The Spoilers (1942)

No fighting in here allowed unless it's over me. We are in Nome, Alaska, miner Roy Glennister (John Wayne) and his partner Dextry (Harry Carey), are forced to fight to save their gold claims from the crooked commissioner, Alexander McNamara (Randolph Scott). Backed by sultry saloon owner and entertainer Cherry Malotte (Marlene Dietrich), the team must overcome both the odds and suspect politicians in order to get their just deserts. Rex Beach's novel has been adapted five times thus far, and it's not hard to see why because the story is as solid as it gets. This take on the source has a wonderful sense of fun and adventure oozing from it, the cast are uniformly great and the direction from Ray Enright is tight and unobtrusive. Some fine set pieces dot themselves throughout the picture, culminating in a right royal (and lengthy) punch up between Wayne & Scott. No overkilling or tediously ham sequences are here, this is simply an enjoyable Western achieving all it set out to achieve from the off. 7/10