Steel Against the Sky (1941)

Rough-hewn Rocky Evans has two great loves--his job building bridges and beautiful Helen Powers, his boss' daughter. But it's Rocky's shiftless brother Chuck who wins Helen's affections. ... See full summary »

Director:

A. Edward Sutherland

Writers:

Paul Girard Smith (screenplay), Maurice Hanline (story),

Stars:

Lloyd Nolan, Alexis Smith, Craig Stevens

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lloyd Nolan	...	Rocky Evans
Alexis Smith	...	Helen Powers
Craig Stevens	...	Chuck Evans
Gene Lockhart	...	Frederick John Powers
Edward Ellis	...	Aloysius 'Pop' Evans
Walter Catlett	...	Professor Rupert Sampson
Howard Da Silva	...	Bugs Little (as Howard da Silva)
Edward Brophy	...	Pete Evans
Julie Bishop	...	Myrtle 'Myrt'
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joe Devlin	...	Ed (scenes deleted)
Edward Hearn	...	(scenes deleted)
Weldon Heyburn	...	(scenes deleted)
Cyril Ring	...	Harry (scenes deleted)

Storyline

Rough-hewn Rocky Evans has two great loves--his job building bridges and beautiful Helen Powers, his boss' daughter. But it's Rocky's shiftless brother Chuck who wins Helen's affections. Chuck even takes a job on Rocky's bridge-building crew to woo Helen, but the two brothers soon find themselves clashing over work and love.

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Plot Keywords:

bridge building | construction | son | stock footage | wedding | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 December 1941 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dois Irmãos e um Amor

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

67 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Professor calls his secret formula "Samsonite," but there is no connection with the famous luggage brand. The Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company named one of its cases "Samson", after the Biblical strongman, and only began using the trademark "Samsonite" the same year this film was made.

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Soundtracks

"The Wedding March"
(1843)
from "A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op.61"
Written by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Played as part of the score at the wedding

User Reviews

Bland Melodrama with Weird Comedy

Steel Against the Sky (1941)

** (out of 4)

Boring mix of soap, comedy and melodrama has Lloyd Nolan playing Rocky Evans, a tough bridge builder who falls in love with the boss's daughter (Alexis Smith) but she ends up falling for his younger brother (Craig Stevens), which causes problems back at home. Warner will always be remembered for their gangster movies but they also did quite a few films that shined a spotlight on blue collar workers and this here would seem like a good subject but sadly everything is pretty much wasted for nothing. The entire film has a very weird pace and feel to it as we're dealing with dangerous situations where men are risking their lives to build these bridges and skyscrapers. That's fine but then it's mixed with some downright bizarre comedy and most of it dealing with a professor who the younger brother takes in in order to try and make some quick money. This stuff with the professor is just so unfunny but what's worse is that there's never any real reason for it to be here. The love triangle aspect doesn't work either because we're basically just told the situations of who loves who and we're never given any scenes where we believe what we're seeing. Nolan makes for a good leading man and I thought he was quite believable as the tough brother. Smith is as beautiful as ever but the screenplay gives her nothing to do. Stevens isn't too bad as the brother but he suffers from the same weak story. Gene Lockhart plays the boss and Walter Catlett appears as the professor. Jackie Gleason has a very small but memorable bit. STEEL AGAINST THE SKY could have been a good movie but the comedy needed to be dropped all together and the clichéd drama needed a major rewrite.