Los corruptores de Alaska

Had "The Spoilers" not been a remake (in fact, it was remade several times before 1955), I would have likely scored the film an 8....that, and the sloppy use of doubles at the end of the story.

The story is set in 1899 during the Alaska/Yukon gold rush...so, it's not exactly a western...though it often plays like one. A group of no-good scoundrels have come up with a scheme to steal gold mine claims...and at first, Roy (Jeff Chandler) tries to keep a level head and convinces his partner (John McIntire) to let the law run its course. Well, this clearly does not work and Roy doesn't realize how crooked and how deep the scheme runs. Eventually, when they learn the truth, Roy and the other miners are fighting mad. Along for the ride are a couple ladies....one a saloon owner and all-around dame and the other...well, she's keeping a few secrets.

While the film doesn't feature as impressive a cast as the previous version of the film (which starred John Wayne, Randolph Scott and Marlene Dietrich), the second-tier cast with Chandler, Rory Calhoun, Ray Danton, Anne Baxter and many others is quite good. Also, the studio apparently thought enough of the production to sink a buttload of money in creating a massive train wreck and the craziest fight scene I can remember seeing in a movie (although if you look closely, you can see that OFTEN the fighters are stuntmen and not Chandler and Calhoun!). Overall, the film is a lot of fun...and quite exciting. Well worth seeing.

All these Alaskan films are usually worth watching mainly for their splendid bar fights, in which the contestants usually conscientiously wreck the entire establishment, break all windows, smash all bottles, destroy the entire bar and make a perfect exorbitant havoc of the whole studio set-up. Anne Baxter is no Marlene Dietrich, but any film with Jeff Chandler is worth watching just for his sake if for nothing else, and although he is no John Wayne he is more likable and intelligent. Earlier films on this book of gold diggers being cheated of their mines by foul play were usually in black and white, while this one is in color. It doesn't make the story any better, but it adds color to the fights, making them more splendidly colorful. Still the earlier version with Marlene Dietrich and John Wayne is to be preferred, it was more alive, while the only truly genuine characters here are the old gold diggers defending what they waged their lives for.

The first scene gave me great hopes. The miner's dirty clothes, the looks of the town and the muddy street. Then my hopes were dashed when the lady showed up. This was Nome, Alaska in 1899 and she show up wearing a dress, hat and feathers that would be more appropriate at a San Francisco opera. During the rest of the movie, all the major characters wore clothes that were always clean, pressed and way too fancy for the time and place. I've never understood why directors would allow a movie to be made with such obvious flaws. Makes no sense. The movie had a pretty good plot but for me, the 1956 style acting, script and special effects could have been done so much better with a little more thought.

This 1955 version of The Spoilers for Universal Pictures remains the fifth and last version on film. After over 50 years it could use another remake and I'm surprised no one has done one. I can see someone like Russell Crowe in the hero role as Gary Cooper, John Wayne, and Jeff Chandler in this film have done before.

Not much variation on the plot in this film. Rory Calhoun plays the charming, but very caddish gold commissioner who has a carefully thought out scheme to rob Jeff Chandler and John McIntire of the contents of their mine. Calhoun is also jumping Chandler's claim on saloon owner Anne Baxter and Chandler himself doesn't help his cause when he starts giving Barbara Britton the once over. What he doesn't know is Britton is in league with Calhoun and company.

If you've seen the film that starred Marlene Dietrich, John Wayne and Randolph Scott from 1943 also for Universal you know exactly how this one comes out. All the cast including the three leads acquit themselves well in the roles carved out by movie legends.

I'd really love to see the 1930 version of The Spoilers that Gary Cooper starred in, but apparently the film is lost. If someone knows something else on the subject, let me know.

In any event this version of The Spoilers is fast moving and exciting western entertainment for fans of action films with a nice dose of sex, courtesy of Anne Baxter.

IMDB and wiki says this is less than an hour and a half. The version I saw was nearly two hours. The main title also had a title in Spanish translating into The Corruption of Alaska. Could this be a Spanish version? There's also a good amount of time between the ending that wiki describes and the ending in this film. I wonder if there is added footage?

Another odd thing -- it appears to be based in the late 1800's but there's a scene early on where a bar tender presses an electrical button to alert someone that a person has come into the saloon/gambling joint.

Overall, this is a B western in my book. Directed like a TV movie.