Nestor Paiva Movies

The Desert Hawk deserves to be seen on the basis of its cast alone. No more believable than any of Universal's other sword-and-sand epics, this one stars Yvonne de Carlo as Princess Shaharazade (sic) and Richard Greene as Omar, aka the Desert Hawk. By day a humble blacksmith, the Desert Hawk spends his evenings battling against the oppresive regime of Prince Murad (George Macready). One of the Hawk's tactics is to trick Shaharazade into marriage, so that he can enlist the aid of the army commanded by the Princess' father. Murad retaliates by kidnapping Shararazade, leading to an exciting climactic rescue. Never mind all that: the real fun in Desert Hawk is spotting the celebrities-to-be in the supporting cast. Playing the villainous Captain Ras is none other than Rock Hudson, while the Desert Hawk's loyal companions Aladdin and Sinbad are played, respectively, by Jackie Gleason and Joe Besser--and surprise, Joe is heavier than Jackie! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The life of tragic jazz great Bix Beiderbecke is given the "a clef" treatment in Warner Bros. Young Man With a Horn. Kirk Douglas plays the Beiderbecke character, here named Rick Martin. An ace trumpter player, Martin is one of the few white musicians to flourish in the black-dominated jazz scene of the 1920s. Chafing against the dullness of the "respectable" orchestras for whom he works, Martin finds at least two kindred spirits in the forms of torch singer Jo Jordan (Doris Day) and piano player Smoke Willoughby (Hoagy Carmichael). He rises to popularity with his own group, and along the way falls under the spell of wealthy jazz patroness Lauren Bacall. After marrying Bacall, Martin begins neglecting his music and turns more and more to alcohol. When he skips one of her fancy parties to attend the funeral of his mentor Juano Hernandez, Bacall angrily smashes all his jazz records, effectively ending what was never a very solid relationship. Crawling into a bottle, Martin loses his touch with the trumpet-a heartbreaking sequence, in which he goes to pieces in the middle of the pop standard "With a Song in My Heart". Unlike the real Beiderbecke, who died of alcoholism at the age of 28, Rick Martin is rescued by his faithful friends Day and Carmichael. Kirk Douglas' trumpeteering in Young Man with a Horn was effectively dubbed by Harry James, while jazz pianists Buddy Cole and Jimmy Zito make uncredited soundtrack contributions. The film was adapted by Carl Foreman and Edmund H. North from a novel by Dorothy Baker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After Ray Milland turned down the leading role in Bride of Vengeance, Paramount contractee John Lund stepped into the role of Alfonso D'Este, second husband of the notorious Lucrezia Borgia. The ruthlessly ambitious Lucrezia is played by Paulette Goddard, who seems ill at ease in the role. MacDonald Carey is better suited to his assignment as Cesar Borgia, the real villain of the piece. The plot proper gets under way when Lucrezia seeks revenge for her first husband's murder. The supporting cast is an odd lot, especially Billy Gilbert as Beppo, a wandering minstrel. A far better recreation of the Borgia "regime" was offered in the like-vintage Prince of Foxes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Another of 20th Century-Fox's Technicolor musical biopics, Oh You Beautiful Doll is allegedly the life story of popular composer Fred Fisher. As played by S. Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Fisher is a serious musician who yearns to write opera rather than tin pan alley hits. Since the aged, portly Sakall couldn't be the romantic lead, he is third-billed in deference to June Haver as Fisher's daughter and Mark Stevens as a slick song plugger. Despite his shame at being popular, Fisher is gratified when his songs are given a classy symphonic arrangement at Aeolian Hall. Among the tunes heard in Oh, You Beautiful Doll are "Chicago," "Dardanella," "Peg o' My Heart" and the title song. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This modern-day "Faust" variation benefits from a superb cast. Thomas Mitchell plays Joseph Foster, an honest judge who wants to become governor. Blocked by corrupt political forces, Foster would practically have to make a deal with the Devil to reach his goal. Enter Nick Beal (Ray Milland), a diabolically handsome gent with a slick line of patter and a smooth, infallible method of getting things done. Failing to recognize his benefactor's true identity (after all, Nick has no horns or cloven hooves) Foster agrees to the deal when Nick assures him that the end result is for the good of the people. To bind the bargain, Nick sends out one of his most trusted associates, Donna Allen (Audrey Totter), to keep Foster in line. When Foster finally realizes that he's sold his soul, there seems to be no way out..but that's when the forces of Good, represented by Foster's wife Martha (Geraldine Wall) and his clergyman friend Thomas Gaylord (George Macready), switch into high gear. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Bob Hope's Technicolor western spoof The Paleface was one of the comedian's biggest box-office hits. Hope plays Painless Potter, a hopelessly inept dentist who heads west to seek his fortune. Meanwhile, buxom female outlaw Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) is engaged in undercover work on behalf of the government, in the hopes of earning a pardon for her past crimes. Jane is on the lookout for notorious gun-runner Robert Armstrong. To put up an innocent front, Jane marries the befuddled Potter, then keeps the criminals at bay by convincing everyone that Potter is a rootin'-tootin' gunslinger (actually, it's Jane who's been doing all the shooting). Armstrong, who has been selling guns to the Indians, arranges for Jane to be captured by the scalp-hungry tribesmen, but Potter comes to the rescue. Somewhere along the way, Bob Hope and Jane Russell get to sing the Oscar-winning Jay Livingston/Ray Evans tune "Buttons and Bows". There are many hilarious moments in The Paleface, but screenwriter Frank Tashlin felt that director Norman Z. McLeod failed to get the full comic value out of his material. To prove his point, Tashlin directed the side-splitting sequel, Son of Paleface (1952), which once more teamed Hope and Russell. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fed up with crowded big-city living, advertising executive Mr. Blandings (Cary Grant) decides to seek out a big, roomy house in the country. Armed with more enthusiasm than common sense, Blandings causes many a headache for his lawyer/business manager Melvyn Douglas, who tries to keep the costs within a reasonable amount. Alas, Blandings bulls ahead on his own, first purchasing an estate on the verge of collapse, then opting to build his dream house from scratch. An unpleasant legal squabble over the fact that Blandings purchased his new property without checking with the prior owners throws even more good money after bad. The construction of the new Blandings digs is slowed down to a walk by doors and windows that don't fit, plumbing that fails to function, doorknobs that break upon contact with human flesh, temperamental workmen, and various and sundry other homeowners' nightmares (if all this sounds like the much-later Tom Hanks/Shelley Long comedy The Money Pit, it only shows to go how little has changed in forty years--except, of course, for the costs of things). Attempting to keep a level head throughout the proceedings is Mrs. Blandings (Myrna Loy), though even she is guilty of pretensions and excess, especially in the classic "choice of colors" scene. The humor in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House springs so naturally from the central situation that it seems intrusive when the scriptwriters throw in an arbitrary French-farce scene wherein Blandings suspects that his wife and his lawyer are fooling around (a plot point that the original Eric Hodgins novel did just fine without). One of the best bits comes near the end, when Louise Beavers, the Blandings' cook, saves the day for everyone by ad libbing "If you ain't eating Wham, you ain't eating Ham." Why should we spoil your enjoyment by explaining that line? Now you'll have to see the picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The same week that Pine-Thomas Productions' Speed to Spare was tradeshown in Los Angeles, the company released another of its patented adventure programmers, Mr. Reckless. William Eythe plays the title character, an oil-well digger named Jeff Lundy. Returning to his hometown after a long absence, Jeff is displeased to discover that his sweetheart Betty Denton (Barbara Britton) is engaged to the much-older Jim Halsey (Ian McDonald). Though outwardly philosophical about the whole matter, Jeff concocts several outlandish schemes to win Betty back, most of these hinging upon his daredevil oil-field activities. Walter Catlett and Lloyd Corrigan steal the show with their time-honored mugging and gesticulating. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Soon to be married in real life, Barbara Hale and Bill Williams also played sweethearts on screen in the frantic farce A Likely Story. After a routine medical examination, ex-GI Bill Baker (Bill Williams) overhears a conversation between two doctors, leading him to the mistaken conclusion that he's doomed to die from a rare heart condition. Chancing to meet aspiring artist Vickie North (Barbara Hale), Baker resolves to help Vickie realize her dream by bankrolling her career. He takes out a huge life insurance policy, then talks a couple of gangsters (Sam Levene and Nestor Paiva) into bumping him off so that Vickie and her kid brother Jamie (Lanny Rees) can collect immediately. Things get complicated when Baker discovers that he's as hale and hearty as the next fellow, prompting him to try to weasel out of his bargain with the gangsters-who, having financed the insurance policy in the first place, aren't inclined to let our hero off the hook so easily. Curiously, what should have been a frothy comedy plays more like a film noir, complete with a brief, hallucinatory nightmare sequence! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This musical romance is set in the beautiful South American country and chronicles the love affair between a betrothed couple who secretly have fallen in love with other people. The young man loves a nightclub chanteuse, while the woman wants a handsome coffee-buyer. Now they must somehow let their constantly bickering parents know. Songs include: "Qui Pi Pia," "I'll Know It's Love," "Another Night Like This," "Mi Vida, Costa Rica," and "Rhumba Bomba." ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Gilbert Roland made his penultimate appearance as the Cisco Kid in Monogram's Robin Hood of Monterrey. Roland is joined in his exploits by Chris-Pin Martin as Pancho. The film's 56 minutes is a near-nonstop anschluss of fistfights and gunplay, occasionally punctuated by Cisco's poetic wooing of whatever senorita happens to be around. The bad guys are headed by veterans Jack LaRue and Evelyn Brent; the last-named performer had by this time made western villainesses her particular specialty. After Robin Hood of Monterey and King of the Bandits, Gilbert Roland relinquished the Cisco Kid mantle to Duncan Renaldo. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Road to Rio was the first of three "Road" pictures jointly produced by stars Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. On the run from the law again, musicians Bob and Bing stow away on an ocean liner. They try to come to the rescue of heiress Dorothy Lamour, who is doomed to an arranged marriage to caddish George Meeker. All gratitude and effusions for their assistance, Dorothy surprises Bob and Bing on their next meeting by slapping them in their faces and declaring "I hate you! I loathe you! I despise you!" The explanation? Dorothy is being hypnotized by her scheming aunt Gale Sondergaard, who has set up the marriage for mysterious mercenary reasons of her own. When Dorothy is "herself" again, Bob and Bing smuggle her off the ship and into their Rio de Janeiro hotel room. The boys plan to save Dorothy from her unwanted marriage by passing her off as a nightclub singer, and themselves as band leaders. Trouble is, they have no band. Enter the Wiere Brothers, three Rio street entertainers. Bob and Bing hire the threesome on the spot, unmindful that they have booked themselves into Nestor Paiva's nightclub on the promise that they're delivering an American band. Since the Wieres speak only Portuguese, Bing teaches each brother an American phrase by rote: "You're in the groove, Jackson", "You're Telling Me," and "This is Murder." Naturally, it isn't long before the boys' ruse is discovered, and this coupled with the newly hypnotized Lamour's threats to have Bob and Bing arrested, leaves our heroes broke and stranded once more. Still, they pose a menace to Sondergaard, thus she contrives a method of disposing of them. Hypnotizing them both, Sondergaard orders Bob and Bing to kill each other. They snap out of the spell just in time, but still there's the problem of rescuing Dorothy. And now there's a new angle: mysterious stranger Frank Puglia informs the boys that the only way to stop the wedding is to retrieve (pause; a furtive glance left; a furtive glance right) "The Papers." Said papers are in the possession of Sondergaard, obliging Bob and Bing to show up at the pre-nuptial festival in disguise (with Bob in drag). Managing to hypnotize Sondergaard's henchmen Frank Faylen and Joseph Vitale, Bob and Bing uncover the precious Papers, and Dorothy is saved. But how can those papers stop a wedding? We won't give away the surprise, nor will we tell you whether Dorothy ends up with Bob or Bing, nor even what the heck Jerry Colonna is doing in the picture leading a cavalry charge. Not the best of the "Road" pictures, Road to Rio is nonetheless one of the most memorable--and quotable (how many of your high school pals used to confound the teacher by declaring "You're in the groove, Jackson"?) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this is '40s western a U.S. marshal chases a band of big-name bandits into no-man's territory (land outside of U.S. government jurisdiction) as he's trying to locate his little brother. He ends up facing off with none other than the James Boys, the Daltons and other notorious fellows. Badman's Territory proved so successful that the formula was repeated several times by RKO and other studios. ~ All Movie Guide