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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Ray Enright
USA 1942

 

Gold and Greed in an Alaskan Boomtown! Screen legends John Wayne (Reap the Wild Wind), Marlene Dietrich (Witness for the Prosecution) and Randolph Scott (Western Union) shine in this action-packed adventure set against the backdrop of the turn-of-the-century Nome Gold Rush. When honest prospector Roy Lannister (Wayne) gets swindled out of his mine claim, he turns to seductive saloon singer Cherry Maloti (Dietrich) for assistance in his battle with no-good town kingpin Alexander McNamara (Scott). It’s an adventure as wild as the Northwest Territory itself, featuring an all-out fight to the finish between western icons Wayne and Scott that’s considered one of the most spectacular action sequences ever filmed. Directed by Ray Enright (Return of the Bad Men) and based on a book by Rex Beach (The World in His Arms). Beautifully shot by the great Milton R. Krasner (All About Eve). 

***

The fourth of five movie versions of the rugged Rex Beach novel of the same name, 1942's The Spoilers stars Marlene Dietrich, John Wayne, and Randolph Scott. The plot, involving the cheating of Alaskan gold rush prospectors by a crooked gold commissioner, requires that Scott play a villain, Alexander McNamara. Prospector Roy Glennister (Wayne) is continually persecuted by McNamara, who has the law on his side, until the two decide to settle their dispute man-to-man in a spectacular reel-long fistfight. La Dietrich plays saloon-hall gal Cherry Mallote, who becomes the romantic bone of contention between Glennister and McNamara. William Farnum, who played John Wayne's role in the original 1914 filmization of The Spoilers, plays a key supporting role in this remake; also on hand in a cameo is poet Robert W. Service, of The Shooting of Dan McGrew fame. Listen for a cute inside joke at the beginning of the picture, invoking the name of co-producer Lee Marcus.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 8th, 1942

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

    

Coming to Blu-ray in the UK by BFI in November 2021:

Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:27:26.241        
Video

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 23,380,842,309 bytes

Feature: 20,780,660,736 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.22 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1554 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1554 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps

Subtitles English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio:
Kino

 

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 23,380,842,309 bytes

Feature: 20,780,660,736 bytes

Video Bitrate: 28.22 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Toby Roan

• Animated Gallery (12:20)
• Trailer (1:48)


Blu-ray Release Date:
September 10th, 2019
Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 9

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (August 2019): Kino have transferred 1942's The Spoilers to Blu-ray. It is on a single-layered disc with a high-ish bitrate. Contrast is well-layered and the grain is textured and consistent. There is no noise or compression artifacts. It is very clean and looks great in-motion. Really a very strong 1080P presentation.

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. It has modest effects - beyond the lengthy fistfight in the final reel - and score by Hans J. Salter (Pittsburgh, Man Without a Star, The Killer that Stalked New York, The Strange Door, Cover Up, Man Without a Star, Scarlet Street, The Land Unknown, The War Lord, The Mole People, The Strange Case of Doctor Rx) sounding reasonable, flat and unremarkable. Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray includes an audio commentary by film historian Toby Roan (author of A Million Feet Of Film: The Making Of One-Eyed Jacks). He talks about the earlier versions of the film, the supportive cast and other 'Gold Rush' films among many other topics. He is well-prepared documenting some of the strange deaths of the supporting cast including suicides. There is also a lengthy animated gallery of stills and a trailer.

It gets so I could watch Marlene Dietrich in anything - her costumes, hair, flirtatious gaze and demeanor are always extravagantly classy. Strange to see 'The Duke' get third billing. The Spoilers is good! It's a film I will be revisiting on Blu-ray and the commentary add further value. Recommended! 

Gary Tooze

 


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Box Cover

CLICK to order from:

    

Coming to Blu-ray in the UK by BFI in November 2021:

Distribution Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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