscation of the miners' claims. John Wayne plays a prospector who, through the crooked court, loses the mine he jointly owns with Harry Carey. Marlene Dietrich is the operator of a gin and gambling emporium. Dovetailed to this is the tempestuous romance between Wayne and Dietrich, with Scott as the bad third.

"Of course, the big scene is the fight originally made one of the classic brawls of filmdom by Tom Santschi and William Farnum [in the 1923 film]. The slugging match in the final reel between Wayne and Scott is something that apparently could be staged profitably at Madison Square Garden.

"Performances are all uniformly good, with the stellar trio, of course, showing up best because of their prominent parts. Dietrich is excellent in a role suggesting it was designed for her. Scott and Wayne are typical of the great outdoors men for which the parts call."

The New York Times said: "All concerned have kept their tongues firmly in their cheeks."

From Emanuel Levy's website (www.emanuellevy.com), this 2007 review of the film:

"Produced by Universal, Ray Enright's film was the fourth screen version of Rex Reach’s 1906 novel of the same title. It was the second of three films that John Wayne made with Marlene Dietrich; the other two were Seven Sinners and Pittsburgh.

"Dietrich’s stardom was then in decline due to the closing of the European movie markets during WWII. Aware of her German origins and still heavy accent, the producers tried to minimize the 'foreign' aspect of Dietrich’s screen image, which put her on the map in the first place in the 1930s.

Indeed, Universal went out of its way to 'Americanize' the screen image of Dietrich, who was always more popular in Europe than in the U.S.

"The spoilers are a group of villains in the gold-mining boom at Nome, Alaska, at the turn of the century, led by Alexander McNamara (Randolph Scott), Nome’s new and corrupt gold commissioner.

"Cherry Malotte (Dietrich) is in love with Roy Glennister (Wayne), the co-owner of a gold mine along with partner Dextry (Harry Carey Sr.). Blinded by his attraction for Helen Chester (Margaret Lindsay), Roy somehow allows her uncle, Judge Stillman (Samuel S. Hinds), to double-cross him in a case that would determine the fate of the mine.

"When the marshal is killed, the new gold commissioner Alexander McNamara (Randolph Scott) unjustly jails Roy. Cherry then gets a confession from Helen that she, Stillman and McNamara are involved in a conspiracy to rob the miners.

"Roy escapes from jail and with his partner Dextry opens the mine that’s been guarded by McNamara’s men. Later on, Roy returns to town, kills Stillman, and then beats McNamara in a no-holds-barred fistfight. Significantly, in their confrontation, at Cherry’s home, when McNamara says, 'I haven’t got a gun on me,' Wayne’s Glennister says, 'No? Then we’ll do it the hard way,' before using his fists and engaging in mano a mano.

"Though no mention is made of her character’s origins, Dietrich still maintains her heavy German accent and screen image, again playing a tough, self-assured, independent woman, who feels at home in the company of tough men, but who knows the right man when she see him. 'No one else will do,' she tells her friend Bronco (Richard Barthelmess) about Wayne, but, as noted, Wayne doesn’t succumb easily to her charm.

"In one scene, she is seen collecting together some of the hard-boiled eggs that are Roy’s weakness, waiting in her room for him to return from business in Seattle; then, rather anxiously, she decided to greet him in person. But Roy doesn’t reciprocate, not immediately, that is. Treating her frivolously, he calls her 'sport,' and makes sure to indicate that he is not ready to settle down with one woman.

"We know it’s only a matter of time before Roy changes his mind about Helen, a kind, gentle, well-bred but dull and bland woman, compared to Cherry.

"The Spoilers may be the only Wayne film in which his character is called 'weak sister,' by his feuding partner no less. The movie is also remembered for containing Wayne’s best on-screen battle --- rapid, slick, and well-choreographed, almost matching the fight between William Farnum and Tom Santschi in the silent version of 1914. In the 1942 version, Eddie Parker and Alan Pomeroy, stunt-doubled for Wayne and Scott, respectively."

THE SPOILERS was nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction (John B. Goodman, Jack Otterson, Russell A. Gausman, Edward R. Robinson).