Robert Cabal Movies

Paladin (Richard Boone) is assigned to locate Cavalry corporal Callahan (Sean McClory), the winner of a $600,000 lottery. Inasmuch as Callahan is on patrol in Apache territory, Paladin is going to have a lot of trouble delivering the Corporal to New Orleans to claim his prize within the next two days. Many matters even more difficult is a certain Sgt. Siebert (Mike Kellin), who hopes to grab a large portion of the lottery money by seeing to it that the other men on the patrol--Callahan included--are systematically killed off by the Indians. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Phil Karlson, well-regarded by film buffs for his tough, no-nonsense crime dramas, directed this adventure story shot partially on location in the Caribbean. Mike Cormack (John Payne) was once a District Attorney, until his fiancée, Janet Martin (Mary Murphy), left him to marry another man. Depressed, Mike began drinking heavily, and eventually his alcoholism cost him his job. Trying to pull himself back up after hitting bottom, Mike gets a job as a bouncer at a casino in Las Vegas. Barzland (Francis L. Sullivan), a handicapped criminal, approaches Mike with an unusual offer. Barzland will pay Mike $5,000 if he can locate a ruby that went missing following the disappearance of a plane in the West Indies. Mike discovers that the reason he was picked for this job is that the pilot of the plane, Eduardo (Paul Picerni), is the man Janet chose to marry, and Barzland and his men believe that she might have clues as to the ruby's whereabouts that Mike could uncover. However, when Mike arrives to meet with Janet, he discovers that Eduardo is now in jail, and Janet begins to snare Mike in a web of lies and deceit. Hell's Island was rereleased in 1962 under the title South Sea Fury. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A very tired-looking Errol Flynn heads the cast of Maru Maru. Flynn plays deep-sea diver Gregory Mason, who is hired to locate a sunken PT boat bearing a diamond-encrusted religious icon. Mason's employer on this mission is the disreputable Brock Benedict (Raymond Burr), a firm believer in the old buccaneer credo that "dead men tell no tales." Aware that he's expendable once he finds the treasure, Mason stalls as long as he can, hoping that Benedict and his crooked flunkies will end up wiping out one another. He also intends to claim the treasure for himself, rather than turn it over to the proper authorities. Ruth Roman co-stars as Stella Callahan, the widow of Mason's former partner, who wants nothing more than for Mason to return the gem-studded cross to its rightful owners (well, maybe she wants Mason, too). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Miles and miles of stock footage were used to pad out the 67-minute running time of Forbidden Jungle. The newly-shot scenes feature Don Harvey as famed explorer Tom Burton, who has been hired to locate the long-missing son of a millionaire. The boy has grown up in the jungle a la Tarzan, and is currently living in an area where white men are forbidden to travel. This doesn't stop Burton, though he does have second thoughts about returning the boy to civilization, especially since the kid seems perfectly happy right where he is. Virtually all the "wild animal" scenes in Forbidden Jungle were culled from earlier films, save for several comic interludes involving a trio of monkeys (no, not Curly, Larry, and Moe). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Federal agent Robert Taylor journeys to a mythical South American community, there to break up a war-surplus contraband racket. American playboy Vincent Price is the brains of the outfit, aided and abetted by the disreputable Charles Laughton and John Hodiak. Ava Gardner, Hodiak's wife, takes over for her husband when he's sidelined by a heart condition. Taylor tries to get to the gang boss by romancing Gardner; she eventually shifts loyalties, but Price tries to frame both Gardner and Taylor so that he can get off scot-free. Taylor finally manages to overcome Price during a oversized fireworks display at a local festival. Hampered by the old-fashioned direction of Robert Z. Leonard, The Bribe is slow going until its spectacular climax, which was later excerpted in toto and re-used in Steve Martin's detective spoof Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (82). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this drama, an egomaniacal producer freely treads upon those around him without regard to the harm he does. The devoted wife of a novelist sees this after the producer foists himself on her during a party; she tries to warn her novelist husband who wants the man to produce his play, but he does not listen. Later the producer tries to destroy his own girl friend's career by spreading vicious rumors; he succeeds and she loses her contract. Meanwhile the writer and his wife, thanks to the producer's manipulation, have separated. The writer is then forced to revise the play. The result is so bad that he cannot attract the actor he wanted to play his leading man. The novelist's wife gets her revenge on the producer by showing an original draft of the play to the actor her husband wanted. He is impressed and helps her find another producer. When the husband hears about his wife's actions he immediately returns, but not before punching the egotistical producer in the eye. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi