The Spoilers. 1914. Directed by Colin Campbell.

(1/20/00)

It is a rare pleasure to see a film this old presented so well. It was a nice print and I really enjoyed it.

The Spoilers is noteworthy for its atmosphere and its gallery of vivid characters. I thought William Farnum was wonderful. It is a complicated story with a lot of twists and turns and it was hard to keep everything straight, but I don't think you need to follow all the details. They just keep the film moving.

This is a film about political corruption. It is also a film about loyalty. It's about characters who look after each other and protect each other. It is about a woman who learns that the smooth, elegant gentleman she likes at the beginning is a deceitful crook and is won by the coarser, shorter, paunchier hero.

I kept thinking about The Adventures of Robin Hood while watching this. I think that Helen is quite similar to the character Olivia de Havilland played in that film. She is related to "the bad guys" and can't accept that the other side are "the good guys." She is initially hostile to the hero and a big part of the pleasure of each film is in watching him win her over. In each case she is painfully made to see the truth.

She tells Farnum, "I hate your savagery" and he decides to try and not fight anymore since she disapproves of it. This is not being true to himself. And it's sad to see a man do that because of a woman. Hedoesn't even try to defend the mine when it is being taken away from him. He gets over it, though, and soundly trounces the villain in the famous fight scene. And he proudly says, "I licked him with my bare hands. And he does get the girl.