Paul Fierro Movies

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

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

Callaway Went Thataway is an amiable spoof of early television's "Hopalong Cassidy" craze. Fred MacMurray and Dorothy McGuire star as Mike Frye and Deborah Patterson, advertising copywriters who have pulled off quite a coup by purchasing the old "Smokey Callaway" Westerns for TV. Trouble begins when the sponsor wants to meet up with Callaway (Howard Keel) and sign him to a long-term contract. But Smokey, a notorious boozer and womanizer, has dropped out of sight and left for parts unknown. In desperation, Mike and Debbie hire a Callaway look-alike named Stretch Barnes (also Howard Keel), whom they give a crash course in the art of being a boyhood idol ("You're a cowboy star. You have two expressions: hat on and hat off"). Barnes not only pulls off the ruse with the greatest of ease, but also takes his responsibilities to his young fans quite seriously. The plot thickens when the real Smoky Callaway emerges from a ten-year bender to demand a piece of the action. Callaway Went Thataway is full of wonderful moments, not least of which is a climactic fistfight between Callaway and Barnes, adroitly edited and photographed so as to make it appear that Howard Keel is actually punching out himself! The supporting cast includes future TV favorites Jesse White, Stan Freberg, and Hugh Beaumont (unbilled), while several MGM stars make surprise cameo appearances. Perhaps to avoid potential lawsuits, the film ends with a timorous disclaimer, stating that most Western stars are generous, upstanding individuals -- and not at all like the bibulous, mercenary Smoky Callaway. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Bowery Boys--Slip (Leo Gorcey), Sach (Huntz Hall) et. al.--are suckered into buying a uranium mine near the western town of Panther Pass. Though the boys find none of the precious mineral, a gang of bad guys, led by Ron Haskell (Harry Lauter), are led to believe that mine is valuable. The crooks try to chase our heroes off their property, but before long the tables are turned, and the film wraps up with a zany jeep pursuit. Director Edward Bernds and screenwriter Elwood Ullman reuse several old Three Stooges gags in Dig That Uranium, including the poker game routine from the Stooges' Out West (1947). The film's best bit is an extended parody of High Noon, replete with really slow bullets. Incidentally, the doofus who sells the boys the uranium mine in the opening scene is none other than Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer. Filmed at Iverson's Ranch in the San Fernando Valley, Dig That Uranium was the final "Bowery Boys" outing for Bernard "Louie Dumbrowski" Gorcey, who died in a traffic accident shortly after filming was completed. ~ 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

His Kind of Woman directed by veteran John Farrow, is a convoluted mystery thriller which tries unsuccessfully to combine slapstick comedy with excessive violence, resulting in a film that depends more on stereotypes than on plot development. Nick (Raymond Burr), is a deported gang boss who needs to get back to the United States to run his operation. Dan Miller (Robert Mitchum) is a hard-up guy, who is persuaded, both by a series of beatings and a substantial sum of money, to sell his identity to Nick. Lenore (Jane Russell) a singer, poses as a heiress, trying to marry a millionaire. They all meet up in a resort in Mexico where Nick intends to have plastic surgery to alter his looks. There, a number of double-crosses, shootings, and chases all culminate in an exciting confrontation aboard ship. His Kind of Woman, a Howard Hughes production designed to be a showcase for Jane Russell, is entertaining when viewed as a comedy. As a serious film-noir thriller, it lacks suspense and depth. However, the film has its moments, and Robert Mitchum is in his element as the loner anti-hero. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

George Raft once again plays the outcast of society who comes through in the end in Intrigue. Dishonorably discharged from the Army Air Corps, Brad Dunham (Raft) disconsolately decides to try his luck with Shanghai's postwar black market. Teaming with the treacherous Tamara Baranoff (June Havoc), Dunham prospers in his newly-found illicit profession, much to the dismay of his best friend, reporter Mark Andrews (Tom Tully). When Tamara has the troublesome Andrews murdered, Dunham realizes the folly of his behavior and works overtime to squash the black market for good and all. Meanwhile, social worker Linda Parker (Helena Carter), who realizes that Dunham's a good guy underneath and hopes against hope that he'll eventually realize it. ~ 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

On the verge of starting a business with Walter Osbourne (John Vivyan) in Mexico, Bart (Jack Kelly) discovers that all his money has been stolen by can-can dancer Karen Gustavson (Anna-Lisa). Tracking the girl down, Bart is not entirely convinced when Karen insists that the grabbed the cash in order to save his life. But when two sinister strangers express an interest in the money as well, Bart begins to believe Karen's story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fred MacMurray is a breezy New York street photographer; Mary Martin is a small town girl hoping to make her fortune in the Big Apple. Fred and Mary meet, bicker, fall in love, fall out of love, fall in love again, and so it goes. The main story is occasionally leavened by subplots involving such indispensable supporting players as Lynne Overman, Akim Tamiroff, Cecil Kellaway, Eric Blore and Iris Adrian. Robert Preston is the second lead who loses Mary Martin to Fred MacMurray, though Preston and Martin would re-team on Broadway 25 years later in the musical I Do, I Do. Instantly capturing the audience's attention with a remarkable opening "single take" which establishes the personalities of several apartment dwellers, New York Town is a diverting and agreeable Paramount romantic comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, 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

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

John Wayne -- showing off a darker side to his screen persona than we'd previously seen -- portrays Thomas Dunson, a frontiersman who, with his longtime partner Nadine Groot (Walter Brennan), leaves abandons a westbound wagon train in 1851 to make his future as a rancher in Texas. Doing so forces him to abandon Fen (Colleen Gray), his fiancee -- and when she is killed in an Indian raid a short time later, it taints any good that Dunson might find in the future he carves out for himself, destroying any joy he might derive from life. The sole survivor of the raid is Matthew Garth (Mickey Kuhn), a young orphan who is unusually handy with a gun for one his age -- and already knows how to channel his grief and horror at what he's seen, as much as Dunson does. Dunson informally adopts Matt as his son, and over the next 14 years he builds up one of the largest ranches in the entire state of Texas. And all of it is worth nothing, a result of the economic ruin wrought on the state in the aftermath of the Civil War. Matthew (Montgomery Clift, now back from the war and doing some of his own adventuring, finds a darker, more taciturn Dunson than he's ever known -- as Groot tells it, he afraid, because he just doesn't know how to fight the threats he now faces. With Matthew now returned, Dunson decides to move his herd, nearly 10,000 head of cattle, to Missouri, where there is a market for beef, over 1000 miles away through territory controlled by border gangs hundreds of men strong that have stopped every cattle drive up to now, and Indians who have picked off what the gangs missed. Dunson drives his men as hard as he does himself, relentlessly, till even some of his best hands break under the strain -- and he's not above killing anyone who challenges his authority on the drive. He's able to hold them in line as long as Matthew backs him up, and he does until Dunson, exhausted and worn down by lack of sleep, finally goes too far. Matthew steps in, backed by laconic, smirking gunman Cherry Valance (John Ireland) and most of the rest of the men and takes the herd from Dunson. Leaving his father and mentor behind, he heads the herd toward Kansas, where -- so the men are told -- there's a new railroad. Along the way, he meets Tess Millay (Joanne Dru), a card-dealer who falls in love with the young man. But he has to finish the drive and leaves her behind, much as Dunson left Fen. And they all know that Dunson is coming after Matthew to kill him. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide