John Wayne's Lone Star pictures were treading-water affairs, with hokey plots, exposition-filled dialogue, and lots of back-and-forth horse- riding. "Blue Steel" is an amiable if fitful example of same, with Wayne the apparent victim of mistaken identity.
Late one dark and stormy night, Wayne sneaks into a hotel (why he sneaks in is never explained) and witnesses the theft of $4,000. So does the sheriff, Jake (George Hayes, not yet billed as "Gabby" Hayes), who figures Wayne's the "pokey-dot" bandit, so named for a signature neckerchief the thief wears when committing his crimes. The two quickly find themselves together in another town, reasons unexplained, helping some locals trying to make a stand as a group of murdering bandits keep stealing their provisions. Someone wants them gone, but why?
The opening certainly is unusual. There's some business to distract the sleepy hotel owner, involving a newlywed groom who "can't find it," not really explaining what he meant. Chances are it was a bedpan, but by the amused look on Wayne's face another possibility arises.
He's a charmer, alright, even if he still looks a bit callow here. Watching Wayne work is always a pleasure, and director/writer Robert Bradbury gives him plenty of opportunities to get us on his side, however uncertain we may be of his ultimate motives. I think some of this is intentional, and a point for Bradbury if so.
The film doesn't so much unfold as it just sort of happens. One moment we see the sheriff about to draw on Wayne, the next we watch the pair run off to help a maiden in distress, Eleanor Hunt. The back-and-forth between the Wayne and Hayes' characters is convoluted, each telling the other they have a surprise up their sleeves, but you sort of enjoy it if you aren't expecting much in the way of logic.
Hunt's the weak link in this film, all fluttery eyes and a high, tremulous voice. Still, you have to feel bad for her character; not only was her father killed but now the big man in town, Malgrove (Edward Peil, Sr.) wants her for his woman. Of course, this seals the deal that Malgrove is up to no good.
The one undeniable benefit to "Blue Steel," other than Wayne, is that like the other Lone Star Waynes it's short, just 53 minutes counting a bit that was cut from my Mill Creek DVD of Wayne and Hayes' characters meeting, which still doesn't explain why the sheriff is so slow about taking his prize suspect in.
One particularly goofy scene has the sheriff shooting a guy off a barn roof, right before he is about to cut a rope to dump some hay on an unsuspecting Wayne. Why does he kill the guy? I don't know, but I guess it made for an impressive stunt. There are a few noteworthy stunts in this movie, many no doubt performed by Yakima Canutt, who often played bad guys in Lone Star films and does so here as Danti, a. k. a. the "Polky-Dot" as the sheriff keeps calling him.
The film does wind things up with an exciting horse chase, with the good guys on a wagon bringing needed provisions to the town. It's all resolved very neatly, too neatly, with Wayne explaining who he really is before riding off with Hunt. I suspect this was seen as good enough for its core audience of eight-year-old boys. They had some growing up to do, as did Wayne. But "Blue Steel" does offer some modest if compensating charms along the way.
Late one dark and stormy night, Wayne sneaks into a hotel (why he sneaks in is never explained) and witnesses the theft of $4,000. So does the sheriff, Jake (George Hayes, not yet billed as "Gabby" Hayes), who figures Wayne's the "pokey-dot" bandit, so named for a signature neckerchief the thief wears when committing his crimes. The two quickly find themselves together in another town, reasons unexplained, helping some locals trying to make a stand as a group of murdering bandits keep stealing their provisions. Someone wants them gone, but why?
The opening certainly is unusual. There's some business to distract the sleepy hotel owner, involving a newlywed groom who "can't find it," not really explaining what he meant. Chances are it was a bedpan, but by the amused look on Wayne's face another possibility arises.
He's a charmer, alright, even if he still looks a bit callow here. Watching Wayne work is always a pleasure, and director/writer Robert Bradbury gives him plenty of opportunities to get us on his side, however uncertain we may be of his ultimate motives. I think some of this is intentional, and a point for Bradbury if so.
The film doesn't so much unfold as it just sort of happens. One moment we see the sheriff about to draw on Wayne, the next we watch the pair run off to help a maiden in distress, Eleanor Hunt. The back-and-forth between the Wayne and Hayes' characters is convoluted, each telling the other they have a surprise up their sleeves, but you sort of enjoy it if you aren't expecting much in the way of logic.
Hunt's the weak link in this film, all fluttery eyes and a high, tremulous voice. Still, you have to feel bad for her character; not only was her father killed but now the big man in town, Malgrove (Edward Peil, Sr.) wants her for his woman. Of course, this seals the deal that Malgrove is up to no good.
The one undeniable benefit to "Blue Steel," other than Wayne, is that like the other Lone Star Waynes it's short, just 53 minutes counting a bit that was cut from my Mill Creek DVD of Wayne and Hayes' characters meeting, which still doesn't explain why the sheriff is so slow about taking his prize suspect in.
One particularly goofy scene has the sheriff shooting a guy off a barn roof, right before he is about to cut a rope to dump some hay on an unsuspecting Wayne. Why does he kill the guy? I don't know, but I guess it made for an impressive stunt. There are a few noteworthy stunts in this movie, many no doubt performed by Yakima Canutt, who often played bad guys in Lone Star films and does so here as Danti, a. k. a. the "Polky-Dot" as the sheriff keeps calling him.
The film does wind things up with an exciting horse chase, with the good guys on a wagon bringing needed provisions to the town. It's all resolved very neatly, too neatly, with Wayne explaining who he really is before riding off with Hunt. I suspect this was seen as good enough for its core audience of eight-year-old boys. They had some growing up to do, as did Wayne. But "Blue Steel" does offer some modest if compensating charms along the way.