Sick Product of a Sick System

Fresh and Exciting

A Disappointing Continuation

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This B-western stars John Wayne and a couple familiar faces are there for support—Gabby Hayes and Yakima Canutt (the stuntman who taught Wayne his famous walk). While today this might surprise most people, but during the 1930s Wayne appeared almost exclusively in B-films. He was usually the star, but because these were such low-budget and quickie productions, he was not particularly famous until he began appearing in A-films starting about 1939. What I mean by a B and an A is that B-movies were meant to be the lesser or second film of a double-feature. They were always cheap productions but some were pretty good. An A-film had a larger budget and big-name stars—and were made almost exclusively by the big studios—whereas EVERYONE seemed to make Bs—from the major studios to the basement productions (hence in the case of the cheap ones they were nicknamed 'Poverty Row Productions').This film begins with Canutt robbing a safe. Wayne is the only one to have any clue as to who did it, as he finds a broken spur on the ground. However, instead of trying to explain, Wayne sets off in search of the evil-doer—and soon Gabby comes to his aid. The leader of the baddies tries to pin the blame on Wayne and Hayes. When that doesn't work, he tries to have them killed by 'accident'. The rest of the film is spent trying to find the real criminal, discover a hidden goldmine and keep a pretty young lady from the evil boss-man's clutches—three very familiar Wayne plots from this era. And, by the end, it's not surprising to learn that Wayne is in fact an undercover Marshall—something he did in many films.The film is pretty much what you'd expect. Wayne is likable, handsome and tough but a bit bland. The supporting actors range from very capable to some who have difficulty with their lines. And, the film is complete in well under an hour. Like the films of Gene Autry, Roy Rogers and Tex Ritter, this one is an enjoyable though simple and undemanding film—with enough nice stunts to make fans of the B-western genre happy but which seems a bit dated to most modern audiences. The only surprise was the amazingly violent way that Wayne and Hayes dispatched the criminals…cool but very atypical for such a movie.By the way, did you notice that just after a HUGE rainstorm that the next day a man reports seeing a cloud of dust that MIGHT be the outlaws making a getaway. You then see LOTS of dust in the following scene as the baddies ride about outside of town. With all that rain, how could there reasonably be a dust cloud?! A mud cloud, maybe! Also, I loved the scene where Wayne lassos a baddie and drags him up to the loft in the barn—and the guy doesn't once yell out for help from his nearby friends! Duh. Such inconsistencies are common in cheap B-westerns…and don't be surprised if you can spot more yourself.

Enjoyed this old time Western from 1934 with John Wayne, (John Carruthers) who sneaks into a hotel during a very bad thunder and lightning storm. The Sheriff, Jake Withers, (Gabby Hayes) gets a room and keeps his eye on a large sum of money deposited in the hotel safe. There is a man named Malgrove, (Edward Peil,Sr.) who owns the town and is a crook and he is trying to tell the town folk about selling their homes, because he knows that a gold mine is under all their homes and he wants to cash in on all the benefits. Betty Mason, (Eleanor Hunt) adds some female charm to the film and John Carruthers falls madly in love with her big brown eyes. If you like classic western films, this is the film for you, the film locations are outstanding for 1934. Enjoy.

A fairly involving 'Lone Star' film (even though it lacks enough dialog to provide any character) because of: 1) The opening sequence, with great silences, where we are caught up in John Wayne's mysterious and sudden presence in a hotel during a rain storm, 2) the registering 'bride' and 'bridegroom' at the hotel, shy and secretly excited; later the bridegroom, George Nash in his last film, comes back from the bridal suite saying 'I can't find it.' 3) Yakima Canutt's amazing stunt work-- pulling up a fallen Eleanor Hunt thru the coach horse team, and then helping her onto John Wayne's horse, 4) the extensive final chase sequence, excitingly paced and edited as the bad guys (at least 9 of them) chase our heroes across the vast prairies -- whew! This time, without any preamble of romantic intentions anywhere else in the film, John Wayne and the girl do ride off into the sunset holding hands!

What's the best way for a bandit to maintain a low profile? How about making noise while robbing a safe, leaving behind an identifying spur, and wearing a polka dot neckerchief. Yakima Canutt is Danti, the Polka Dot Bandit in this 1934 Lone Star Western, but the gimmick is not fully carried out in the film. The central plot involves an unscrupulous town boss Malgrove (Edward Piel Sr.) who schemes to buy out all the local ranchers because of gold discovered in the topsoil (?). John Wayne portrays U.S. Marshal John Carruthers, and he aids a suspicious Sheriff Jake Withers (George pre "Gabby" Hayes), who seems to regularly uncover evidence pointing to Carruthers as the Polka Dot Bandit. Eleanor Hunt is Betty Mason, the romantic interest in the film, who brings to the screen a wide eyed silent film appearance. For fans of B Westerns, there's a lot to study in "Blue Steel"; for starters, it's interesting to see Wayne's character shoot directly into a crowd to knock a gun out of the hand of bad guy Canutt. This technique is used as late as the 1950's in a number of the Lone Ranger TV shows.In another scene, two baddies attempt to get the drop on Wayne's character. As he escapes into a lofty barn, he uses a lasso to scoop up one of his antagonists, but the roped victim never cries out to his partner for help. Similarly, as he engages the other in a fist fight, both remain silent throughout the encounter.Director Robert North Bradbury makes use of an interesting film technique where he fast forwards the motion during an action scene, usually involving riders on horseback in a non threatening sequence. It's effectively done and is also used by director Harry Fraser in some of his Wayne Lone Star films such as "Randy Rides Alone". Pay close attention during a chase scene as the bad guy posse pursues Miss Betty on horseback; when hit by a shot she falls to the ground seemingly unconscious, and as she lands she ever so slightly uses her leg to shift position. Within seconds she's scooped up by the vigilant Marshal aboard Gabby's buckboard, and then she miraculously climbs aboard her own horse to once again gallop away - what a gal!By the time it's ready to wrap things up, Marshal Carruthers and Sheriff Jake lie in wait, six guns trained on sticks of dynamite planted in the side of a rock face. As the bad guys make their way into the pass, their fate is sealed under tons of tumbling mountainside. As in so many of John Wayne's Westerns of this era, his character gets the girl without even trying. The scene fades with the marshal and his future bride riding off into the sunset, until it's time to do it all over again in at least another dozen or so Lone Star films.