Irene Dunne and Richard Dix in Cimarron (1931)

Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, and Mercedes McCambridge in Johnny Guitar (1954)

Can there even be a thing like 'nearly good B-pictures'? At first I wasn't so sure either. But after years of watching B-movies, more often than not I stumbled across a B-picture which I wouldn't exactly consider to be a good (or even brillant) one. On the other hand it didn't reach the absolute bottoms of z-grade moviedom that connoisseurs of this kind of pictures are used to either. It was simply a movie which, in terms of B-pictures, was competently done, had all those ingredients we love so much in this kind of movies, yes, possibly it was even done bad for all the right reasons. But nevertheless, it didn't click with me, didn't offer that special something which makes B-pictures so enjoyable. What you can expect on this list are B-pictures which are not bad per se, they are more like near misses which can still offer plenty for the B-movie fan. Especially if you are a fan of a certain subgenre, actor or whatever. So have fun browsing through the nearly, but not quite, good B-pictures of the 1940s.

If you're up to it, don't hesitate to leave a comment.

PS: The movies are sorted by year and not necessarily by my preference. This list is by no means complete as I will add new worthwhile films as I stumble across them.

Harry Carey, Boots Mallory, and Bob Steele in Powdersmoke Range (1935)

All Genera: From silents to "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull".

Joe Besser and Jim Hawthorne in 'Fraidy Cat (1951)

God danced in this streets on January 23rd when Bob was born in Portland, OR.  Born into a theatrical family.  Bob's father was director Robert N Bradbury.  First appeared on stage as age 2.

Over a career that spanned six decades, Bob appeared in 198 motion pictures.  Major genres:  western (170), action (48), romance (35) and adventure (33).

62% of his movie were released in the 30s and 40s.

I remember watching Steele as a  young boy during Saturday matinee shows featuring cartoons and film serials.

IMDb data summary:  mean - 6.0,  median - 6.0 and mode - 6.2 (13)

Lowest rated movie -  1.8  Lighting Speed (1928) Highest rated          -  8.1  Big Sleep (1946)                                        Rio Bravo  (1959)

Steele passed away on December 21st in 1988 in Burbank, CA.

Bill Bradbury and Bob Steele in The Adventures of Bob and Bill (1920)

Lorraine Miller and Bob Steele in Riders of the Rio Grande (1943)

Cameron Diaz, Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and John Lithgow in Shrek (2001)

Gene Autry, Lucile Browne, and Smiley Burnette in Tumbling Tumbleweeds (1935)

Lists Related to The Trail Blazers

More to explore

Recently viewed