review for Blue Steel on AllMovie

As he often managed to do, director/screenwriter Robert North Bradbury opens Blue Steel in a highly suspenseful manner, this time by having John Wayne holed up in a secluded hotel whose proprietor is expecting trouble. Assorted interesting guests arrive, including a couple of timid honeymooners, and there are mysterious bumps in the night. But Bradbury once again fails to follow through and the remainder of Blue Steel is the usual lackadaisical Grade-Z Western enlivened somewhat by a couple of good stunts from Yakima Canutt. Bradbury was full of good intentions, not to mention a noteworthy idea or two (his flash-pan method of getting a character from one place to another is always enjoyable), but lacked the economy and general wherewithal to make his Westerns much more than routine budget-fillers. But the Big Pine locations are picturesque.