Classics of the silent screen (1959)

the picture. But the straight narrative titles, often lifted bodily from Beach's original prose, were colorful and vivid. Considering the Selig Polyscope Company's lack of experience with feature pictures (or even with good shorts ) it was, in fact, a surprisingly good production. The story, of course, was an exciting one, and up to that time no such colorful adventure had been given the benefit of a seven-reel treatment. The story, with its many characters and interweaving sub-plots, moved along well, though in a rather straightforward fashion, climaxing of course in the famous fight between William Farnum and Tom Santschi. So much has been written about the realism of this fight— of how Bill and Tom really clawed at each other's faces, and didn't pull their punches— that it inevitably disappoints a little today. But one shouldn't forget that a real fight often does look forced and clumsy. The slickly-staged outsize battle between John Wayne and Randolph Scott in a later re-make was certainly more exciting, thanks to sharp editing, use of breakaway furniture, innumerable doubles, and other elements of deception, but it was also quite an impossible battle, physically. The Farnum-Santschi set-to had no such trickery behind it, and in 1914, when screen fights had been largely limited to short scuffles and brief exchanges of blows, it created an understandable sensation. Kathlyn Williams and Wheeler Oakman supported Farnum and Santschi; all became comparatively big names in the silent screen ( and all continued in talkies too), but Farnum was the only one to achieve really top stardom. Within a few years he was one of Fox's most important players. Directed by Colin Campbell, The Spoilers was certainly the best picture the generally unimaginative Selig company ever put out— and perhaps the only one that made a real contribution to screen history, eclipsing even DeMille's famous The Squaw Man, with William Farnum's brother, Dustin. 15