Directed by: Robert N. Bradbury
Starring: John Wayne, Eleanor Hunt, George “Gabby” Hayes, Edward Peil Sr., Yakima Canutt

STORY

Before John Wayne became one of the defining faces of the American Western, he spent the early 1930s riding through a string of lean, fast-moving Lone Star productions. And Blue Steel puts the future Duke right where we want him: in the saddle, undercover, surrounded by bad guys and partnered once again with the wonderful George “Gabby” Hayes.
Wayne plays John Carruthers, a U.S. Marshal secretly hunting the notorious Polka Dot Bandit, an outlaw with a particularly memorable fashion statement who steals a $4,000 payroll during a thunderstorm. Unfortunately for Carruthers, Sheriff Jake Withers (George Hayes) spots him investigating the crime scene and promptly decides that Carruthers himself may be the thief. Before Jake can settle the matter, the two encounter Betty Mason (Eleanor Hunt), whose father has been murdered during an attack on a provisions wagon.
Soon Carruthers and Jake uncover something much bigger than a stolen payroll. The seemingly respectable Malgrove (Edward Peil Sr.) is engineering a scheme to starve the local settlers out of their homes, blocking supplies so desperate ranchers will sell their land to him for next to nothing. What they don't know is that the land they're abandoning is valuable—and Malgrove intends to have it.
So Carruthers and Jake set out to get desperately needed supplies through to the settlers, expose the conspiracy and discover who's really behind the Polka Dot Bandit's mask.
It's mystery, land grab, outlaw chase and Western adventure packed into less than an hour.
No wasted trail.
AIN BACKSTAGE SECRETS & AINTOIDS
JOHN WAYNE — U.S. MARSHAL
Wayne's character isn't simply another wandering cowboy this time.
John Carruthers is an undercover U.S. Marshal.
That gives Blue Steel an almost Western-detective structure. Carruthers is investigating one crime while Sheriff Jake is simultaneously investigating him.
Naturally, the two eventually realize they might accomplish considerably more by pointing their guns in the same direction.
GABBY'S BACK!
George Hayes returns as Sheriff Jake Withers.
We're still early enough in Hayes's career that the full-blown whiskered “Gabby Hayes” screen persona familiar to generations of Western fans wasn't completely established.
And we're now beginning to see why these films make such a fun collection on Absolutely Westerns.
Watch several together and we're not merely watching John Wayne develop.
We're watching Gabby Hayes become Gabby Hayes.
THE POLKA DOT BANDIT!
We have to give Robert Bradbury credit for this one.
There have been black-hatted villains.
Masked villains.
Scar-faced villains.
But Blue Steel gives us:
THE POLKA DOT BANDIT.
He's identified by the distinctive bandana he wears while committing his crimes.
And who plays him?
YAKIMA CANUTT!
YES!
AGAIN!
The legendary stuntman appears onscreen as Danti, the Polka Dot Bandit.
But that's only half the story.
AFI reports that modern sources identify Yakima Canutt as John Wayne's stunt double on Blue Steel.
So once again Canutt is simultaneously helping provide the villainy and helping create the physical action associated with our hero.
This recurring Wayne-Canutt partnership is becoming one of the great behind-the-scenes stories of our early John Wayne collection.
WAYNE WAS LEARNING FROM ONE OF THE BEST
Canutt's importance goes far beyond doubling Wayne in a few B-Westerns.
He became one of Hollywood's legendary stunt innovators, developing techniques and safety practices that influenced generations of action filmmaking.
And Wayne learned enormously from working alongside him.
So when AIN audiences watch these inexpensive little Westerns, they're seeing something historically important hiding underneath the entertainment:
John Wayne was developing the physical vocabulary of “John Wayne.”
ANOTHER ROBERT N. BRADBURY WESTERN
Here he is again.
Robert N. Bradbury not only directed Blue Steel—he also wrote the story and screenplay.
That makes three movies we're now encountering from essentially the same creative Western factory:
The Lucky Texan
West of the Divide
Blue Steel
Bradbury directing.
Wayne starring.
Hayes supporting.
Canutt performing and doubling.
Archie Stout photographing.
Paul Malvern producing.
These weren't isolated films.
They were filmmakers working together repeatedly, economically and efficiently.
Independent filmmaking, 1934 style.
BRADBURY WAS BOB STEELE'S FATHER
And here's the Bradbury AINtoid we discovered during The Lucky Texan.
Robert N. Bradbury was the father of Western star Bob Steele, born Robert Adrian Bradbury.
So no, he's still not Ray Bradbury's father!
But he absolutely belongs to a genuine Western filmmaking family.
ARCHIE STOUT — ONCE AGAIN BEHIND THE CAMERA
Archie Stout photographed Blue Steel.
And that means our Wayne/Bradbury group keeps getting more interesting.
Stout photographed these modest early Wayne Westerns and eventually worked on considerably larger productions—including John Ford's The Quiet Man with Wayne.
The young actor and cinematographer working together on these little Lone Star pictures could hardly have known where their careers would eventually take them.
THEY ACTUALLY WENT OUT WEST
Not everything was photographed on a studio backlot.
AFI reports that exterior scenes for Blue Steel were shot near Big Pines, California.
For an economical B-Western, getting actors, horses, equipment and crew onto real exterior locations gives the movie something production money can't easily fake:
the landscape.
And in a Western, the landscape is practically another cast member.
THE BAD GUY HAS A VERY MODERN BUSINESS PLAN
Malgrove's scheme is wonderfully nasty.
Don't simply steal the settlers' property.
Make their lives economically impossible first.
Cut off the supplies.
Let desperation set in.
Then offer to purchase their land cheaply.
And once they're gone?
Take the valuable property underneath them.
Suddenly our little 1934 B-Western has a story about economic manipulation and land speculation buried beneath the six-shooters.
AIN loves finding something more underneath what appears to be simple entertainment.
ANOTHER PAUL MALVERN PRODUCTION
Producer Paul Malvern was one of the key figures behind these Lone Star John Wayne Westerns.
And this is another reason the group is so valuable for AIN.
These weren't enormous prestige productions.
They were economical pictures made for audiences who wanted entertainment.
Make the movie.
Tell the story.
Get it into theaters.
Make another one.
There is something wonderfully independent-filmmaker about that philosophy.