The Spoilers (1923)

This was the second silent version of the oft-filmed Rex Beach novel (made three more times in the sound era). Roy Glennister (Milton Sills) and his partner, Joe Dextry (Robert Edeson), are tricked out of their Alaskan gold mines by a pair of crooked politicians. Alex McNamara (Noah Beery Sr.) and Judge Stillman (Sam deGrasse) jump their claims. Glennister has become friends with Stillman's niece, Heelen Chester (Barbara Bedford), and dancehall girl Cherry Malotte (Anna Q. Nilsson) tries to convince him that the girl is part of the scheme. But Helen is honest, and she winds up looking into her uncle's dishonest affairs. Because of her efforts, she just barely escapes being put in a compromising position. Glennister and McNamara come to blows in a brutal fight that serves as the picture's climax. In the first version of The Spoilers, William Farnum and Tom Santschi made this fight particularly memorable. Unfortunately, handsome Sills and big, beefy Beery weren't nearly so well-matched, and the battle didn't look quite real. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi