Debra Paget Movies

A contrite bank thief works to clear up his reputation in this western. ~ All Movie Guide

Myrna Loy returns as Mrs. Gilbreth -- efficiency expert, industrial engineer, and mother of twelve -- in this sequel to Cheaper By The Dozen. After the death of her husband, Gilbreth is forced to take over as the family's primary breadwinner, but she soon discovers that not every company who hired her and her husband in the past is eager to work with her on her own. Facing prejudice from many of her prospective clients, Gilbreth finally makes good training engineers for Sam Harper (Edward Arnold), putting her family back on solid financial ground. In the meantime, the dozen Gilbreth children are growing up, most notably eldest daughter Ann (Jeanne Crain), who enters into a serious romance with Bob Grayson (Jeffrey Hunter), a young doctor. The supporting cast includes Hoagy Carmichael, Debra Paget, Barbara Bates and Robert Arthur. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Indian scout Tom Jeffords (James Stewart) is sent out to stem the war between the Whites and Apaches in the late 1870s. He learns (through an uncomfortably close encounter) that the Indians kill only to protect themselves, or out of retaliation for white atrocities. Befriending the sagacious Apache leader Cochise (Jeff Chandler), Jeffords ensures safe passage for white mail-carriers through Indian territory. As he becomes closer to his Native American "brothers", Jeffords falls in love with and weds a pretty Apache girl (Debra Paget). This being a 1950 film (miscegenation was frowned upon by the Production Code), you can guess what happens to her. Jeffords wants to avenge his bride's death at the hands of white renegades, but it is the so-called "savage" Cochise who advises him not to. Having learned much from each other, Jeffords and Cochise symbolize the white/Indian detente with the traditional broken arrow. This superb, non-condescending film has been criticized in some circles because of the alleged depiction of Cochise as an Indian "Uncle Tom", and because actor Jeff Chandler was not a genuine Native American. Nonetheless, Broken Arrow stands the test of time far more successfully than the later, politically correct Dances with Wolves. In 1956, Broken Arrow was adapted into a TV series starring John Lupton as Jeffords and Michael Ansara as Cochise. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The opening scene of Robert Siodmak's grim film noir depicts police lieutenants Candella (Victor Mature) and Collins (Fred Clark) observing wounded cop killer Martin Rome (Richard Conte) receive last rites. Though Rome recovers, he still must elude Candella and Collins in his desperate attempt to escape his fate. Rome has two visitors in the hospital: his girlfriend, Teena (Debra Paget), who goes into hiding, and Niles (Berry Kroeger), a crooked lawyer. Niles tries to bribe Rome to take a jewel theft and homicide rap for a client of his since Rome is facing the electric chair anyway. When Rome refuses, Niles threatens to frame Teena as the client's female accomplice. Worried that Candella might find Teena, Rome breaks out of jail and goes to Niles' office to accept the offer, but he actually plans to leave the country with Teena. When Niles reneges, Rome kills him, but not before learning the accomplice's identity and discovering the stolen jewels in the lawyer's safe. Rome finds the accomplice, Rose Given (Hope Emerson), and offers to trade the jewelry for the means to leave the country. She agrees, and they arrange a meeting in the subway, but Rome informs Candella of the plan. When the police arrive, Candella is shot, Rose is arrested, and Rome escapes to meet up with Teena in a church. As he is trying to convince Teena to run away with him, a wounded Candella shows up and tells Teena how Rome uses people and that everyone who helped in his escape will be paying a price. Teena rejects Rome, and he runs again, only to be shot down by Candella. The moral order is ultimately restored, but no one has been left unscarred. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

This is the third and least successful version of screenwriter Thea von Harbou's original story, Das Indische Grabmal, written around 1919. Her ex-husband, Fritz Lang directs this routine, outdated drama about an exotic dancer named Seetha (Debra Paget) who is hired by Chandra (Walther Reyer), an Indian maharaja. Chandra is having problems keeping his domain in order and his subjects are on the verge of rebellion. To make matters worse, Seetha is not interested in him but in Harald Berger (Paul Hubschmid), an architect. Harald is there to construct colonial-style architecture, but between the rebellious peasants and the Maharaja, he and Seetha have dim prospects for a future here. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The resurgence of interest in Jules Verne following the release of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) led to a brief cycle of Verne-based films. Produced in Mexico by Benedict Bogeaus, From the Earth to the Moon stars Joseph Cotten as eccentric Civil War-era scientist Victor Barbicane. Claiming to have invented a source of "infinite energy" called Power X, Barbicane is able to secure financing for a rocket trip to the moon. Along for the ride is Barbicane's bitter enemy, Stuyvesant Nicholl (George Sanders), who feels that Barbicane is violating the laws of God and nature with his extraterrestrial dreams. Thus, Nicholl sabotages the space vessel, setting the stage for a suspenseful finale. The requisite romantic interest is handled by Barbicane's daughter Virginia (a newly blonde Debra Paget) and his assistant Ben Sharpe (Don Dubbins). Wandering in and out of the proceedings is a mysterious bearded character known only as J.V. (Carl Esmond). Hampered by a small budget, From the Earth to the Moon doesn't deliver the special effects highlights that its ad campaign implicitly promised, but the actors are convincing and the story is logically presented. Originally slated for RKO release, the film was ultimately distributed by Warner Bros. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This costume drama is set within the ancient courts of Egypt. It tells the story of Cleopatra's beautiful daughter who is slated to be buried alive in her husband's tomb. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Not up to the classic 1935 presentation, this is still an excellent adaptation of Victor Hugo's epic novel. The familiar characters of Valjean and Javert and the agonies of injustice are all portrayed convincingly against a backdrop of 18th century France. ~ Tana Hobart, All Movie Guide

Flamboyant mob chief Eddie Candell (Ron Randell), who was framed for murder by jealous associate Andy Damon (Anthony Caruso), makes a break while on his way to the death house. Fleeing across the desert, he suddenly finds himself on an atomic testing range, just as an experimental bomb goes off. Instead of being killed instantly, Eddie is bombarded by radiation from Cobalt Isotope X, a newly discovered element that leaves him alive but transformed -- reacting to the radiation and the steel of the handcuffs on his wrists, his body takes on the hardness of steel and can absorb the metal on contact, including any bullets that might be fired at him. In addition to making him all but indestructible, the mutation gives Eddie the strength of ten men, which he uses to tear his way through the ranks of his former associates, terrorizing the woman (Debra Paget) who betrayed him and crushing the life out of anyone who gets in his way as he tries to get to Damon. However, his psyche has been affected as well; he was already consumed by a desire for revenge, but he slowly loses any ability to perceive pleasure or compassion as he slowly transforms into a kind of living metal and the body count around him rises. Only Carla Angelo (Elaine Stewart), his girlfriend and also a genuinely "nice" girl, can reach him, and she must decide whether to help to try and save him or to destroy him. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Frank Freeman Jr., son of the longtime head of Paramount Pictures, made his debut as producer with the opulent but empty Omar Khayyam. Cornel Wilde stars as the legendary Persian poet, here depicted as not only a philosopher but a scientist, politician and great lover. As the Persians gear up for war against the Byzantines, Omar occupies his time by romancing Sharain (Debra Paget), the favorite wife of the Shah (Raymond Massey). He also does his best to foil a plan by Hasani (Michael Rennie), leader of the Cult of Assassins, to murder the royal family. While many of the characters and events are based on fact, it is difficult to believe the story or the dialogue for more than ten minutes at a stretch. Singer Yma Sumac, then famous for her four-and-a-half octave vocal range, is somehow woven into the proceedings. When Omar Khayyam laid an egg at the box-office, a Hollywood wit, taking into consideration the Southern heritage of Frank Freeman Jr., assessed the results as "A loaf of bread, a bottle of coke and you-all." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Debra Paget displays as much epidermis as the 1954 censors would allow in the escapist adventure Princess of the Nile. Ms. Paget is cast as Taura, a fearless 13th century princess who does her best to defend Egypt against an invading Bedouin (Michael Rennie). When not wielding her trusty scimitar, Taura poses as a dancing girl to undermine the Bedouin's plans. She is aided by the Prince Haidi (Jeffrey Hunter), son of the Caliph of Baghdad. The plotline is negligible: the audience was more interested in watching Debra Paget and scores of underclad lovelies undulating to the quasi-Eastern musical score by Lionel Newman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In Seven Angry Men, Raymond Massey stars as controversial 19th-century abolitionist John Brown, a role he'd previously essayed in 1940's Santa Fe Trail. Without glossing over Brown's murderous fanaticism and cold-bloodedness, the film manages to invoke a degree of sympathy for the man, whose intentions were honorable even if his methods were not. After cutting a bloody swath through Kansas, Brown and his followers hole up in a warehouse at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, where he meets his own personal Waterloo at the hands of federal troops. The romantic subplot is handled by Jeffrey Hunter, cast as Brown's son Owen, and Debra Paget as Owen's sweetheart Elizabeth. James Edwards offers another strong characterization as an articulate freed slave who follows John Brown to his doom. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roger Corman's Tales of Terror stars Vincent Price in a trio of short stories, liberally adapted by Richard Matheson from the works of Edgar Allan Poe. The film gets off to a rousing start with "Morella," in which Price's bitterness over the long-ago death of his wife results in tragedy for his estranged daughter Maggie Pierce. The last of the three terror-filled tales, "The Case of Mr. Valdemar," finds Price being put into a state of suspended animation by the diabolical Basil Rathbone; when Rathbone claims Price's bride Debra Paget for himself, Price briefly revives, only to melt before our eyes (this horrific image was reproduced on the film's advertising posters). The film's best story is its centerpiece, "The Black Cat," which weaves elements of "The Cask of Amontillado" into a mordantly funny revenge tale concerning Price, his bitter enemy Peter Lorre, and Lorre's two-timing wife Joyce Jameson. This is the one in which a besotted Lorre walls up Price and Jameson in his cellar, then endures a hellish hallucination of Vincent and Joyce playing a football game with his head! A mixed bag, to be sure, but Tales of Terror remains one of the best of Corman's Poe cycle (though it does lose a lot when not shown in its original Cinemascope form). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide