Oswaldo Calvo Movies
A Cuban woman who escapes to America finds herself in political, financial, and romantic jeopardy in this taut drama. Cuban refugee Isabel (Greta Scacchi) flees her country and makes her way to Miami after her husband, Nestor (Jimmy Smits), a political activist, is sentenced to a long stay in a Cuban jail. In their dangerous voyage to the United States, Isabel and her daughter are rescued by Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio), a fisherman from Miami; Sam helped Isabel find her way in her new home, and a romance blossoms between the two. However, when Nestor is finally released from prison eight years later and escapes to Miami to be with his wife, he discovers that Isabel's affections are now divided between himself and Sam, while his daughter barely remembers or recognizes him. Danger faces all three sides of this romantic triangle; Sam is asked to use his boat to smuggle Cuban dissidents into Miami, Nestor falls in with a radical fringe group hoping to stage an armed invasion of Cuba, and Isabel, who has become involved with a numbers racket, is in deep trouble after several massive payments were made to someone who never placed a bet. Fires Within was also shown under the title Little Havana; it premiered in Miami, appropriately enough, in its short-lived theatrical release. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Greta Scacchi, Jimmy Smits, (more)
Controversial Nicaraguan leader Somoza is treated with inordinate kindness in the propagandistic adventure The Last Plane Out. As played by Lloyd Battista, Somoza is a pussycat compared to those "nasty" insurgents. The story is based on the somewhat slanted memoirs of former journalist Jack Cox, who produced the film and is personified herein by Jan-Michael Vincent. Even at its best, the film runs a distant second to its obvious inspiration, Under Fire. The Last Plane Out is energetically directed by David Nelson--who, as we all may know, is the non-singing son of Ozzie and Harriet. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jan-Michael Vincent, Julie Carmen, (more)
In this legal drama from director Sydney Pollack, Sally Field stars as Megan, an ambitious newpaper reporter who, based on information from FBI investigator Rosen, played by Bob Balaban, writes a scathing article that implicates Gallagher, a reclusive business-owner played by Paul Newman, in the recent disappearance of a labor leader. When Gallagher confronts Megan and sets her straight, the two team together to prove his innocence and have a few romantic interludes along the way. Wilford Brimley and Melinda Dillon also star. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paul Newman, Sally Field, (more)
Assignment: Kill Castro was originally released as Cuba Crossing. Stuart Whitman stars as a mercenary hired to "off" the Cuban dictator. He soon discovers that he will be immediately expendable once the deed is done, and that co-stars like Robert Vaughn should not automatically be trusted. Raymond St. Jacques, Woody Strode and Caren Kaye are among the good actors who appear fitfully in the film; the bulk of the story, however, is carried by such inexpensive unknowns as Mary Lou Gassen. Don't miss jewelry-bedecked pop star Monty Rock III as a "cruiser"--and we don't mean the Evinrude variety. A giveaway that Assignment: Kill Castro had trouble finding an audience is its plethora of alternate titles; in addition to Cuba Crossing, the film was also known as Kill Castro, The Mercenaries and Sweet Violent Tony. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Stuart Whitman, Robert Vaughn, (more)
Rather than dramatize Castro's Cuban revolution as a central theme, this film made by Cubans in exile focuses on the disintegration of a young peasant's morality once he joins the revolutionary forces. The naive peasant was expecting adventure but before his stint in the military has ended, he is a trained killer, whether he is fully aware of it or not. When he takes up with a dance-hall woman in Havana and turns to drugs and alcohol, his decline accelerates, putting both his lover and his friends at the mercy of his slipping hold on stability. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi
- Starring:
- Orestes Matacena, Raymundo Hidalgo-Gato, (more)
John D. McDonald was not altogether pleased with what Hollywood did to his novel Darker Than Amber, but audiences were generally satisfied. Private eye Travis McGee (Rod Taylor) and his cohort Meyer (Theodore Bikel) rescue the beautiful Vangie (Suzy Kendall) from drowning. Vangie has been targetted for death by a couple of disreputable types who, as it turns out, were her former partners in crime. When Vangie is murdered, McGee hires a lookalike (also played by Suzy Kendall) to corner the killers. As is usually the case in the ouevre of John D. McDonald, nothing is quite what it appears to be on surface. Jane Russell, reemerging from one of her period retirements, is fun to watch as "Alabama Tiger". Current prints of the R-rated Darker Than Amber have been modified to qualify for a "PG." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rod Taylor, Suzy Kendall, (more)








