Stevecorp
Don't listen to the negative reviews
Tayloriona
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
Logan
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
FightingWesterner
Mystery man John Wayne assists Sheriff George (pre-Gabby) Hayes in his search for polka-dot bandit Yakima Canutt and in the course of the investigation, uncovers a plot by a crooked mining company to steal land from innocent property owners.Blue Steel is quite possibly the best film Wayne made during his tenure as a Lone Star/Monogram Pictures contract star, helped along by some great camera work, editing, and excellent use of locations, as well as some nice work by legendary stuntman Canutt. The special effect at the film's climax is also pretty good for a poverty row production.In one scene, some metal power-lines are clearly visible atop a ridge!Lastly, a colorized version blandly retitled Stolen Goods looks really neat and is worth checking out, that is if you're not an old fuddy-duddy!
JohnHowardReid
The 5th of John Wayne's 14 Lone Star Westerns is nothing if not a lively piece. True, it gets off to a remarkably slow start, but once the bandits arrive on the scene the pace picks up no end. Although the heroine is somewhat lacking in thespian talent, she's pretty enough and has little to do or say anyway. It's Wayne and Hayes who set the action rolling and keep it up—interspersed with some spectacular Canutt stunt-work—right to the finish line. And it's good to see Yakima Canutt in a sizable role on camera as well as doubling Wayne in the action spots.Director Robert North Bradbury has a grand time once the action switches to the wide open spaces. You can virtually see him riding the camera car as it swoops along with galloping-hell-for-leather riders in super-fast tracking shots. And I love those whip pans!Photographer Archie Stout, a specialist in location work, is also most at home with awesome vistas of wide open plains, ringed by rugged mountains and fleecy clouds in the Alabama Hills, Ca.
wrbtu
This western was the second significant film in the development of George "Gabby" Hayes' cantankerous character who emerged as the old whiskered comedy sidekick in the Hopalong Cassidy films. Gabby plays it straight here as a sheriff who even shoots a baddie. The only "funny" things about him are the hole filled hat he wears, his big walrus mustache, & his typical slurred speech. The acting is good all around, except for Eleanor Hunt, who has that cute Clara Bow look, but she's brought that old silent film style to this movie. I love the old B westerns, & aside from my favorite, Hopalong Cassidy, to me the early John Wayne series is the next best. This is not one of Wayne's best, but it's a must-see for Gabby Hayes fans. I rate it 6/10.
wencer
The only reason why I stuck this one out was the film's mercifully short run-time. The movie starts with a generally confusing and slow-paced sequence inside an old west tavern, and the movie never really acquires any pace. For the first fifteen minutes, several bewildering cut-aways to John Wayne plague the "action," yet give the audience no idea as to John Wayne is playing, if he is a "good guy," how the other characters know him, or if the other characters even know he is there. This would be a great technique if the director gave you the impression he was TRYING to confuse you. Instead, one immediately gets the impression that the film is amateurish, even for a b-movie. This should not suggest that the movie is unentertaining. I found the awkward pan shots and poorly-shot stunts to be thigh-slappingly hilarious, particularly the scenes in which characters fall off desert cliffs and land in deep-wooded rivers. Oh yeah, and a lot of the characters look the same and whenever one gets shot, well, head-scratching ensues. I'm sorry if you've had to see this.
