Nestor Paiva Movies

With Bill returning home from an assignment in Beirut, Mr. French decides to impress his boss by cooking him an authentic Lebanese meal--and to that end he takes lessons from female restaurant owner Nural Shpeni (Magda Harout). Unfortunately, Nural's brothers insist that, according to Lebanese tradition, Mr. French is now obligated to marry their sister! It takes the wry diplomacy of another Lebanese gentleman, Dr. Sakis (Abraham Sofaer), to rescue Mr. French from a trip down the aisle. This episode is noteworthy for the fact that virtually every supporting character is Middle Eastern, including the cop on the beat (played by future Alice costar Vic Tayback; it also marks the final TV appearance of veteran character actor Nestor Paiva (Creature from the Black Lagoon et. al.) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After his head is surgically removed and sustained, Hitler is, essentially, still alive and living on an island in the Caribbean. When a young woman and her husband goes in search of her scientist-father and sister, they find a group of Nazis--still under the command of Der Fuhrer--who plan to resume their atrocities upon humanity in a scheme of world domination. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Having set up a home away from home on the "rustic village" backlot set at Mammoth Studios, the Clampetts also establish a general store, charging studio employees bargain prices for their wares. The hillbillies also encourage others to settle in their new "Clampett City." Meanwhile, a big-budget historical epic is being filmed all around the Clampett clan, leading to even more comic confusion. "Clampett City General Store" originally aired October 7, 1964, as the third chapter in a four-episode story arc. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Country singer Marty Robbins is featured as a Robin Hood of the West who robs stage coaches and gives the loot to the poor. When he and his outlaw buddy fall for the same dame, things get real rough and rowdy. ~ All Movie Guide

Written by Alex Sharp, the comic episode "Ponderosa Matador" finds the Cartwright boys vying for the attention of the lovely Dolores (Marianna Hill), the daughter of Ben's house guest Señor Tenino (Nestor Paiva). Discovering that Dolores is an aficionado of the bull ring, the boys decide to impress her with a staged bullfight. As a result, Viriginia City is nearly reduced to rubble by a rampaging toro! Originally scheduled to air on November 24, 1963, "Ponderosa Matador" was pre-empted due to the ongoing TV coverage of the Kennedy assassination; the episode was finally shown on January 12, 1964. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Science goes too far as one of the greatest villains of the 20th century makes a last stand in South America in this crackpot thriller. After government scientists develop a new and virulent variety of nerve gas, Professor John Coleman (John Holland) sets out to create an antidote until he mysteriously disappears. Coleman's daughter Kathy (Audrey Caire) and her husband, Phil Day (Walter Stocker), who works in U.S. intelligence, begin to suspect foul play; they're approached by a man named Teo (Carlos Rivas) who is trying to tell them about the professor and a strange place called Mandoras when he's suddenly shot to death. With no other clues to follow, Kathy and Phil travel to the tiny Latin American nation of Mandoras, where Kathy happens to meet her hepcat sister, Suzanne (Dani Lynn), at a nightclub. Suzanne tells Kathy and Phil that she and the professor had been kidnapped, and when they're introduced to Teo's brother Camino (also played by Rivas), they learn of a bizarre plot. According to Camino, scientists in a secret lab on Mandoras have kept the disembodied head of Adolf Hitler (Bill Freed) alive in a jar, and under the orders of "Mr. H" they're engaged in a deadly scheme to take over the world and resurrect the Third Reich. The film Madmen of Mandoras received a brief theatrical release in 1963; later, when it was sold to television, the movie (running a brief 74 minutes) was padded with additional sequences, reported shot by a group of film students, that feature a completely different cast and don't at all resemble the shadowy visual style of the original movie. The strange variant television cut of the film gained a cult following under its title, They Saved Hitler's Brain. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Opie loses his baseball on the grounds of the foreboding Rimshaw mansion, which is rumored to be haunted. Pooh-poohing this, Barney and Gomer gallantly offer to retrieve the ball, only to be frightened away by what seems to be a veritable army of spooks and goblins. It is up to Andy to uncover the source of all those moans, groans and rattling chains. First telecast on October 7, 1963, "The Haunted House" was written by Harvey Bullock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Moe Howard, Larry Fine, and Curly-Joe DeRita are out of this world as The Three Stooges In Orbit. The veteran comedy trio defends a secret weapon invented by Professor Danforth (Emil Sitka) from falling into the hands of scheming Martians. Following his success as the villain in "The Three Stooges Meet Hercules", George N. Niese returns to play the role of villain, this time a malevolent Martian named Ogg. Of course, Zogg (Raymond Barnes) isn't far behind as the two conspire to steal the new invention that combines the features of a submarine, a tank, and a rocket ship. The Stooges prove their patented brand of slapstick comedy and sight gags work with or without gravity. This is the second Three Stooges film produced by Norman Maurer, who was Moe Howard's son-in-law. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

