Nestor Paiva Movies

A U.S. Army cavalry officer (Dane Clark) leads westward-bound settlers through Indian territory. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Universal Pictures introduced audiences to yet another classic movie monster with this superbly crafted film, originally presented in 3-D. The story involves the members of a fossil-hunting expedition down a dark tributary of the mist-shrouded Amazon, where they enter the domain of a prehistoric, amphibious "Gill Man" -- possibly the last of a species of fanged, clawed humanoids who may have evolved entirely underwater. Tranquilized, captured, and brought aboard, the creature still manages to revive and escape -- slaughtering several members of the team -- and abducts their sole female member (Julie Adams), spiriting her off to his mist-shrouded lair. This sparks the surviving crewmen to action -- particularly those who fancy carrying the girl off themselves. Director Jack Arnold makes excellent use of the tropical location, employing heavy mists and eerie jungle noises to create an atmosphere of nearly constant menace. The film's most effective element is certainly the monster itself, with his pulsating gills and fearsome webbed talons. The creature was played on land by stuntman Ben Chapman and underwater by champion swimmer Ricou Browning -- who was forced to hold his breath during long takes because the suit did not allow room for scuba gear. The end result was certainly worth the effort, proven in the famous scene where the Gill Man swims effortlessly beneath his female quarry in an eerie ballet -- a scene echoed much later by Steven Spielberg in the opening of Jaws. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The third of four Wayne Morris B-westerns for Allied Artists, Desperado casts Morris as fugitive gunman Sam Garrett. The early reels are devoted to Tall Cameron (James Lydon) and Ray Novac (Rayford Barnes), who run afoul of the post-Civil War Texas State Police, as represented by sadistic Captain Thornton (Nestor Paiva). Escaping Thornton's wrath, Tall and Ray meet Garrett, who becomes Tall's friend and advisor when Ray proves to be a louse. Seeking revenge, Ray kills Thornton and frames Tall for the crime. Sympathetic sheriff Jim Langley (Dabbs Greer) joins forces with "friendly enemy" Garrett to clear Tall and mete out just desserts to Ray. Beverly Garland costars as a more resourceful heroine than one usually finds in westerns of this nature. Though hamstrung by a low budget, Desperado is an intellingently written, well-paced endeavor. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Gloria Grahame signed her contract at Columbia Pictures, she had no idea the studio would require her to appear in anything available. Rather than go on suspension, she consented to star in the "Arabian nights" fiasco Prisoners of the Casbah, but her discomfort with the assignment is obvious in every scene. Grahame plays a Moroccan Princess, while Turhan Bey is the lowborn thief who loves her. The plot decrees that Grahame must marry Turhan to escape death at the hands of her enemies, and the script has a lot of fun with the custom of a groom being able to wed or cast away his bride simply by saying "I Marry You" or "I Divorce You" three times. Cesar Romero, playing the villain, is the only actor who looks like he's enjoying himself. Prisoners of the Casbah was another tarnished gem from anything-for-a-buck producer Sam Katzman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ethel Merman reprised her role as a socialite turned diplomat in this screen adaptation of Irving Berlin's hit Broadway musical. Sally Adams (Merman) has made it her business to know everyone worth knowing in Washington D.C., and her penchant for parties pays off when she's appointed United States Ambassador to Lichtenburg. Once she is installed in her new position, she falls in love with suave Foreign Minister Cosmo Constantine (George Sanders), while Princess Maria (Vera-Ellen) has her head turned by Sally's press attaché, Kenneth (Donand O'Connor). Call Me Madam is a showcase for Merman's roof-raising musical comedy style, and here she gets to sing a handful of Berlin tunes, including "You're Just In Love," "Can You Use Any Money Today?" and "Hostess With The Mostes' on the Ball." Vera-Ellen's singing was dubbed by Carol Richards. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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, All Movie Guide

Based on a true story, 5 Fingers stars James Mason as a man known to his superiors only as Cicero. Ostensibly the valet of the British ambassador to Ankara during World War II, Cicero is actually a Nazi agent. He holds no particular political viewpoint: the Nazis offered the best price, so for the time being he is loyal to them. Falling in love with the beautiful Danielle Darrieux, Cicero uses her home as a contact point to meet his German associates. At great personal risk, Cicero secures secret British war files and smuggles them to the Germans; they find the information in the files too far-fetched to be taken seriously--and thus are caught unawares on the morning of the D-Day invasion. An ironic coda finds Cicero, setting himself up in luxury in Rio de Janeiro, double-crossed by both Darrieux and the Germans. What else can he do but laugh uproariously? 5 Fingers, based on the memoirs of the real-life "Cicero" L. C. Moyzisch, was adapted into a 1959 TV series, wherein the antihero was converted into a 100% good guy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Stock footage abound in this otherwise average Rex Allen musical Western from Republic Pictures. When crooked ranch foreman Link Felton (Roy Barcroft) diverts the "Comanche Limited" into an old mineshaft, causing the engine to explode, everyone believes that ranch owner Carlos Alvarez (Nestor Paiva) is among the dead and buried travelers, everyone including Lita, the old man's granddaughter (Estelita Rodriguez), whose Eastern fiancée Rodney Brewster (Douglas Evans) is a greedy tyrant. Although his main goal is to recover a shipment of gold from the buried train, Felton has no compelling reasons not to assist Brewster in rustling a herd of cattle brought in by former Alvarez cowboys Rex Allen and Slim Pickens. But unbeknownst to Felton and Brewster, old man Alvarez is still very much alive. Rex Allen and an aggregation calling itself the Republic Rhythm Riders perform "I'll Sing a Love Song Again," by Jack Elliott and Aaron Gonzales, and Allen's own "Hide Away Your Troubles" and "The Railroad Corral." ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

In this old-fashioned screwball comedy, Christy Sloane (Eleanor Parker) is a secretary with a large legal firm who is sent to California to inform Peter Lockwood (Fred MacMurray), an overly sentimental radio host, that he's just inherited $2 million. Christy is looking to raise her standard of living, and she gets an idea -- what if she woos Peter and gets him to marry her before telling him that he's a millionaire? Christy decides that it's worth a try, even though she soon learns that Peter is due to marry his fiancée June Chandler (Kay Buckley) in a matter of days. However, the wedding goes haywire when Dr. Roland Cook (Richard Carlson), Peter's best man, takes a flyer shortly before the ceremony. It seems that he's secretly in love with June, and he can't bear to see her marry anyone else, even his best friend. Peter takes off to find Roland, with Christy eagerly tagging along, but after the two are soaked by massive waves while driving along the coastline, they wind up at a wild party thrown by a large, overly-cheerful Mexican gentleman (Chris-Pin Martin) who has somehow decided that they're honeymooners and begins plying them with large amounts of tequila. After a few drinks, Christy begins to realize that she actually likes Peter for himself, not just his money, but where does this leave his almost-wedding to June? A Millionaire for Christy was directed by George Marshall, who would go on to helm a number of Jerry Lewis vehicles (including several with his sometimes-partner Dean Martin). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Robert Ryan plays Jim Wilson, a tough police detective embittered by years of dealing with low-life urban scum, in Nicholas Ray's moving film noir. After severely beating several suspects, Jim is assigned to a case far from the city to find the killer of a young girl. Joining the manhunt, in snow-covered terrain, Wilson finds himself paired with the victim's father, Walter Brent (Ward Bond), who plans to shoot the killer himself. When the two men come upon a cabin occupied by Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), a blind woman who is also the killer's sister, Wilson's life is changed forever. Mary, a generous and loving person who has cared for her mentally ill brother Danny (Sumner Williams) since the death of their parents, convinces Wilson to protect Danny from Brent. Wilson also promises to get help for Danny if he surrenders to him. Inspired by Mary's courage and recognizing Brent's rage as the mirror image of his own, Wilson gains the insight to free himself from his own blindness. The film includes a memorable score by Alfred Hitchcock favorite Bernard Herrmann. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

The film traces Naples-born Caruso's ascension from adolescent choir singer to the uppermost ranks of the opera world. Caruso is brought to America, getting off to a bad start by inadvertently insulting the impresario (Carl Benton Reid) responsible for his Metropolitan debut. This complication has a happy outcome when Caruso marries his benefactor's daughter (Ann Blyth). Refusing to spare himself or to hold back his talents from his fans, Caruso's health fails him, and he dies in 1921 at the age of 47. Featuring no fewer than 27 musical numbers, Great Caruso also stars Mario Lanza as Caruso, as well as such operatic superstars as Dorothy Kirsten and Jarmila Novotna. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Burt Lancaster stars as Jim Thorpe, the Native American sports whiz whom many consider the greatest athlete of the 20th century. We first see Thorpe as a child on the reservation, highly resistant to the notion of going to school. He proves to be an excellent student, eventually attending the all-Indian college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Still, Thorpe doesn't feel like mixing much with the other students until coach Charles Bickford encourages the lad to go out for the track team. Thorpe finds that he can be more "articulate" as an athlete than as a scholar, and soon excels at all school sports. He also marries his college sweetheart, non-Indian Phyllis Thaxter. After graduation, Thorpe tries to get a coaching job, but is frozen out by the white establishment. Determined to make a name for himself, he enters the 1912 Olympics at Stockholm, where he earns more gold medals than anyone else and is praised as the world's greatest athlete by the King of Sweden. Unfortunately, the fact that Thorpe briefly played semi-professional baseball while attending Carlisle costs him his amateur status--and every one of his medals. Things go from bad to worse for Thorpe after this; his son dies, his marriage disintegrates, and he crawls into a bottle. Thorpe has hit rock bottom when he is reunited with his old coach Bickford, who offers Jim a ticket to the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. It is the first small step on the road to regeneration for Jim Thorpe (alas, real life was not so kind; Thorpe died in near-poverty, and it was not until years after his death that his Olympic medals were restored). Jim Thorpe, All American was directed by Michael Curtiz, who previously had secured small acting roles for the real Thorpe in such films as Knute Rockne: All American (1940). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The title tells all--or at least most--in I Was a Shoplifter. The title character, played by Mona Freeman, is Faye Burton, a well-off socialite suffering from kleptomania. Faye falls into the hands of a professional shoplifting ring headed by Herb Claxton (Charles Drake) and Ina Perdue (Andrea King), who want to exploit her high-society connections. It's up to undercover agent Jeff Andrews (Scott Brady) to save Faye from the villains--and from herself. Cast as a brutish henchman is one Anthony Curtis, who grew up to become you-know-who. Featured in a role so small that it wasn't listed in the studio's official credits is still another star in the making: Rock Hudson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide