The Woman on Pier 13
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
Brad Collins (Ryan), a San Francisco shipping executive (real name Frank Johnson) who recently married Nan Lowry Collins (Laraine Day) after a brief courtship, was once involved with Communism in New York, while a stevedore during the Depression. Shortly after returning home following their honeymoon, the couple meet Christine Norman (Janis Carter), an old flame of Collins. Nan immediately dislikes her.
Collins becomes the target of a Communist cell and its leader, Vanning (Thomas Gomez), who orders an alleged FBI informer drowned after a brief interrogation. After threatening to reveal Collins' 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. Meanwhile Norman, bitter over Collins's earlier rejection, is ordered to become closer to his brother-in-law Don Lowry (Agar) by indoctrinating him with their Communist world view. Norman, though, genuinely falls in love with Lowry, with Vanning claiming that she is not meant to be so emotional.
A friend of Collins and former boyfriend of Nan, union leader Jim Travers (Richard Rober) cannot understand why Collins 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 fellow traveler. He discusses this with Lowry, who is a new colleague. Lowry denies Norman's politics, apparently still free of communist ideology, or an awareness of where his, by now, future wife's friends are coming from politically. She confesses when confronted, but after Lowry rejects her she shows him a photograph of herself with Collins/Johnson and reveals his communist past. Vanning interrupts them. Angry with Christine for breaking orders, she was supposed to be in Seattle for another two days on her day job as a photographer, he tries to lean on Lowry because he is now able to expose the influence the party has regained over Collins.
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 (Paul E. Burns) who had observed the earlier killing with Collins. 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 Christine, Nan is told of her husband's past, and Christine (falsely, though he was with Arnold) informs her that Bailey (William Talman) was probably responsible for Lowry's death. Preparing a suicide note, Christine is interrupted by Vanning, who thinks this is a good solution, but wishes to keep politics out of it, and destroys her confession of communist involvement. It is unclear if she does commit suicide, or whether she is thrown out of the high window.
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. Collins 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 Collins fatally injured. In his last moments Nan says she still loves him.

Review: Robert Ryan and Laraine Day star in "The Woman on Pier 13," along with Thomas Gomez, John Agar, Janis Carter, and William Talman.
Meanwhile, Brad is blackmailed into stalling union negotiations on the waterfront.This is an okay film, with Robert Ryan looking great and doing his usual fine acting job.
The performances of the stars (Robert Ryan and Laraine Day) are solid and the supporting cast is great (especially Janis Carter and William Talman, who is wearing the craziest suit jacket I've every seen!!).
It's not the worst way to blow 70 plus minutes of your day and just for the historical (not hysterical) panorama, it is worth a look.It has just recently been showing on Turner Classic Movies as "Woman on Pier 13"...that title is much better.
To boot, the great Robert Ryan, whose character can no more divorce himself from the Party as from the Mob, somehow lends, by his association alone, even more draw to these American Reds.
THE WOMAN ON PIER 13 is probably the most anti-Communist film that came out of Hollywood.
That it nevertheless turns out to be an atmospheric little film noir all by itself is a testament to the director, who lifts laughable source material out of the gutter.The film's setting is familiar from ON THE WATERFRONT, except this time the threat doesn't come from gangsters but rather secret Communists who use murder and extortion to achieve their aims.
Robert Ryan is typically dependable as the conflicted hero, but it's the heavies who work really well here: a debuting William Talman, a larger-than-life Thomas Gomez.
The real star, though, is director Robert Stevenson (of Orson Welles's JANE EYRE), who brings the murky waterways to life and makes the film look as good as it can get..
It stars Robert Ryan, Laraine Day, John Agar, Thomas Gomez, Janis Carter, Richard Rober and William Talman.
Music is by Leigh Harline and cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca.Brad Collins (Ryan) was a one time member of the communist party.
Now married and thriving in business, his world is turned upside down when the CPUSA come to seek him out for influential favours.It wasn't easy for director Stevenson, what with RKO mogul Howard Hughes interfering as he forced home his anti-communist slant, so much so the whole pic comes off as an almost there type of piece.
Casting aside that it's all a bit daft these days, with its red hysteria leanings (though it serves as a most interesting social document of the era), there's a number of tight scenes and enough moody atmospherics to keep this out of basement hell.Characterisations are rich in noir traditions, a protag whose past is back to bite him, a slinky femme fatale, a dutiful wife in the dark, and villains of substance.
The violence hits hard, with shocking deaths, and in good dark noir style the finale holds court for the right reasons.Add in a cast who don't let anyone down and the great Musuraca showing his photographic skills (though not as much as we would like), then it's a more than decent viewing experience.
Caution: there is a sickening amount of propaganda in this film.Another caution: this a below-average time filler.However, if you love film noir like I do, then this film is a must-see.There is some good lighting in the exterior shots and no matter how average a film is (this is about a 6 on a 1-10 scale); if Robert Ryan and Laraine Day are in it, it's going to scream "noir".
The Red scare theme dates the story to the point that it is almost embarrassing........but it is still worth seeing.Robert Ryan, who was such a powerful actor, stars as a successful man who once was a Communist, lured by his then-mistress, played by Janis Carter.
Robert Ryan plays a communist spy set on the destruction of America.
So, when this occurs, Ryan is ordered to murder her--setting up an excellent conclusion.This movie came out during the "Red Scare" of the late 1940s-50s.
This is a powerful and highly tense drama with the towering Robert Ryan playing a man who was, and still is (because you can never quit) a card-carrying Communist Party member in the USA who has tried to go straight.
And in this film she brings all the temptation and the allure, as Ryan's wife played by Laraine Day is rather a tepid good gal who does not raise anybody's temperature or heart rate.
The movie in question was 1950's "I Married a Communist," which was later given the more meaningless title "The Woman on Pier 13." In the film, Ryan stars as a successful San Francisco shipping executive who has just been married to Laraine Day. As a youth, he had briefly belonged to the Communist Party, and now, the thugs and goons from the party have returned to blackmail him and coerce him to do their bidding.
Thomas Gomez and William Talman add effortless slimy support as the Commie cell leader and hit-man, respectively, and director Robert Stevenson keeps things moving crisply.
Despite the slightly hysterical anti-Communist tone, this is a well-made and very well-acted thriller with excellent performances from most of the cast, especially Janis Carter and super-villains Thomas Gomez and William Tallman.
John Agar and Larraine Day are also excellent in leading roles; the surprise weak link is Robert Ryan, who fails to bring his usual intensity to his part as a blackmailed ex-Red who can't leave the party.
I MARRIED A COMMUNIST (aka THE WOMAN ON PIER 13) is a thoroughly reprehensible noir, wherein the "Communist menace" is depicted as a well-organized cabal of murderous agitators on the San Francisco waterfront, headed up by Thomas Gomez.
The always-solid Robert Ryan stoops just as low as Gomez does by playing a "reformed" Commie who gets sucked back into the Party in order to do dirty deeds at the docks.One has to wonder just how much power Howard Hughes, who reputedly would "test" RKO contract players' loyalty by trying to get them to make this film, really held over his charges.
After all, Ryan surely cringed his way through the production considering he was running roughshod over his own strong political views, and Gomez had only a year earlier brilliantly portrayed a small-time mobster with a conscience in Polonsky's FORCE OF EVIL.But the film holds sway over the viewer in large part due to the brilliant Nicholas Musaraca cinematography, filled with inky black shadows and harsh angles, and a crackling pace which almost makes you forget what tripe you are listening to.
Like "pick up on south street" this is an anti-commies movie to the power of ten .This sinister party ,if we are to believe the screenwriters ,is responsible for three murders (plus a failed one) .The gorgeous woman represents fascism with a nice face ,thus a perfect weapon to indoctrinate green horn such as Ryan's brother -in-law (John Agar)Unlike "invasion of the body snatchers" which could also be considered a metaphorical depiction of communism ,"woman on pier 13" has not worn well ;it's impossible to take this story seriously ;a propaganda flick for conducting a witch hunt;a strange part for highly talented Ryan ,known for his liberal ideas ..
No shades of Grey and no concern for Anything or Anyone but the "Party", a term often Repeated in this Screenplay written at the Cusp of the "Mccarthy Era" and the HUAC "Witch Hunt" that would Ironically Indite Hollywood for being "Un-American".This Picture is actually just the Opposite, and uses Film for the most Blatant Anti- Communist Rhetoric found in the "Red Scare" Period coming out of Hollywood.Robert Ryan is Great as a Man trying to Escape His "Depression" and Hide the Fact that He joined the "Party" in His Youth suffering from Broken Dreams and Unemployment.
He now has to Cover-Up the Indiscretion, changed His Name, tore up the Communist Card, and has become a Respected Citizen Haunted by the Past and the "Party".Lorraine Day, who figured in the Film's Original Title, "I Married a Communist", Plays the Wife.
She is pushed to the Background most of the time as Her Husband fights the Blackmailing Thugs who Threaten Exposure, Intimidation, and Murder.The Third Act is a Dark and Shadowy Nightmarish Visual Vista complete with a Downbeat Ending fitting the most Cynical of Film-Noir.
The Woman on Pier 13 is what this movie was really called, the I Married a Communist (1949) title did not set well with all of the black list investigations in the early 1950's.
The Woman On Pier 13 is what I call one of those blacklist proof films which I'm convinced is why Robert Ryan starred in it.
No bigger patriot around than America's number one recluse.This film has Robert Ryan a fast rising union organizer in San Francisco a happily married man to Laraine Day and idol of his brother-in-law John Agar.
Remember this is made during the Korean War and we don't want our fighting men in Korea to get their supplies.When Ryan falls down on the job it all hits the fan and several cast members die.Since this is a Howard Hughes production you know that there has to be some sex tossed in.
So, the levels of panic and anxiety that prevailed in Hollywood at that time were perfectly understandable.One of the results of this was the appearance of a number of anti-Communist films and "The Woman On Pier 13" (originally titled "I Married A Communist"), was one of the most prominent and well-known.
These movies weren't strong on subtlety and as obvious propaganda pieces, weren't generally that well appreciated by the public.Newly-married Brad Collins (Robert Ryan), is a Vice President at the Cornwall Shipping Company in San Francisco and as an ex-dock worker, is regarded as the ideal person to act as a mediator in the Company's dispute with the dock workers' union.
Brad, who's well-respected by both management and the union, is also however, a man with some secrets because, in the past, he'd been a member of the Communist Party, had been known as Frank Johnson and had also had an affair with fellow Communist, Christine Norman (Janis Carter).Brad's past suddenly catches up with him when local Party boss, Vanning (Thomas Gomez), uses some incriminating evidence to blackmail him into paying 40% of his salary into Party funds and sabotaging the negotiations he's involved in, so that all shipping activity will be paralyzed for a period of 60 days.
Christine, who wants revenge on Brad for dumping her for his new wife, Nan (Laraine Day), seduces Nan's impressionable brother Don (John Ager) and does a good job of converting him to her political views so that, in the union meetings that follow, Don (who's employed as a stevedore on the docks) is very vocal in promoting the arguments he's been programmed to make.Union leader Jim Travers (Richard Rober), who's also Nan's ex-boyfriend, is shocked by the subsequent change in Brad's conduct in their negotiations and Nan becomes increasingly concerned about Don's relationship with Christine.
When Christine falls in love with Don and Vanning disapproves, a whole series of violent events follow.What makes this movie more entertaining than it would otherwise be, is the depiction of Vanning as a one-dimensional bad guy who operates exactly like a crime boss and is responsible for three murders, as well as, blackmail and extortion.
Nicholas Musuraca's cinematography is also exceptionally good.The movie's film noir credentials are also strong as its central character, having made a wrong turn in his past, was also the victim of a femme fatale, had more than one identity and can't escape his fate.
The quality of the acting is also generally good with Robert Ryan, Thomas Gomez and William Talman (in his screen debut) all making a strong impression..
John Agar plays a union leader who unknowingly is under the influence of a good-looking blonde (Janis Carter) who just happens to be a communist "plant." Robert Ryan, however, is the star of the film as a man torn between both worlds who inevitably does the "right thing." Along the way, there's plenty of despicable communists to jeer at including Thomas Gomez as a ruthless ringleader and union infiltrator.
On the good side, Laraine Day plays Ryan's loving and understanding wife who's trapped in the convoluted plot.Whatever one's political leanings, there's more than enough propaganda here to nearly sink this movie, but the performances of the talented cast keep it afloat.
On the definite "plus side" for "The Woman on Pier 13" is Laraine Day. She looks better than ever and that should be enough to sustain anyone's interest in this film..
**SPOILERS** An attempted takeover of the San Francisco docks by the local commies has former Communisty Party card carrying member Brad Collins, Robert Ryan, in the cross-hairs of both his former commie comrades and the police.
Collins who was formerly known as Frank Johnson is being blackmailed in him being exposed not only as a former commie but a murderer in the killing of a union shop steward back on the east coast some time ago.After disowning the Communist Party Brad has made it big on the SF docks working his way up from a longshoreman to the vice president of a major west coast shipping company.
Brad at first has no choice but to go along with Vannings plans but when his former girlfriend fanatical Communist, under orders of Vanning, Christine Norman (Janis Carter) gets romantically involved with Brad's weak-minded brother-in-law Dan Lowery, John Agar, is when he finally comes to his senses.Turning Dan into a Crypto-Communist and labor provocateur Christine has the young man, who Brad gave a job as a longshoreman, spew the Communist "Power to the Workers" line to his fellow union members without knowing that he's actually doing it.
Dan thinks that he's fighting for his fellow workers rights but in fact is leading them, like lemmings, down the path of financial disaster in having them lose both their jobs and benefits when his behind the scenes controllers, Vanning & Co, take over the union.As Brad's wife of one month Nan, Laraine Day, starts to get suspicious of just what he's doing in wrecking the labor negotiations it also becomes clear that her younger brother Dan, after he told her, is madly in love with Christine.
It's later when Nan finds out that her husband is being blackmailed by Christian and her boss Vanning that she finally realizes that Dan's life as well as future as a married man is in danger, deadly danger.The film has Brad knowing that his life is ruined, with a murder rap hanging over his head, makes a clean brake with his past as a commie labor leader.
Having nothing to lose and everything to gain Brad goes after Vanning and his boys after they kidnapped Nan and murdered his by then enlightened, to what Christine and Vanning were using him for, brother-in-law Dan. Christine herself had by then also realized the wrongs of her ways, in being a die-in-the-wool commie, and not wanting her victim Dan Lowry, whom she fell in love with, pay for them.
Christine is soon put on ice, in the city morgue, by a angry and vindictive Vanning who has her thrown out of her high-rise apartment window and then made her murder to look like a suicide.It's now up to Brad to make everything right to correct the many wrongs that he did in creating the mess that he now finds himself in which sets everything up for the final showdown at the local Cummnist headquarters an empty warehouse on the San Francisco docks.Despite the usual anti-Communist hysterics that you would expect to find in a movie like "Woman on Pier 13" or "I Married a Communist" the film didn't put former card carrying Communist Brad Collin/ Frank Johnson in a bad light at all.
It's all because a promising businessman (Robert Ryan), once a registered communist under a different name, has been located by an old girlfriend (Janis Carter) and exposed to the big man (Thomas Gomez), even though he wants no part of them.
Carter is now involved with the brother (John Agar) of Ryan's fiancée (Laraine Day) and is trying to convert him, even though he's a staunch democrat even if he is a bit liberal.This is actually pretty enjoyable even if the motivations in making it are extremely obvious.
The commies are actually identifiable as human beings, not cartoonish like other anti-Communist films (in particular "The Red Menace" and "Big Jim McLain") where the message comes at you like a 3-D movie monster.
The interesting thing about it is that it's really a great movie, especially from the time.
It's a story about a man who has moved on from his sordid, gang-related past to move up in the world and become a vice president of wide respect and admiration to a major shipping corporation, marry a woman he loves (though suddenly), and generally be considered an all-around good guy until the gang reenters his life and with blackmail, threats, and distortion, force him into subverting everything that he has done and made well by.
Robert Ryan (entrapped hero), Laraine Day (unsuspecting wife), Janis Carter (title femme fatale), John Agar (youth), Thomas Gomez (ruthless Communist), Richard Rober (Jim), William Talman (Red sadist), Paul J.
Mind you, Howard Hughes saw the film as a "melodrama" exposing members of the Communist Party as mobsters using blackmail and murder to start a West Coast shipping strike.
If you want a good movie about Commie rats in a plot to muck up the workers at the waterfront, be sure to see "Big Jim McLain" and skip this one because it's thoroughly pedestrian.
Robert Ryan has turned in some exceptional performances in, say, "Dangerous Ground" or "Crossfire, but he can't do a THING here, as a former member of the Communist Party blackmailed into sabotaging talks between the union and the ship owners in San Francisco.