The Woman on Pier 13
The Woman on Pier 13 | |
---|---|
Robert Stevenson | |
Screenplay by | Robert Hardy Andrews Charles Grayson |
Story by | George W. George George F. Slavin |
Produced by | Jack J. Gross |
Starring | Laraine Day Robert Ryan John Agar |
Cinematography | Nicholas Musuraca |
Edited by | Roland Gross |
Music by | Leigh Harline |
Distributed by | RKO Pictures |
Release dates | |
Running time | 73 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Woman on Pier 13 is a 1949 American
Plot
Brad Collins, a San Francisco shipping executive (real name Frank Johnson) has recently married Nan Lowry after a brief courtship. Brad was once involved with a Communist group in New York while working as a
Brad becomes the target of a Communist cell led by Vanning, who orders an alleged FBI informer drowned after a brief interrogation. After threatening to reveal Brad's responsibility for a murder as well as his Communist past, Vanning orders the executive to sabotage the shipping industry in the San Francisco Bay by resisting union demands in a labor dispute. He claims it is impossible to leave the Communist Party. Norman, bitter over being rejected by Brad, is ordered to become closer to his brother-in-law, Don Lowry, and to indoctrinate him with their Communist world view. Norman falls in love with Lowry, despite Vanning saying that she is not meant to be so emotional.
Brad's friend and former boyfriend of Nan, union leader Jim Travers, cannot understand why Brad has become unreasonable to deal with. Travers is concerned about the possibility of the small number of Communists in the union being able to take it over, and suspects Norman of being a Communist, or at least a
Lowry travels to the Collins' residence to inform them of what he has learned, but is run over by a car driven by the Communist hit man J.T. Arnold who had observed the earlier killing with Brad. Nan, previously informed by Norman that her brother is in danger, tries to convince her husband that Lowry's killing was not an accident. He pretends to be unconvinced. Confronting Norman, Nan is told of her husband's past, and Norman falsely informs her that Bailey was probably responsible for Lowry's death. Preparing a suicide note, Norman is interrupted by Vanning. He thinks this is a good solution, but wishes to keep politics out of it, so destroys her confession of Communist involvement.
Intent on revenge, Nan befriends Bailey at the fairground where he has legitimate employment and goes off with him. The hit man is saved when she is identified, and Nan is kidnapped and taken to the hidden local Communist headquarters in Arnold's warehouse. Brad tracks his wife down to this location, and by threatening Arnold with a gun, is able to gain admittance. In a shootout, Bailey and Vanning are killed, and Brad fatally injured. In his last moments Nan says she still loves him.
Cast
- Laraine Day as Nan Lowry Collins
- Robert Ryan as Brad Collins, aka Frank Johnson
- John Agar as Don Lowry
- Thomas Gomez as Vanning
- Janis Carter as Christine Norman
- Richard Rober as Jim Travers
- William Talman as Bailey, younger henchman
- Iris Adrian as the club waitress (uncredited)
Production
The original story forming the basis of the film by Slavin and George was first optioned then rejected by Eagle-Lion. It was announced in early September 1948 as RKO's first production following Howard Hughes takeover of the studio.
Hughes reputedly offered the script to directors as a test for presumed communist leanings. Director
The initial local release disappointed expectations as showings in Los Angeles and San Francisco grossed about 40-50 percent below the average. In response, Hughes announced a delay in “the national release” of the film on October 14, 1949.[4] While Hughes still insisted the title I Married a Communist was the most marketable aspect of the picture, his staff maintained the title must be changed, and a lengthy search went underway. Hughes' reluctance made the decision difficult. Historian Daniel J Leab reportedly encountered “well over a hundred titles” in RKO files prior to December 12, 1949. Of these included an initial list of nineteen titles sent to Hughes in October which consisted mostly of the words “San Francisco”, “Melodrama”, “Waterfront” and “Midnight” in different arrangements.[4] In November it was nearly settled that the picture be called “Where Danger Lives”, before Hughes decided the film's title should be “an out-and-out melodramatic title” that was not “possibly associated with communism”.[4] “Incident on Pier 13” was in the rotation of suggestions by early December, and “The Woman on Pier 13” appeared on lists of potential titles as early as December 19. The title was officially announced as The Woman on Pier 13 in January 1950.[4] The film's final certified cost came to $831,360.
Reception
Box-office
The film was a commercial failure at the box-office,[5] and recorded a loss of $650,000.[6]
Critical reception
A contemporary Variety magazine review was tepid: "As a straight action fare, I Married a Communist generates enough tension to satisfy the average customer. Despite its heavy sounding title, pic hews strictly to tried and true meller formula ... Pic is so wary of introducing any political gab that at one point when Commie trade union tactics are touched upon, the soundtrack is dropped."[7]
In 2000, Dennis Schwartz's Ozus review questioned the film's veracity: "The story was filled with misinformation: it distorted the communist influence in the country and how big business and unions act. It attempted to make a propaganda film that reaffirms the American way of life and familial love, but at the expense of reality."[8]
In 2009 the British critic
Identifying The Woman on Pier 13 as an "amalgam of propaganda and
References
- ^ a b c "The Woman on Pier 13: Detail View". American Film Institute. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
- ^ I Married a Communist at the TCM Movie Database.
- ^ "The Woman on Pier 13: Notes". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
- ^ S2CID 161237801.
- ISBN 9780520280687.
- ISBN 9780520289673.
- ^ Variety. Staff, film review, 1951. Accessed: July 17, 2013.
- ^ Schwartz, Dennis Archived January 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, May 26, 2000. Accessed: July 17, 2013.
- ^ "I Married a Communist (1949) Movie Review". Time Out New York (timeout.com). September 10, 2012.; Time Out Film Guide 2009, 2008, p. 502.
- ^ Smith, Jeff Film Criticism, p. 58
External links
- The Woman on Pier 13 at the American Film Institute Catalog
- The Woman on Pier 13 at IMDb
- The Woman on Pier 13 at AllMovie
- The Woman on Pier 13 at the TCM Movie Database
- The Woman on Pier 13 informational site and DVD review at DVD Beaver (includes images)