THE SPOILERS: Blu-ray (Universal, 1942) Kino Lorber

If the title, ‘The Spoilers’ sounds vaguely familiar – it should. The picture, first made as a silent that bombed in 1914, only to be resurrected in 1923 (starring - with little impact - Noah Beery), then again in 1930 as an early talkie (this time, Gary Cooper, but again - a dud), marked its fourth, and most memorable reincarnation with a triumvirate of super stars, headlined by Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scott and John Wayne, some ultra-high sheen cinematography by the great Milton R. Krasner and swift direction from Ray Enright. Of the five celluloid outings afforded it (another in 1955, with Jeff Chandler, Cinemascope and Technicolor, but little box office cache), Enright’s brisk and invigorating B&W flick is likely the most fondly recalled – and mostly for, and, by Wayne aficionados who have kept ‘the Duke’s Teflon-coated memory close to their collective bosom and very much alive these many years since he permanently ambled off into the sunset in 1979; prematurely felled by stomach cancer. John Wayne’s iconography today shows little signs of fading into obscurity; his visage, still instantly recognizable around the world, his prolific body of work, heralding a legacy likely to forever endure. The Spoilers (1942) is not exactly top-tier Wayne. But that’s okay, as there is a lot to admire in this slickly packaged 87 min. of adventure, set during the Alaskan gold rush. We are thrust into ‘he-man’ country with the butch and handsome Wayne and Scott, lumbering about as a pair of competitive rogues, and Dietrich, doing her damnedest to remind us this rugged terrain was hardly the exclusive domain of men on their saddles.

A word about Dietrich who, despite her uber-glamour, easily fits into just about any scenario studio writers could concoct for her. Herein, she is the absolute bomb, sporting sexy crinolines and laces as Cherry Malotte, the whiskey-voiced madam of the town’s saloon.  And yeow – do we get our money’s worth.  Dietrich’s allure has always baffled and fascinated me in as much as I have never found anything very womanly about her: those pencil-arched brows, raised in an androgynous ‘come hither’ glance that might just as easily apply to the comely bar wench serving me drinks.  And yet, she is, without reservation, riveting from first to last; her womanhood – arguably, as much a performance for the benefit of the testosterone sect, winning them completely with her invariable drag-based elixir. You just know you are being sold a bill of goods – but damn; are they slick and sultry! Wayne’s appeal is easier to pigeon-hole and digest. He is Grade ‘A’ red-blooded male machismo on overdrive without even trying; a tall, stout-hearted guy’s guy, the envy of his brethren and a magnet for any woman up to the task – or at least believing she is – to tame him. Whirling between these polar opposites is Randolph Scott, whom I must admit, has always been a curious ‘third wheel’ in the picture. Rumors of his sexual preference aside (he shared a home with Cary Grant in their early years as fledgling actors for hire – so what?), Scott’s on-screen manliness is nevertheless harder to peg. For although he sports some of the broadest shoulders ever afforded any leading man, and a chiseled jaw, well-suited to the task of exuding rock-steady male guts, something about his demeanor has always suggested a more involved and thinking animal lurking just beneath this brawny veneer. It works and, decidedly, is an interesting counterpoint to Wayne’s more transparent definition of masculinity. But is it genuine?  

