Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

PIER 5 HAVANA

Allison Hayes
PIER 5 HAVANA (1959). Director: Edward L. Cahn.

Steve Daggett (Cameron Mitchell) comes to Havana -- right after Castro has taken over -- to look for his missing friend, Hank Miller (Logan Field). Hank is married to an ex-girlfriend of Steve's named Monica (Allison Hayes), who is now keeping company with a character named Fernando Ricardo (Eduardo Noriega of The Beast of Hollow Mountain). Steve's trail leads to Schluss (Otti Waldis of Unknown World), whose warehouse is inexplicably stocking guns. Steve contacts Lt. Garcia (Michael Granger of Creature with the Atom Brain), but he has nothing to pin on Schluss. Then Garcia tells Steve they have found Hank Miller's body -- or have they? Steve discovers that there's a plot afoot to put Batista back in power, and to bomb Havana. The performances are all solid in this cheap melodrama, which is more like an expanded television episode than a movie. Vincent Padula, Rick Vallin, and Ken Terrell all have small roles.

Verdict: It's always fun to see the 50 Foot Woman herself, Allison Hayes. **.

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