One of the racier post code movies is filled with insinuations, innuendos, sly winks at the audience and a bit of racist humor thanks to the presence of a seemingly wise servant who has the wit of a Gracie Allen character. It's set way up in Nome Alaska where fights over rights to gold mines are an every day occurrence. When the law tries to step in, they are greeted with gun violence and total opposition. Marlene Dietrich once again is a bar hostess as Cherry, more dressed up with high hair and fashions. John Wayne and Randolph Scott are the two men vying for her attention, and it's clear that she knows more than meets the mine.The Rex Beach adventure novel already had an earlier version, and there would be even one more made just over a decade later. But because of the cast, this is probably the most well known version, adequately entertaining if a bit over the top. The emphasis in the script is based on sardonic humor, with much of it provided by Mariette Canty as Dietrich's dingbat black maid. Harry Carey, George Cleveland and Richard Barthelmess stand out in the supporting cast, with Margaret Lindsay a stark contrast to Dietrich. Great photography and atmosphere make this stand out. Dietrich and Wayne have decent chemistry while Scott makes an outstanding villain.There's some issue with the character played by Canty, sassy but basically stupid, and a plot twist where Wayne disguises himself with blackface and enters Dietrich's bedroom, much to Canty's delight. Earlier she had made a comment about tired of pretending that the darker Eskimos were from the south, and here, she reacts to blackface as is if were an every day occurrence. It's ironic that over a decade later, she would play a much more dignified character that brought her some attention, the role of the loving housekeeper in "Rebel Without a Cause" that was the only source of love Sal Mineo's character had known. Here, she's told by Dietrich to sit on eggs and reacts as if she believed Dietrich was serious. The laughs are there, but come out uncomfortably. A great fight sequence ends the film, that is after you get a chance to see Wayne hiding inside one of Dietrich's feathery costumes.

You don't get a chance to see Randolph Scott as a bad guy very often, if at all, so here's your chance. As the newly arrived Gold Commissioner in Nome, Alaska, his character Alex McNamara is in cahoots with local attorney Stuve (Charles Halton) and another newcomer to the territory in Circuit Court Judge Horace Stillman (Samuel S. Hinds). They get together to file 'legal' claims on mining rights in the territory against the original miners who never bothered with that kind of formality. All this made me wonder how men in such positions managed to insert themselves into community life just by showing up and claiming their authority. Oh well, probably not supposed to think about it.Say, what's with Marlene Deitrich's bulbous blonde bouffant hairdo? How's that for alliteration, I didn't plan it, it just came out that way. It looked rather strange to me until she put on a stylish hat and then she looked just fine. In fact, I don't think Dietrich looked finer in any other film I've ever seen her in. She filled out her frequent change of wardrobe quite admirably. One thing I thought about though; having appeared in "Destry Rides Again" a couple of years earlier, I wonder if she ever got that character mixed up with Harry Carey's Dextry in this one. Maybe there's an outtake.Third billed John Wayne doesn't arrive on the scene until some time into the story, but at that point it becomes pretty much his picture. His mining partnership with Al Dextry survives a trial by fire and he does the honorable thing by stating he was wrong about the McNamara/Stillman/Stuve scheme to commandeer the Midas Mine claim. I had to chuckle when Stillman was first introduced to the packed courtroom by the bailiff - "Stand up everybody. Here comes the Judge" - it brought to mind all those comic bits from 'Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In' a few decades later.Modern day viewers may groan at more than a handful of politically incorrect situations in the story, but for the Forties they were pretty commonplace. The most obvious was Wayne's character in black-face, but Cherry Malotte's (Dietrich) black maid Idabelle (Marietta Canty) had her share of double entendre jokes that she pulled off to great comic effect.Well, with Bronco Kid Farrow (Richard Barthelmess) and villain McNamara both carrying a torch for Cherry, and the Judge's niece Helen (Margaret Lindsay) pining for Roy Glennister, it's a toss-up most of the way as to how the romantic angles play out, so I won't give it away here. Before it's all over there's that great bar room dust up between John Wayne and Randolph Scott that I had to add to my list of Best Western Movie Brawls that you can check out here - http://www.imdb.com/list/ls003585433/ One last note, and I'm still thinking about this one - when Glennister's posse prepares to rob back their safe at the local bank, they arrive in town underneath a prominently posted sign on a building that states 'Manufacturer of Incorruptible Teeth'. Sure would like to have known more about that product.

John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich made three movies together. Director Ray Enright's "The Spoilers" was the second one they co-starred in after Tay Garnett's "Seven Sinners" (1940) and then later Lewis Seiler's "Pittsburgh." Furthermore, "The Spoilers" was the second time that Randolph Scott co-starred with Wayne. The action takes place in Nome, Alaska, in 1900, when a new Gold Commissioner and a judge arrive in town. As Cherry Malotte, Dietrich is not only the most popular dame in town but also she operates a saloon. Wayne is cast as heroic protagonist Roy Glennister. He is a partner in a mine with Dextry (Harry Carey of "Angel and the Badman") who refuses to let a crooked judge take away their mind. Cherry and Roy are an item until Roy returns from Seattle with a sweet-looking gal who turns out to be the judge's daughter. It doesn't take Judge Horace Stillman (Samuel S. Hinds of "Cobra Woman") long to turn the town upside down with the corrupt gold commissioner Alexander McNamara (Randolph Scott of "Virginia City") and before long, they convince Roy to let them check up on the legitimacy of their mine. Shotgun toting hard-case Dextry would rather shoot than let the villains have their way, but Roy considers himself a law-abiding citizen, especially after the solemn judge assure him that they will clear matters up in no time. Meanwhile, Cherry isn't too happy with Helen Chester (Margaret Lindsay) and the effect that she is having on Roy. Helen is living in a fantasy until she discovers that Alexander and her father are a couple of chiseling thieves. Things come to a head when the law throws Roy in jail and the villains decide to let him escape so he can run smack into an ambush. Happily, Cherry and her henchman, Bronco Kid Farrow (Richard Barthelmess of "Only Angels Have Wings"), have their own surprise. Director Ray Enright stages fistfights, shoot-outs, and train crashes with appropriate gusto in this World War II era western. "The Spoilers" represents one of those rare times when Randolph Scott played a villain.

I like films like THE SPOILERS because they have absolutely no pretense about them. They are simple B-movie-type films with relatively simple plots and familiar actors but pack a lot of predictable but fun entertainment into them. Sure, since it's a John Wayne flick you KNOW that he will win in the end and you KNOW what to expect. And, for me, that's not a bad thing. I like a good old fashioned John Wayne flick like most of the ones he did in the 40s--good, solid, and entertaining. The only odd thing is that the Duke is billed 3rd when it is clearly his film. Top billing went to Marlena Dietrich--who at the time was the bigger star. However, her part is pretty flat and she clearly acts in support of Wayne. And, second billing went to Randolph Scott. But, once again he was clearly not the leading character but the villain. Now if all this doesn't make sense, you need to understand that although Wayne had made many films by 1942, most were B-movies and he still was only just becoming the break-out star he would so clearly be in just a few short years.In addition to being a good old John Wayne flick (among his better ones of the 40s), the direction and plot are pretty good as well. A very good movie--nearly deserving a score of 8.