The Spoilers is an unabashed adventure yarn, brimming with romance, humor and spectacular action set pieces. The plot, such as it is, is simple, but compelling. We are in Nome, Alaska, circa 1900, following two prospectors, Flapjack Simms (Russell Simpson) and Banty (George Cleveland) who have come to inspect their gold mine claim. Aware of two oily conspirators, Clark (Ray Bennett) and Bennett (Forrest Taylor), plotting to take over this claim with the complicity of the new gold commissioner, Alexander McNamara (Randolph Scott) and his crony, Judge Horace Stillman (Samuel S. Hinds), saloon hostess, Cherry Malotte quietly observes as justice is overturned and Simms and Banty lose all rights to their territory. Meanwhile, Cherry's old beau, Roy Glennister (John Wayne) has returned from his trip to Europe. However, upon his arrival in town, Glennister sets his cap for Helen Chester (Margaret Lindsay), the judge's niece and the proverbial ‘good girl’ gone to seed. Roy makes the mistake of siding with McNamara, damaging his professional alliance with longtime partner, Al Dextry (Harry Carey).  Realizing too late he has been deceived by McNamara and Stillman, who are preparing to make off with a cool $250,000 while the case awaits appeal, Roy’s consternation is lightened by a reformed Helen, who now begs Dextry's forgiveness, but also sways him to rob the bank and take back the money that rightfully belongs to them. Glennister and Dextry don black faces and prepare for the heist. Regrettably, Bronco Kid Farrow (Richard Barthelmess) shoots the town’s Marshall (Bud Osborne) dead, pinning the blame on Roy. It is just the sideshow McNamara needs to turn the whole affair into a three-ring circus and call for Glennister’s public execution. Mercifully, the scorned Cherry still has a few tricks up her sleeve and manages, with considerable finesse, to break her ex out of jail. Roy returns to town, kills Stillman in self-defense, and engages McNamara in an exhilarating display of fisticuffs. In the end, Glennister manages to reveal his innocence to all, reclaim his mine and wins back Cherry’s heart.

Made at a time when Dietrich’s stardom was on the wane, partly due to WWII and a closing of the Euro markets, but also her German heritage, which she publicly denounced to minimize her foreign exoticism, The Spoilers affords the Weimar wonder her best opportunity to slink and sashay about in typical and trademarked Dietrich fashion, and, a seemingly endless parade of Vera West’s sumptuous costume designs, looking every bit the glittery hostess from bygone days. Determined to “Americanize” Dietrich’s persona, Universal hired a voice coach to minimize her accent. Mercifully, the exercise never took hold. Dietrich retains her otherworldly continental flair as a sturdy, self-assured and sovereign woman, best serviced in the company of strong men, but who can pick out the diamond in the rough for herself at a glance. The antagonist chemistry between Cherry and Glennister, as they romantically spar, is primarily what propels the long respites between the action in this revenge scenario; Dietrich’s quiet desperation to make Wayne’s reluctant stud see his way clearly to her boudoir for more than just a casual visit, and his gradual awakening to the realization Lindsay’s dull-as-paint reformed gal is not for him creates a unique friction that delights and ignites the senses. The Spoilers can also be counted upon for one of the most intricately choreographed ‘fight’ sequences in movie history; a rapid, ruthless, rough n’ tumble brawl in which no piece of break-away furniture is spared, with stunt doubles, Eddie Parker and Alan Pomeroy (for Wayne and Scott, respectively) performing the more perilous jumps and falls. Independently produced for Frank Lloyd Productions and the Charles K. Feldman Group, under a distribution deal with Universal, The Spoilers remains a mostly exhilarating entertainment. It’s paltry $1.1 million intake at the box office would suggest otherwise.  

Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray is cribbing from dated digital files supplied to them by Uni, and the results, while generally solid, could have been markedly improved if only Universal would get off its lump and start remastering their back catalog to meet and exceed the capabilities of our present hi-def mastering standards. But hey, it’s Universal, whose ‘wait and see’ and/or ‘good enough’ philosophy is woefully behind the times and has not had an infusion of progressive forward-moving thought where their ‘asset management is concerned for quite some time. That said, somewhere along the way, The Spoilers did receive some basic clean-up. So, the results on Blu, if hardly pristine, are nonetheless, mostly impressive and will surely satisfy most who view this disc. Everything marginally tightens up in 1080p, comparatively speaking, from the retired DVD release; the B&W elements exhibiting a solidly balanced gray scale. Film grain has been homogenized and age-related artifacts are kept to a bare minimum. Digital anomalies, such as edge enhancement, are present but do not distract. The audio is DTS 1.0 mono but nicely cleaned up. We owe Kino a big thanks for at least providing a new audio commentary from historian, Toby Roan, plus, an animated image gallery and theatrical trailer. Bottom line: The Spoilers is grandly entertaining thanks to the drawing power of its three big ticket names above the title. The Blu-ray is a marginal improvement on the DVD. Judge and buy accordingly.

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

3.5

VIDEO/AUDIO

3.5

EXTRAS

1