Barbara Luna Movies
Of Hungarian-Philippine heritage, Barbara Luna was a stage actress from childhood. In 1949, Luna was cast as one of Ezio Pinza's children in South Pacific; she can be heard on the original cast album, singing the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical's opening number "Dites Moi, Pourquoi?" She went on to appear in such Broadway productions as The King and I, Teahouse of the August Moon and A Chorus Line. In films from 1958, Luna has usually been seen in exotic ethnic roles in films like The Devil at Four O'Clock (1961) and Five Weeks in a Balloon (1961). Star Trek fans still send her complimentary letters for her performance as Marlene Moreau in the 1967 ST installment "Mirror Mirror." Her most recent film credit was 1992's Lady Against the Odds. Barbara Luna has been married to actors Doug McClure and Alan Arkin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1964
Many viewers avoided Mail Order Bride upon its first release, assuming (thanks to MGM's shoddy promotional campaign) that the picture had been slapped together to capitalize on the popularity of Beverly Hillbillies star Buddy Ebsen. In truth, the film is an engaging and involving western drama, with Ebsen playing a character far removed from Jed Clampett. The mail order bride in question is not for Ebsen but for the wild young frontiersman in his charge (Keir Dullea). It is Buddy's hope that the girl will tame the boy (the son of an old friend) and give him some sense of responsibility. Lois Nettelton is the proper young lady who fills the bill. In the closing scenes, director Burt Kennedy restages the climactic shootout from 1962's Ride the High Country, which Kennedy scripted. Mail Order Bride is not only a satisfactory vehicle for Buddy Ebsen, but it also allows him an opportunity to sing the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Buddy Ebsen, Lois Nettleton, (more)
- 1963
Dime with a Halo was designed in part as a showcase for MGM's new child actor Manuel Padilla, who was featured shortly afterward in the studio's The Young and the Brave (63) and as a regular on the Tarzan TV series. Director Boris Sagal transcends the cold-cash motives of Dime by fashioning a touching Mexican-based comedy centering around five street urchins. The oldest (Roger Mobley) leads the kids in stealing a dime from a church collection box; they bet this "windfall" on a horse race, using the winnings to jointly purchase a sweepstakes ticket. All their dreams of sudden luxury are dashed when they find they're too young to cash the ticket when it hits the jackpot. Manuel Padilla manages to steal focus from his formidable kiddie opposition, but Dime with a Halo didn't quite establish Padilla as the Mickey Rooney of the 1960s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barbara Luna, Roger Mobley, (more)
- 1963
Dr. Stuart Peters (Michael Forest) arrives in Los Angeles from upstate New York, with his ne'er-do-well younger brother Jory (Scott Marlowe) in tow, to take a job at NORCO, an energy research laboratory. After an odd encounter with a guard -- who tries to warn him away from NORCO -- he reports for work and immediately goes incommunicado for a week. When he reappears, Peters looks worn, haggard, and preoccupied -- and dies when something seems to explode in his chest. The medical examiner determines that the cause of death was a faulty heart pacemaker. The problem, for the police detective (Edward Asner) investigating the death, and for the victim's grief-sticken brother, is that the physicist was in perfect health and had never worn a pacemaker. They want to know what happened to him during the week he was unaccounted for at NORCO -- and why the staff, from the director (Kent Smith) on down, won't cooperate with the investigation. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
With Five Weeks in a Balloon, 20th Century-Fox hoped to cash on the success of the studio's earlier Jules Verne adaptation Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959). The plot is set in motion when 19th-century explorer Fergusson (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) volunteers to head a balloon expedition to claim an otherwise unreachable chunk of African territory for the British Empire. Along for the ride are reporter Donald O'Shay (Red Buttons), absent-minded professor Sir Henry Vining (Richard Haydn), Vining's assistant Jacques (Fabian) and schoolmarm Susan Gale (Barbara Eden). Along the way, the little party acquires another passenger when they rescue native girl Makia (Barbara Luna) from a slave trader. Their many near-death experiences include a run-in with evil potentate Sheik Ageiba (Henry Daniell). Other reliable characters on hand include Peter Lorre, Herbert Marshall, Reginald Owen, Mike Mazurki, and, in a dual role, sneezemaster Billy Gilbert. Since no one could be expected to take this sort of fare seriously, Five Weeks in a Balloon is played tongue-in-cheek, peppered with such overripe dialogue as "You, sir, are a cad!" and "Kismet! We are doomed!" ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Red Buttons, Fabian, (more)
- 1962
