STEEL AGAINST THE SKY

US, 1941, 68 minutes, Black and white.
Alexis Smith, Lloyd Nolan, Craig Stevens, Edward Brophy, Gene Lockhart, Walter Catlett, Howard da Silva, Juile Bishop.
Directed by A. Edward Sutherland.

Steel against the Sky is a supporting feature of 1941, coming from Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers had been interested in blue collar stories including The Irish among Us and Manpower which the screenplay for this film resembles.
The film dedicates itself to the bridge builders of the United States, a tribute to their hard work and their achievements.
The film runs for only an hour or more and combines scenes of the bridge building, some potential dangers, an irresponsible alcoholic worker, the possibility of slipping and falling from great heights, some rescues, and coping with loose cranes during a storm. It also includes some comedy, not particularly funny, about an eccentric professor who wants to create a new substance called Samsonite after his name. (The real Samsonite luggage was launched in the same year as the film.) He is played by Walter Catlett, something of an absent-minded professor who sets off explosions and has an enormous capacity for eating, especially hamburgers. But, the film also includes romance.
Lloyd Nolan, Edward Brophy and Craig Stevens are three brothers who work on bridges, following in the footsteps of their father, a reliable worker, who was severely injured in an accident. Lloyd Nolan plays the foreman, responsible for getting the bridge built on time, supervised by the boss, played by Gene Lockhart. Craig Stevens portrays the younger brother, relying on his good looks, charm, and not wanting to work hard on the bridges.
Alexis Smith is the daughter of the boss, interested in Lloyd Nolan, coming to a meal at his house, but attracted to the younger brother, driving with him, having coffee with him, arousing the ire of Lloyd Nolan who is impatient with his younger brother and then threatens to move out of the house.
All is resolved with some fairly straight talk to Alexis Smith by the father, her talking with Lloyd Nolan, offering to leave Craig Stevens, but after the rescue, all is settled rather quickly and her marriage to Craig Stevens goes ahead. In real life, Alexis Smith was married to Craig Stevens for many decades.
The film is fairly predictable, mixes the tough action led by Lloyd Nolan with the rather absurd comedy of the professor, blending realism with the special effects of the bridge building as well as some of the reality shots showing the hard work, the enterprise that made the United States strong.