Red Zone Cuba | |
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VHS release cover for the Anthony Cardoza Classics label.
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Directed by | Coleman Francis |
Produced by |
Anthony Cardoza Coleman Francis |
Written by | Coleman Francis |
Starring | Coleman Francis Anthony Cardoza Harold Saunders John Carradine Lanell Cado Tom Hanson George Prince Frederic Downs |
Music by | John Bath |
Cinematography | Herb Roberts |
Edited by | J.H. Russell |
Distributed by | Hollywood Star Pictures |
Release date
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November 23, 1966 |
Running time
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89 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $30,000 |
Red Zone Cuba, also known as Night Train to Mundo Fine, is a 1966 American drama film directed by Coleman Francis, who also wrote, produced, and played the starring role. It follows the meandering adventures of an escaped convict and two ex-convicts he recruits along the way as they become involved in the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, and a quest to find a hidden treasure in a tungsten mine.
Red Zone Cuba was Coleman Francis' final film as director, and his only starring role. In the other two films he helmed, The Skydivers and The Beast of Yucca Flats, he limited his acting to cameos. Though John Carradine receives fourth billing in the credits, and was prominently featured in the advertising and promotional material for the film, he only appears briefly, during a framing sequence at the beginning of the film. Carradine also sings the film's opening theme song, "Night Train to Mundo Fine" (pronounced "Finé").
In December 1994, it was featured as an episode of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
In the film's opening sequence, a young reporter asks a train engineer (Carradine) about three men—Griffin, Cook and Landis—who hopped his freight train years back. "He ran all the way to hell," the engineer remarks about Griffin. The title sequence follows, and afterwards the film proper picks up.
During the course of the film, Griffin (Francis) escapes from jail, and runs into Cook (Harold Saunders) and Landis (Anthony Cardoza). The three make their way to an airstrip run by Cherokee Jack who flies the men to a military training facility, where they will be paid to take part in the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Having been deceived about the money they were to receive, the three attempt to escape, only to be recaptured and forced to invade Cuba. They are soon captured again, this time by the Communist Cuban forces.