John Wayne’s Westerns Get All the Glory — but This Overlooked, Underrated Mystery Drama Proved He Was More Than a Cowboy

When folks discuss John Wayne, the image painted is normally him on a horse, not chasing seal poachers by way of icy waters. However for a quick second within the Nineteen Thirties, The Duke swapped his cowboy hat for a Coast Guard uniform, and the outcome was much more enjoyable than anybody anticipated it to be. Sea Spoilers isn’t simply an old-school thriller drama set on the Alaskan coast; it’s a time capsule providing a uncommon take a look at Wayne who was attempting to show he may maintain his personal in modern-day adventure stories. The movie itself has the actor taking part in a tough-as-nails Coast Guard officer in pursuit of smugglers who’ve been sneaking stolen contraband throughout U.S. waters.

In a bit of over an hour, the movie serves up a full-blown kidnapping, a murder mystery, a jealous sidekick with a pet seal, a ship capsizing, and a lead character who principally runs the ship whereas his boss cowers away. Positive, it’s messy, however it’s additionally curiously watchable. Clocking in at simply over an hour, this B-movie might not have develop into cinematic gold, however it wasn’t an epic fail both. It’s fast-paced, chock-full of thriller, and provides viewers a sneak peek on the rising star Wayne was already changing into.

‘Sea Spoilers’ Feels Like a Seafaring Motion Film with a John Wayne Twist

No one will get their behinds handed to them in Sea Spoilers with out incomes it, and that’s already a transparent signal that it’s a John Wayne film. Whereas this will not be his standard traditional Western full with six-shooters and horses, it nonetheless borrows parts from the high-stakes action flicks we got here to know the actor for. From the get-go, Wayne’s Boatswain Bob Randall comes throughout as a person on a mission. He’s caught in a dead-end place, will get handed over for a promotion, however it’s clear that his eye remains to be on the prize — taking down a gang of Arctic smugglers who commerce seal skins illegally and homicide Coast Guardsmen. That setup alone has sufficient juice for a full-on action thriller. There’s a scene the place Bob shakes down an area snitch, whereas the goal is to discover a lead, it’s the little issues like grabbing him by the shirt and tossing him round like he’s in a Nineteen Thirties model of Taken that promote the transient.

Later, when Nan Gray’s character, Connie Dawson, is kidnapped, the movie actually kicks into gear. Bob fits up, grabs some firepower, boards the enemy boat undercover, and throws down in a closing rescue mission that has fistfights, double-crosses, and the works. Despite the fact that it’s technically a B-movie thriller, Sea Spoilers lays it thick on the motion. Then there’s Wayne, who’s nonetheless that very same square-jawed pressure of nature. He’s simply wearing sailor uniforms as a substitute of cowboy dusters.

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This Underseen Western Proves John Wayne Could Be Funny as Hell

“The place the river is windin’, huge nuggets they’re findin’.”

‘Sea Spoilers’ Gives John Wayne a New Type of Journey in a Method Westerns By no means Might

You may solely watch so many cowboy standoffs earlier than they begin to look alike, however Sea Spoilers is form of a glitch within the John Wayne journey, taking issues from dusty trails to icy, uneven waters. Right here, the Coast Guard setting doesn’t simply rework the backdrop; it adjustments your complete vibe. In a nutshell, it permits the movie to do what your run-of-the-mill Western can’t. So, you don’t simply have Wayne taking part in a small-town sheriff, he’s sizzling on the heels of some smugglers, coming nose to nose with shady docks searching for clues. It’s that sort of stress that hits in a different way. In a single scene, Wayne even ventures underwater to get better stolen items, and also you’ve obtained to confess that it’s obtained much more edge than many horseback chases.

There’s additionally one thing in regards to the ocean setting that raises the stakes, and within the course of makes the whole lot really feel extra closed-in and downright dangerous. So, if anybody makes a mistake there, they’re not simply left nursing a wound; they’re fish meals. When Connie Dawson will get kidnapped and brought out on a ship, her rescue mission hits lots more durable as a result of the hazard is so palpable. The setting offers Sea Spoilers this anything-can-happen really feel, so you continue to get Wayne’s tough-guy angle, however it’s combined with slippery docks, horrid climate, and mysteries that no frontier city may include. On the finish of the day, Westerns do have their attraction, however Sea Spoilers proves that boats and a ticking clock can pack simply as a lot punch.