There's a rumor that the MGM executive who thought that Glenn Ford could fill Rudolph Valentino's shoes in the 1962 remake of Valentino's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would have been arrested had it been sufficiently proven that he was competent to stand trial. The World War I setting of the original Blasco-Ibanez novel has been updated to World War II, but the basic plot remains the same. A well-to-do Argentinian family, rent asunder by the death of patriarch Lee J. Cobb, scatters to different European countries in the late 1930s. Before expiring, Cobb had warned his nephew Carl Boehm that the latter's allegiance to the Nazis would bring down the wrath of the titular Four Horsemen: War, Conquest, Famine and Death. Ford, Cobb's grandson, has promised to honor his grandfather's memory by thwarting the plans of Boehm. At the cost of his own life, Ford leads allied bombers to Boehm's Normandy headquarters. As unsuited as Glenn Ford was for his role, co-star Ingrid Thulin was even worse: her Swedish accent proved so impenetrable that MGM was obliged to have Angela Lansbury dub Ms. Thulin's voice. A major misfire for director Vincente Minnelli, The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse was an expensive flop, forcing MGM to hope and pray that their upcoming epic How the West Was Won would save the studio's hindquarters (it did). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

One of Elvis Presley's biggest moneymakers, Girls Girls Girls casts ol' swivel-hips as a tuna-boat fisherman working out of Hawaii. Elvis chases after all the wrong girls, while ignoring the girls who genuinely care for him. Here, as Ross Carpenter, Presley has two main love interests: sexy vocalist Robin (Stella Stevens and heiress Laurel (Laurel Goodwin), who pretends to be poor so as not to wound Ross's pride. When rude 'n' crude Wesley Johnson (Jeremy Slate), who owns Ross's boat, makes a play for Laurel, Ross punches him out. He loses his boat, but it hardly matters since he and Laurel have found true love. Songs crucial to the action are the title tune, "Return to Sender," and "Song of the Shrimp." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Con artists Morgan (Wally Brown) and Axe (Dave Willock) flimflam Clementine Hawkins (Beatrice Kay), a former dance-hall girl turned boarding-house keeper, with an elaborate scam involving "The Burma Rarity", a priceless emerald. Inasmuch as Ben Cartwright introduced Clementine to the crooks, he figures it is his responsibility to recover her money. To that end, Ben puts together a "sting" operation-which backfires so spectacularly that Ben may well have to marry Clementine to make amends! Written by N.B. Stone,"The Burma Rarity" originally aired October 22, 1961. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Although this story of the making of a gangland hoodlum reflects only some of the real history of the Detroit Purple Gang in it, the violence portrayed is completely truthful. The sense of reality here is increased by the use of newsreel footage. Robert Blake is "Honeyboy" Willard, a juvenile delinquent always in trouble for petty thefts and similar deeds. (The actual Purple Gang started that way just before 1920, led by the youthful Bernstein brothers.) Cop Bill Harley (Barry Sullivan) is convinced that Willard's violent side can only be tamed by a stint behind bars. Opposing him is a social worker who wants to use modern methods of therapy to correct the teen's problems. When the social worker is found brutally murdered, the cop knows that Willard is responsible. He decides to stick with the case -- in spite of the fact that the gang eventually has a lot of city and union brass in its pocket. Just as a note, the gang got their name because one citizen commented that they were tainted, like the purple color of bad meat. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide