Agente federale

TCM aired this movie the other morning. For around 45 years,this film has not shown up an the TV or released on DVD or video. Filmed in Havana,Cuba in 1959,this film makes mention on how the United States helped Fidel Castro and his followers oust the Batista government and put Castro in power. As it turned out,that was a big mistake for the United States. Rumours circulated that the U.S. government purchased all the copies of this film and destroyed them. Well,not true. Turners classic movies has a copy. As for the film,their in nothing really interesting to see. Other than Cameron Mitchel,and lessor known actress,Allison Hayes,this film was filmed on a cheap budget.

From 1959, Pier 5, Havana, stars Cameron Mitchell and Allison Hayes, directed by Edward L. Cahn.

Mitchell, pre-nose job, plays Steve Daggert, who comes to Havana to search for a friend, Hank Miller (Logan Field) who disappeared during the recent revolution.

No one wants him around, including his ex-girlfriend (Hayes) now divorced from Miller. Items found belonging to Miller indicate he is dead.

Upon investigation, he finds a movement afoot to overthrow Castro and put Batista back in power, perceived in the film as a bad thing. Well, that point of view changed.

Done on the cheap, though it seems to include footage from Havana. The end is exciting. Mitchell does his usual solid job.

Hayes, a B movie star in the '50s, has her own channel on YouTube. She was beautiful with a knockout figure and unfortunately died young.

Cheesy melodrama set during the time after the fall of Battista in Cuba. While the film has a man shot in the airport for crimes that a never specified this film seems to be a starting point for Hollywood's fixation with tin pot Latin American dictators/despots. In this film the bad guys are the supporters of Battista and the law abiding guys are working for the Castro Government. The only thing missing is a rally for Che. Not a very good film the acting is surprisingly wooden. I had a lot of good memories of Cameron Mitchell but this film made me question my recollections. The film was obviously shot on sets and very little location work is done. The dialog is uninspiring, and unlike other films of this era this film is not much fun to watch.

Steve Daggett (Cameron Mitchell) heads to post-revolutionary Cuba to look for a missing friend. He's no more than off the plane when he's mixed-up with some baddies who may have more sinister intentions than kidnapping his friend. He's also mixed up with an old flame, Monica Gray (Allison Hayes), which is bound to lead to even more problems. Can he find his friend, not get killed, and still get the girl?

As soon as I saw Cameron MItchell's name in the credits, I knew I wanted to see Pier 5, Havana. I"ve been a fan since I was a kid watching The HIgh Chaparral. Throw in Allison Hayes and I'm definitely watching. Overall, Pier 5, Havana falls into that harmless class of wishy-washy films I rate a 5/10. It's enjoyable enough, but nothing to really get overly excited about. Some of the pro-Castro sentiments in the film are incredibly interesting. Also, some of the street scenes filmed in and around Havana and the aerial shots of downtown Havana are truly special. This is a film that could only have been made at this exact time in history.

As for the movie, like I said, it's okay. Most of the plot is interesting enough (helped by a very short 67 minute runtime), the action works, and Mitchell comes out looking fine. The movie also has a noirish quality to it that i really enjoyed. As for what didn't work quite as well, I'll start with Hayes. In a word, she's awful. Several of her scenes with Eduardo Noriega are cringe-inducing they're so bad. And even though I enjoyed the plot, I admit it is a bit uneven and predictable. Still, despite the faults, I'm glad I finally got around to watching this one.

5/10

Not a lot of background info on IMDb on this 67 minute shortie from "Premium Pictures", and even less info on the writer, Joseph Hoffman, and its director Ed Cahn; as of today, not even one message on the message boards at the bottom of the main page. "Pier 5" starts out with narrator (Cameron Mitchell as Steven Daggett) giving us the first-person background on Batista skipping town, and Castro moving in take over Cuba. Daggett tells us he is trying to find his best friend Hank Miller (Logan Field), but is quickly picked up by the police for questioning... we are introduced to the local bigshot Senor Ricardo (Eduardo Noriega), American singer Monica Gray (Allison Hayes), and local businessman Senor Schluss (Otto Waldis), who all may or may not be involved in something together.. Ms. Gray admits that she knows the missing man Miller, so Dagget starts following clues to try to find his missing friend. The biggest Hollywood name here is our narrator, Mitchell, who later had several successful TV series in the 1960s and 1970s (the Beachcomber, Swiss Family Robinson, High Chaparrel). The bombshell Hayes has an interesting bio.. apparently was a contestant in the Miss America Pagaent, but unfortunately died quite young at age 47, possibly from being overdosed with calcium...how strange.... she was even in "Tickle Me", with Elvis, and died a couple months before he did. "Pier 5 " Produced by Robert Kent aka James Gordon, who had started out as a writer in the 1930s, and wrote and produced many films with a foreign, exotic location. This one is a good solid script, with perfectly competent actors, but I guess isn't shown often, since it doesn't have any real big names. It's interesting that what some of the "bad guys" are involved in might today be treated differently than how it was regarded at the time.... but that's a matter for history to sort out...won't say any more to avoid giving away any plot points.