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The Spoilers
1914
14
This first of the five film versions of Rex Beach's famous adventure novel of the Alaskan gold-rush might possibly seem a trifle over-rated to the casual viewer today, even were he lucky enough to see a good complete print. So much has been written, and told, about this early melodrama, and so few people have actually seen it in recent years, that legends about its merits, and tales about the savagery of its famous fight scene, have been enabled to grow without the counterbalance of critical analysis.
Frankly, today it is a film that needs a little patience —and perhaps a little kindness too. It was never a great film; nor did it pretend to be. It was an important film, and by many standards, an advanced one. Not advanced in technique perhaps; in structure and in editing, it seems quite primitive compared with the work of D. W. Griffith. It didn't have the polish and production know-how of the Thomas Ince productions. But it did have many other things to its credit. For one thing, 1914 was still fairly early in the history of the full-length feature film. Five-and six-reel features had been made since 1912, usually rather badly, and in a "stagey" fashion. The Spoilers wasn't stagey, and it didn't drag. Its background of the brawling goldfield town was remarkably vividly created and, whether by luck or design it is now difficult to tell, the very lack of production polish seemed to enhance the realism.
The subtitles, following the style of the newspaper cartoon rather than the motion picture, admittedly were unimaginative. The names of the characters speaking would be written on the title card, with their line of dialogue adjacent— somtimes two or three characters (and speeches) on the same card. It is a device that has the effect of taking the viewer out of
Glennister is victorious, triumphantly proclaiming "I broke him— with my hands." Alaska is cleared of the claimjumpers headed by McNamara, and law and order returns.
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William Farnum, as Glennister, rides into town for the final showdown. The western town and streets were all realistic, unglamorous— and very muddy.
A highlight of the great climactic fight; in 1914 it was the screen's first big fistic battle. And it still packs a wallop today!