Charles Bronson guest stars as Janos Kolescu, a renegade gypsy hired by the Syndicate to establish a new illegal-liquor market amongst his own people in Chicago. Kolescu has an intensely personal reason for casting his lot with the Mob: He intends to carry out an old vendetta against the head of Chicago's "gypsy senate", who back in the Old Country had stolen a religious icon and shifted the blame to Kolescu's father. In his efforts to bring Kolescu to justice, Elliot (Robert Stack) finds himself up against one of his most elusive--and most deadly--adversaries. This episode features the first of four Untouchables appearances by future Lou Grant star Edward Asner. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Spencer Tracy plays an American priest tending to the natives of a South Sea island. A plane carrying three convicts -- Harry (Frank Sinatra), Marcel Gregoire Aslan and Charlie Bernie Hamilton) -- lands on the island; Father Doonan (Tracy) manages to enlist their (reluctant) aid in working at a children's hospital. When the island falls victim to a series of earthquakes, Father Doonan and the convicts work together to evacuate the hospital staff and the children. Harry, the least cooperative of the prisoners, becomes a hero during a volcanic eruption by going back to rescue the priest, who with convict Charlie has been holding a bridge in order to allow the others to escape. Father Doonan and the two convicts are killed, but all the children are rescued. Blighted by bad special effects and ponderous direction, Devil at Four O'Clock is less interesting than the behind-the-scenes rumors concerning the friction between Spencer Tracy and Frank Sinatra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, (more)
- 1960
Elliot Ness (Robert Stack) is frustrated when a case that he has been building against mob functionary Theodore Newberry (Ken Lynch) literally goes South when the star witness, bookkeeper Julius Imbry (Byron Foulger), is kidnapped and spirited away to Mexico. When Newberry manages to humiliate Ness in public, undercover cop Nick Delgado (Vince Edwards) is assigned to bring Imbry back--while Newberry, who did not engineer the kidnapping, dispatches his own hired guns to locate and silence the witness. Martin Landau steals the show as a stuttering hit man in this episode, which also features an uncredited appearance by Batman's future "Chief O'Hara" Stafford Repp. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1960
Little Joe and Hoss set out for Monterey, CA, bearing the cash with which they intend to purchase a prize bull for their father Ben. En route, they are ambushed by bandits. But this is hardly the end of their troubles, as the two brothers also contend with a youthful thief, a pack of starving Indians, and a strange woman named Cayetena (Barbara Luna). Veteran actor/director Ricardo Cortez appears as Don Xavier. First shown on January 2, 1960, "El Toro Grande" was written by John Tucker Battle. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lorne Greene, Pernell Roberts, (more)
- 1959
This was the first film directed by Paul Stanley, and its theme of second-generation Puerto Ricans living in New York's Spanish Harlem would be picked up again in 1961's smash success, West Side Story. Miguel Estrada (John Saxon) was a member of a local gang before he went to prison for a year, and now that he is out he wants to walk the straight-and-narrow. His attempts at getting away from the life that binds him to the gangs are not anything his father can understand, and the gangs are not going to let him just walk away. At one point, he is forced into a knife fight with a gang member. A counterpoint to Miguel's dilemma is found in Sarita (Linda Cristal), a local "hostess" who prefers single bliss to marriage and its problems. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Saxon, Linda Cristal, (more)
- 1958
While searching for a missing man named James Baker, Paladin stops for water at the lavish Mexican hacienda of wealthy Mexican silver miner Don Francisco (Donald Randolph). Impressed by Paladin's gunfighting credentials, Don Francisco hires him to escort a valuable silver shipment. But upon witnessing his host's cruel treatment of servant girl Lupita (Babara Luna), Paladin begins to harbor doubts concerning Don Francisco--and his suspicions are confirmed when he discovers that James Baker had died "accidentally" while laboring in the Mexican millionaire's silver mines! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
Although Army major Frank Lessing (John Archer) left behind a suicide note before his death, Sgt. Joseph Dexter (Paul Picerni) is charged with Lessing's murder. Exercising his legal prerogative, Dexter demands a civilan lawyer to defend him at his Court-Martial--and that's where Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) comes in. But by the time Perry has arrived at the Army base to confer with his client, Dexter has been murdered as well! The outcome of this case hinges upon a payroll robbery committed years earlier in the Philippines. Making certain that this episode remained "by the book" throughout was technical advisor Lt. Allison A. Conrad, who receives special screen credit. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1958
This war drama is set during the Korean War and follows the exploits of four men and their tank as they fight their battles behind enemy lines. During their many skirmishes, they discuss their past romantic exploits. One of them is currently involved with an Army nurse. The four find themselves in a real bind when the tank breaks down against a cliff. One of the soldiers risks it all to sneak out and retrieve the needed part to fix the tank. It is a dangerous, exciting journey, but he succeeds and saves his buddies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Kelly, Marjorie Hellen, (more)
