I pionieri dell'Alaska

Rex Beaches 1906 novel had been done 2 times as a silent film, twice as a sound film prior to this outing. So the plot had been used and reused with slight differences. This one pretty much follows the same plot.

The 1942 version with Marlenea Deitrich, and John Wayne is better that this one for star power. The 1930 version starring Gary Cooper was once in a late show tv package in the 1960's but is now considered a lost film. The silents are impossible for most modern viewers to watch. That brings us to 1955.

Rory Calhoun is a fairly big name actor, while Jeff Chandler is most comfortable in formats other than westerns which even though this is Alaska, it plays mostly as a Western. Anne Baxter is okay here. In fact the whole cast is okay. That's the problem, as this film really adds nothing to the previous versions and the stars are not as good as the John Wayne / Randolph Scott version.

This version is currently on Grit. Would love it if the channel could run the Scott/Wayne/Dietrich version with this as a double feature. If they could run the Cooper version too, it would make an interesting triple. Especially with all those bulb head commercials the channel runs. If they could remake it today and make it more of an "R" rated film, it could actually sell tickets. With a good cast, it could be re-made well and use some modern effects and some :mature loving plot to update it.

This comes nowhere near the quality of the original film with John Wayne and Randolph Scott. Jeff Chandler is too old and has no class. Rory Calhoun is the new kid on the block, but he is not impressive in the Scott role. And even though Anne Baxter is a good actress in her own right, she is no replacement for Marlene Dietrich. She has class with Wayne in both the original film and 'Seven Sinners'. There is no real tension between Chandler and Colhoun like there was between Wayne and Scott, and it made you realise that even if the plot is a bit pedestrian at times, the performances between Wayne, Scott and Dietrich maintained your attention. This is not the case in this version and I would advise fans to stay away from this version and watch the original.

A gang intent on stealing the gold mine owned by Jeff Chandler and John McIntire come to Nome during the Alaskan gold rush.

It's the fifth screen version of Reach Beach's sturdy novel, and Universal put its best foot forward in casting from among their stock company. Anne Baxter comes close to busting out of her decolletage as Cherry Malotte, Rory Calhoun gives a fine performance as the smooth Alex McNamara, and Ray Danton, Barbara Britton, Wallace Ford, Carl Benton Reid, Raymond Walburn (in his last big screen performance) and Ruth Donnelly show up. But Jesse Hibbs direction is adequate, and the stunt men doubling for Chandler and Calhoun don't actually try to kill each other, as William Farnum and Tom Santschi did in the 1914 version. It's quite enjoyable, but as with many a 1950s version of a durable property, it seems a bit rote, less connected to the characters Beach had met when he fell to gold fever in Alaska, and more to roles that had become a bit stereotyped over the decades. Still, it's always fun to see people fall into the thick, gluey mud.

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.

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.