Paul Fierro Movies

Rule of thumb: if David Lowell Rich directed it, it's probably a TV movie. Beg, Borrow or Steal stars Mike Connors, Michael Cole and Kent McCord as three ex-cops, disabled while on duty. Having trouble finding regular work, the three men team up to steal a valuable statue from a museum. Connors has no legs, Cole no hands, and McCord is blind: but when they're working together, they're a lean mean stealing machine. Beg, Borrow or Steal is as tasteless as it sounds, but at least it has the novelty of three popular TV detective-show stars pooling their resources on the opposite side of the law. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

While on a driving tour of America with her parents (Michael Wilding, Anna Lee), young English girl Loren Saunders (Katherine Crawford) heads to her folks' rented station wagon to take a nap. Unfortunately, she gets into the wrong car, and awakens somewhere in Mexico -- where she witnesses a murder. Thus does Loren find herself the object of two desperate searches: one conducted by her frantic parents, the other by the murderers. This episode is based on Encounter with Evil, a novel by Amber Dean. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having the unique distinction of being perhaps the only American drama filmed in Cuba just after Fidel Castro's revolution, Pier 5, Havana is also distinctive because the American hero Steve Daggett (Cameron Mitchell) fights to protect Castro from dangerous pro-Batista counterrevolutionaries. Steve comes to Cuba to find his friend Hank Miller (Logan Field) who has been missing for awhile. It turns out that he has been captured by Fernando (Eduardo Noriega), the leader of the pro-Batista forces, who needs Hank to convert their airplanes into bombers. Steve enlists the help of the local police in his search for Hank. Complicating matters is the fact that Steve's former girlfriend Monica (Allison Hayes) is now Mrs. Hank Miller. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Oregon Passage proves that even out west, the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. John Ericson plays idealistic young Cavalry lieutenant Niles Ord, who hopes to peacefully capture renegade Shoshone chief Black Eagle (H. M. Wynant). Ord is convinced that his knowledge and understanding of Shoshone traditions and battle strategies will enable him to complete his mission without bloodshed. Alas, Ord's commanding officer Roland Dane (Edward Platt) is thoroughly and belligerantly ignorant of the ways of the Indian, and it is his pigheadedness that results in tragedy. Though relatively light in the action department, Oregon Passage succeeds by virtue of its avoidance of cliches. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

War Drums manages to be pro-Indian, pro-Mexican, pro-tolerance and pro-feminist without ever resorting to speechmaking or sacrificing its entertainment value. Former Tarzan Lex Barker stars as an Apache chief who is almost ostracized by his tribe when he marries Mexican girl Joan Taylor. Eventually, Barker is welcomed back, but Joan refuses to behave like a typical dutiful squaw. In deference to his wife's wishes, Barker trains Joan to become an Apache warrior! It is curious that the Political Correctness crowd has never paid homage to War Drums; perhaps it's because of the film's surfeit of decidedly non-PC violence and bloodshed. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Raw Edge is a modest Universal western from the peak of the double-feature era. Rory Calhoun plays a rancher whose "equal opportunity" hiring policies backfire. Calhoun learns that several of his ranch hands plan to kill him and take over the property. The treacherous employees further intend claim Calhoun's widow-to-be (Yvonne de Carlo) along with the ranch. Mara Corday plays the other woman in Calhoun's life: Can she, or anyone else in this picture, be trusted? While the plotline of Raw Edge has its esoteric moments, the film is brought down to earth by the perfunctory direction of John Sherwood. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western, a Mexican bandit and an angry rancher team up and take on a crooked saloon keeper. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Lois (Noel Neill) writes a story about the discovery of an ancient necklace with alleged magic powers. It is said that whosoever wears the necklace will be protected from all harm. Gangster boss Jake Morrell (Lawrence Ryle) decides to kidnap Lois as part of a scheme to find out if necklace is all it is cracked up to be--but Morrell has reckoned without the intervention of Lois' fellow reporter Clark Kent (George Reeves), who happens to have an alternate identity as a flying superhero. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The answer is: A turgid melodrama. The question: What is Jeopardy? Barbara Stanwyck stars as a suburbanite on a Mexican vacation with her husband (Barry Sullivan) and son (Lee Aaker). The threesome runs afoul of escape convict Ralph Meeker. Stanwyck's dilemma: Attempting to rescue her husband from drowning, while staving off the carnal demands of Meeker, who holds Stanwyck and her son at gunpoint. Jeopardy is on and off in only 69 minutes, but 64 of those minutes seem far longer. Trivia note: When dramatized on Lux Radio Theater, Jeopardy costarred child actor Harry Shearer, later a comic regular on Saturday Night Live. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Leslie Selander invests the Allied Artists "special" Fighter Attack with the same energy that he'd previously applied to his many westerns. Set during World War II, the film concerns an effort to destroy a Nazi supply depot. Though he's flown enough missions to be sent home, squadron leader Steve (Sterling Hayden) insists upon leading the offensive--and, on cue, is shot down behind enemy lines. Rescued by resistance fighters (Joy Page and J. Carroll Naish), Steve becomes the "inside man" for his squadron, laying the groundwork for the destruction of the German supplies. Fighter Attack was pleasingly filmed in the two-color Cinecolor process, as were many Monogram/Allied Artists "A"s of the period. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The much-maligned Vera Ralston turns in an acceptable performance as star of Republic's A Perilous Journey. Though seemingly inspired by MGM's Westward the Women, the film was actually based on The Golden Tide, a novel by Vingie Roe. In the year 1850, a group of 49 young women charter a full-rigger to sail for California to offer themselves as wives to the gold prospectors. As indicated by the title, the journey is indeed fraught with peril (not to mention a few geographical inaccuracies). Vera Ralston plays Francie Landreaux, who has undertaken the voyage in search of her no-good gambler husband. Instead, she finds romance in the arms of rough-and-ready Shard Benton (Scott Brady). A Perilous Journey is pepped up by several song numbers, written by Victor Young and Edward Heyman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Kansas City Confidential, Phil Karlson's low (low) budget, B-grade film noir, opens on a Kansas City armored-car robbery perpetrated by cynical, corrupt ex-policeman Timothy Foster (Preston S. Foster). Foster devises an outrageous scheme: he will recruit three of the most vicious and unrelenting criminals he can find (screen heavies Lee Van Cleef, Jack Elam and Neville Brand) to undertake a robbery, blackmailing them into the heist with incriminating evidence from other "jobs." As an eccentric and clever conceit, Foster forces each of the perpetrators to wear masks, thus concealing their identities from one another and preventing the old pitfall of the men squealing and backstabbing. The heist comes off without a scratch, but a complication arises when the ignorant cops pick up an unrelated fellow, Joe Rolfe (John Payne) for his ownership of a van similar to the one used in the caper. In time, Rolfe is cleared, but he grows irate over the accusations and sets off to find Foster and co. and teach them a lesson. He finally happens upon one of the perpetrators in Mexico, beats him nearly to death, and assumes the victim's identity - and that's when things really get complicated. Though produced under the Hays Code censorship regulations, Kansas City Confidential constituted one of the most brutal and violent crime pictures made up through that time; as such, it retains historical significance. It also claims a strong cult following. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Based on The Mexican, a novel by Jack London, this is the story of a young man whose family, girlfriend and village were destroyed by the forces of a ruthless dictator. When he joins the revolutionaries who are seeking his overthrow, he finds that his boxing abilities are perhaps a means for him to make a contribution to the effort. He takes on a big-prized match with one of the best Mexican fighters to help subsidize the guerrilla efforts. Along the way, romance takes its course in the ranks of the revolutionaries. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide