Bob Steele Movies

Diminutive screen cowboy Bob Steele starred in his pleasant oater about a cowboy searching for his mysteriously vanished father.Trailing three oldtimers into the desert, Bob Saunders (Steele) discovers his father, Silent (Buck Connors) in the hands of nasty Big Olaf (Robert Fleming). When Big Olaf learns that Bob is Silent's son, Bob is tortured in the hope that Silent will spill the beans about a hidden treasure. Bob manages to free himself, however, and instead fights one of Big Olaf's men. He wins and Big Olaf's gang of outlaws turn on their leader. This fairly well-mounted Western was directed by Steele's real-life father, Robert N. Bradbury. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Attempting to warn an old prospector (Tom Lingham) and his daughter (Marjorie King) of impending danger from a notorious outlaw (William Norton Bailey), diminutive but tough western hero Bob Steele is himself mistaken for a bandit. The villain in this minor FBO outing was played by William Norton Bailey, a veteran supporting actor who earlier in the decade had made an unsuccessful bid for western stardom under the name Bill Bailey. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Diminutive screen cowboy Bob Steele stars in this minor Western from action melodrama factory Film Booking Office (later RKO). Steele plays a drifter bearing the appropriate nickname "Driftin' Sands," who is hired by a wealthy rancher (William H. Turner) to protect his spoiled daughter (Gladys Quartero). Driftin', of course, falls for the lady and is immediately banished from the ranch. He gets back in papa's good graces, however, when he rescues the girl from a gang of cutthroats. Leading lady Gladys Quartero later billed herself as Nina Quartero. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Lovely senorita Maria Alvaro (Dorothy Kitchen) is rescued from a gunshot wedding to foppish Senor Valdez (former Charlie Chaplin associate Leo White) practically on the steps to the church by daredevil rider Jim Collins (Bob Steele). The young man simply kidnaps her and holds her until her father (George Bunny) accepts him as a more appropriate son-in-law. The comic Breed of the Sunset was directed by Wallace Fox, a one-time black-face comic and an old hand at these sort of things, and scripted by a young Oliver Drake, whose deft handling of both action and gag humor would be even better utilized in the sound era. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

The son of productive western director Robert North Bradbury, Bob Steele became FBO's final western hero. Here, he is a wealthy scion who toughens up in a rough-and-tumble lumber camp when he is forced to defend Phil Dunning (Lafe McKee) and his daughter (Thelma Daniels) from the brutal George Hobbs (Tom Lingham). Steele actually didn't really come into his own until sound but then enjoyed a long career as one of Hollywood's toughest western stars which lasted well into the television era.. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Diminutive cowboy Bob Steele starred as a cowboy tracking down his father's killer in this modest silent Western produced by J.P. McGowan's penny-pinching (and grossly misnamed) Big Productions Company. The revenge theme was popular in Westerns at the time, especially with Steele who used it several times again. Interestingly enough, some of his films dealing with patricide were directed by his real-life father, Robert N. Bradbury. In this film, Steele's pa is played by producer-director McGowan and the outlaw of the title by Bud Osborne. Screenwriter Sally Winters, meanwhile, did leading lady Edna Aslin no favors by naming the film's heroine "Bertha Bullhead"! ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Bantam-weight cowboy hero Bob Steele made his talkie debut in a series of westerns for Syndicate Films, one of the several precursors to Monogram Pictures. In The Man From Nowhere, wandering hero Terry Norton (Bob Steele) rides from out of nowhere into the middle of a family feud. The villain of the piece is trying to get his clutches on a valuable piece of property owned by his sickly stepbrother. Terry falls in love with the "good" stepbrother's niece (Ione Reed) then sets about to wham, bam and slam the bad guys into submission. Some observers felt that Bob Steele's horse got all the best close-ups. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The fourth of eight westerns made by diminutive Bob Steele for poverty row's Tiffany Productions, The Land of Missing Men is a sturdy little oater which contains a hair-rising scene where Steele and sidekick Al St. John enter a saloon littered with corpses! The remainder of the film is not quite as gruesome, but is instead a lively affair about a cowboy falsely accused of terrorizing a ranching community. Steele, of course, is innocent of all charges but has to prove it the hard way, by catching the real villain, the town's newly elected sheriff (Edward Dunn). The creepy saloon scene remains the film's center piece, however, what with a tinny player piano droning out the tune "After the Ball" over and over as Steele and St. John examine the bodies and the one man left alive (Emilio Fernandez). The scene precedes a similar but much more famous sequence in John Wayne's Randy Rides Alone (1934) but is actually better staged here. Real-life outlaw Al Jennings plays a retiring lawman in this film, but the real surprise is the appearance of Mexican-born Fernandez, who later became one his country's best known directors. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

This inexpensively produced early sound Western was diminutive cowboy star Bob Steele's second to last for poverty row company Syndicate Film Exchange. Steele appeared as a young cowboy in love with the sheriff's daughter (Jean Reno). There is a rival, of course, a crooked deputy (Perry Murdock) who is the mastermind behind a daring robbery. Steele foils a scheme to murder the sheriff, unmasks the crooked deputy, returns the stolen money and wins the pretty girl, all in the final reel. Steele left Syndicate following Breezy Bill (1930), but went on to appear in scores of budget Westerns, many directed by his father, Robert North Bradbury. To non-Western fans, he is perhaps best remembered for playing the bully, Curley, in Of Mice and Men (1939) and as the killer, Canino, in The Big Sleep (1946). ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Veteran action specialist J.P. McGowan both produced and directed this very late silent western released by his own ill--named Big Productions Film Corp. The former husband and co-star of serial queen Helen Holmes, McGowan peddled his little oaters to rural movie theaters not yet equipped with sound systems. One of the last cowboy stars to emerge during the silent era, Bob Steele starred as a cowboy who saves pretty Jean Reno's ranch from nasty Lew Meehan. Like most independent producers of the era, McGowan brought his little ensemble to a dusty California hamlet and commenced filming. Outdoor sets were free, of course, and the local townspeople milled about as extras for a few dollars and a box lunch. In other words, everyone had a pleasant couple of days. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In its last production days, Tiffany studios was home for many a "B" western series. One such starred Bob Steele, usually cast as a young cowboy searching for the murderer of his father. In At the Ridge, however, Steele and his sidekick Al St. John are occupied with protecting a herd of horses from murderous rustlers. The leader of the bad guys turns out to be an undercover US marshal, thus preventing Steele and John from ending up laced with lead. The "good bad man" in At the Ridge was played by Al Jennings, a real-life outlaw who reformed after a prison term and went into movies as an actor, producer and director. His life story was somewhat romanticized in 1951's Al Jennings of Oklahoma, which starred Dan Duryea. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Poor Marion Shockley finds herself the victim of both a robbery and a kidnapping in this obscure but quite well-made Poverty Row Western starring the diminutive Bob Steele. After saving Jane Rankin (Shockley) from her kidnappers, Johnny Day (Steele) is elected Cactus town marshal but what at first appears to be a breezy job proves highly dangerous when local bully Bart Morgan (Hooper Atchley) not only claims Jane as his but engages in a bit of cattle rustling on the side. Fortunately, Johnny is spared more trouble when Morgan is killed in a fight with another of Jane's pursuers, Red Thompson (Jay Morley). Near the Trail's End was the last of eight Westerns Steele did for low-budget company Tiffany and the only feature film to co-star Marion Shockley, a 1932 WAMPAS Baby Star better known for her work in comedy shorts and on radio. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide