Gallant Fool

Circus star Kit Denton and his fellow entertainers in Rainey's Greater Shows are sternly warned not to perform in the shady town of Big Bend. Chris McDonald runs things there and he doesn't like the circus. McDonald's irrational hatred is matched only by Kit's father's unhealthy distrust of women. Kit confronts his father - a clown and aerialist in the traveling show - about the unwarranted disdain he seems to have for his girlfriend, Alicia. His father tells a tragic story: long ago in Big Bend, the elder Denton committed a crime and was forced into hiding with Kit in tow. Kit's mother then began a new life... as Chris McDonald's bride. With Rainey's troupe planning to put on their show in spite of the ominous threats, the elder Denton's bitter secret is set to collide with McDonald's own horrible secret, resulting in a deadly act of sabotage under the big top.

Bob Steele is directed by his father Robert N. Bradbury in this frontier western tale. Steele, who was born Robert Bradbury, Jr., took roles in a number of the senior Bradbury's films, as well as dozens of other cowboy pictures. Unlike many of his fellow western stars, Steele broke free of the genre on a routine basis, notably playing Curly in the 1939 classic Of Mice and Men.

• western