AFI Catalog of Feature Films
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The Spoilers
Director: Edwin Carewe (Dir)
Release Date:   20 Sep 1930
Premiere Information:   New York opening: 19 Sep 1930
Duration (in mins):   85
Duration (in feet):   8,128
Duration (in reels):   11
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Cast:   Gary Cooper (Roy Glenister)  
    Kay Johnson (Helen Chester)  
    Betty Compson (Cherry Malotte)  
    William Boyd (Alec McNamara)  
    Harry Green (Herman)  
    James Kirkwood (Joe Dextry)  
    Slim Summerville (Slapjack Simms)  
    Lloyd Ingraham (Judge Stillman)  
    Oscar Apfel (Struve)  
    Edward Coxen (Lawyer)  
    Jack Trent (Bronco Kid)  
    Edward Hearn (Lieutenant)  
    Hal David (Bill Wheaton)  
    Knute Erickson (Captain Stevens)  
    John Beck (Hansen)  
    Jack N. Holmes (Voorhees)  

Summary: On a voyage to Nome, Roy Glenister, one of the several owners of a rich mine, The Midas, is captivated by Helen Chester, while he both fascinates and disquiets her by his primitive nature. He arrives to find his partners, Slapjack Simms and Joe Dextry, befuddled by a trio of no-gooders: Voorhees, the U. S. marshal, Judge Stillman, and McNamara, a politician. Their racket is to cloud title to the various mine claims, eject the miners, and make McNamara owner of the disputed properties. The Midas falls prey to their plotting, and McNamara also steals the personal cache of Glenister, Dextry, and Slapjack, blocking all possibility of their enlisting legal aid from the States. Finally Dextry and Glenister plan a vigilante action, and McNamara calls for a detail of soldiers to protect "his property." The final chase ends with Glenister taking the vengeance that he has been denied by legal process, whipping the tar out of McNamara, and winning the hand of Helen. 

Production Company: Paramount Publix Corp.  
Distribution Company: Paramount Publix Corp.  
Director: Edwin Carewe (Dir)
Writer: Agnes Brand Leahy (Scr)
  Bartlett Cormack (Adpt)
  Bartlett Cormack (Dial)
Photography: Harry Fischbeck (Dir of photog)
Film Editor: William Shea (Film ed)
Sound: Harry M. Lindgren (Rec eng)
Country: United States
Language: English

Music:
Songs:
Source Text: Based on the novel The Spoilers by Rex Beach (New York, 1906).
Authors: Rex Beach

Copyright Claimant Copyright Date Copyright Number
Paramount Publix Corp. 19/9/1930 dd/mm/yyyy LP1591

Physical Properties: Sd: Movietone
  b&w:

 
Genre: Melodrama
 
Subjects (Major): Alaska
  Fraud
  Injustice
  Judges
  Miners
  Mines
  Politicians
  United States. Marshals

Note: For information on other film adaptations of Rex Beach's novel, please consult the entry above for the 1914 Selig Polyscope production, directed by Colin Campbell and starring William Farnum and Kathlyn Williams. 

Bibliographic Sources:   Date   Page
EHW   13 Sep 1930   p. 39.
Film Daily   21 Sep 1930   p. 31.
New York Times   20 Sep 1930   p. 15.
Photoplay   Nov 1930   p. 53.
Time   6 Oct 1930   p. 34.
Variety   24 Sep 1930   p. 23.

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The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.
 
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