The Spoilers | |
---|---|
Directed by | Jesse Hibbs |
Written by | Rex Beach (novel) |
Screenplay by |
Oscar Brodney Charles Hoffman |
Starring |
Anne Baxter Jeff Chandler Rory Calhoun Ray Danton Barbara Britton John McIntire |
Music by | Joseph Gershenson |
Cinematography | Maury Gertsman |
Edited by | Paul Weatherwax |
Production
company |
Universal Pictures
|
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date
|
|
Running time
|
84 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1.4 million (US) |
The Spoilers is a 1955 Technicolor Western film directed by Jesse Hibbs starring Anne Baxter, Jeff Chandler, Rory Calhoun, Ray Danton, Barbara Britton and John McIntire. The movie is set in Nome, Alaska during the 1898 Gold Rush, The film culminates in a spectacular saloon fistfight between Glennister and McNamara.
Film versions also appeared in 1914, 1923 (with Noah Beery, Sr. as McNamara), 1930 (with Gary Cooper as Glennister and Betty Compson as Malotte), and 1942 (with John Wayne as Glennister, Betty Compson lookalike Marlene Dietrich as Malotte, and Randolph Scott as McNamara). The 1930 and 1942 versions were the only instances of Gary Cooper and John Wayne playing the same role in the same story in two different films; Jeff Chandler portrays the part in this version.
Struggling miners Flapjack and Banty go to the office of Alex McNamara, the new gold commissioner in Nome, Alaska, to complain about claim jumpers. He isn't there, so they drown their sorrows at Cherry Malotte's gambling house and saloon.
Cherry looks ready to steal the men's claim herself in Alex's office when he suddenly appears. He assures her Judge Stillman is on his way to Nome to review all legal matters regarding the mines.
When a ship arrives bringing her sweetheart Roy Glennister back to town, Cherry runs out eagerly to meet it, to the jealousy of Blackie, her croupier. To her anger, Roy is traveling with an attractive stranger, Helen Chester. An irate Cherry leaves in a huff with Roy's co-owner of a nearby mine, Dextry.