Martyrs of the Alamo (1915) / The Spoilers (1914) (DVD)

MARTYRS OF THE ALAMO (1915): Produced by D.W. Griffith in 1915, Martyrs of the Alamo is the earliest surviving film made about the historic Battle of the Alamo. Keeping in line with the abhorrent racial attitudes displayed by Griffith in Birth of a Nation, the 1836 assault on the Alamo mission is erroneously depicted as starting because a Mexican soldier sexually assaulted a white woman. Despite these wrong-headed characterizations (and the presence of white actors in dark makeup playing Mexicans) Martyrs of the Alamo can be appreciated for its historical significance and use of innovative cinematic techniques employed by Griffith protege Christy Cabanne. (In the talkie era, Cabanne was a prolific director of B-movies like The Mummy's Hand and Scared to Death.) It also features some of the earliest on-screen portrayals of Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie, who would become popular characters on film and television for years to come. Some sources state that Douglas Fairbanks has a small role in the film as a servant in blackface, even before his official screen debut in The Lamb (1915), but these claims remain unverified. Martyrs of the Alamo was shown in some territories as The Birth of Texas, to tie in with Griffith's more popular work released earlier that year.

THE SPOILERS (1914): Called one of the "50 Great Films'' of the silent era by Joe Franklin, The Spoilers is the original screen version of the famed Western saga written by Rex Beach. It tells the story of Roy Glenister and his partner Dextry, owners of the richest gold mine in Alaska. The corrupt Alex McNamara seeks to rob them of their claim, and uses a woman to sow discord between the two. The film concludes with a knock-down, drag-out fight between Glenister and McNamara, shockingly brutal for 1914 and considered one of the greatest movie fights of all time. It incorporated no on-stage trickery or stuntmen, meaning that William Farnum really broke Tom Stanschi's nose! The Spoilers would be memorably remade in 1942 with John Wayne, Randolph Scott and Marlene Dietrich, but the original silent version remains just as impressive today as it was to audiences in 1914.

• silent