I Cover the Waterfront

On the San Diego coast, hard-nosed reporter Ben Lyon (H. Joseph "Joe" Miller) suspects nasty seafaring Captain Ernest Torrence (as Eli Kirk) is part of a smuggling racket. Indeed, Mr. Torrence is cleverly shipping illegal Chinese immigrants to California. But, neither Mr. Lyon nor the local Coast Guard can catch him in the act. And, Lyon's editor wants him to cover stories like the report of a nude woman swimming in the ocean. Wearing only a bathing cap, but conveniently posed behind a large rock, the naked woman turns out to be beautiful Claudette Colbert (as Julie). When Lyon learns Ms. Colbert is Torrence's daughter, he decides a quick romance with the attractive Colbert might net him the proof he needs to bag the crook.

This story, while flawed in a couple of important ways, is full of clever touches. The opening credits are noticeably well-done, in a "newspaper" style, they explain "I Cover the Waterfront" will be about, "The unique and personal experiences of a newspaper reporter covering a Pacific waterfront." Lyons and Torrence contribute fine, dependable characterizations. Colbert isn't entirely believable as Torrence's salty daughter; but, this could have been fixed with some slight script revisions. For example, Colbert could have been reconnecting with her father, after a long absence. Still, Colbert looks great from any angle.

Director James Cruze handles his players marvelously, with the most delightful scene occurring when Lyon takes Colbert on a date to the torture chamber of the "Prison Ship Santa Madre" and engages in her some bondage. "I can take it!" says a satisfied Colbert. Not so successful is the moment when Lyon slits a shark open to reveal an immigrant inside, which defies credulity. Sly innuendo is provided by "One Punch" Hobart Cavanaugh (as McCoy), Lyon's drunken companion. When Lyon pokes him in bed, Mr. Cavanaugh sheepishly catchphrases, "Not tonight, Josephine!" (remember, Lyon's character is named "Joseph"). "Women are all alike," he says later, "When you need them most, they are conspicuous by their absence." Credit writers Max Miller, Wells Root, and Jack Jevne.

******* I Cover the Waterfront (5/19/33) James Cruze ~ Ben Lyon, Claudette Colbert, Ernest Torrence, Hobart Cavanaugh

I Cover The Waterfront stars Ben Lyons and Claudette Colbert and it concerns reporter Lyons trying to uncover a smuggling racket by Colbert's father Ernest Torrance. When all else fails, Lyons goes on a romantic campaign to win Colbert and maybe get a line on what her father is doing. If it was liquor and this film was made at the tail end of Prohibition that might be one thing. But he's smuggling illegal Chinese immigrants and has no compunctions about throwing them overboard should the Coast Guard get too close.

Torrance who is best known for playing Saint Peter in Cecil B. DeMille's King Of Kings makes his farewell performance in this in a role 180 degrees polar opposite of Peter. He's a man who's totally lost his moral compass and regards the Chinese as cargo to be jettisoned. His attitude is quite typical of the West Coast which was flooded with Chinese and Japanese immigrants starting with the California Gold Rush and the opening of Japan. The Oriental was regarded as cheap labor and nothing more. So Torrance takes his money and jettisons his human cargo when the heat is on. As it is he's got quite the gimmick for concealing the cargo you have to see the film for.

Of course Claudette just thinks Torrance making a good living as a fisherman. And Lyons while putting on the moves to get information falls in love with her. The inevitable consequences follow.

Hobart Cavanaugh plays one his best drunks, a milquetoast when sober and a guy who gets real aggressive as long as Lyons is around to fight his battles. Given the ever raging battle over illegal immigration, I Cover The Waterfront has a relevancy for today as well.

I COVER THE WATERFRONT (United Artists, 1933), directed by James Cruze, based on "the unique and personal experiences of a newspaper reporter covering a Pacific waterfront" by Max Miller, is an interesting yet old-fashioned tale made plausible thanks to its interesting cast, namely Claudette Colbert, on an assignment away from her home studio of Paramount, in an against-type performance as a tough waterfront girl, with screen veteran Ernest Torrence as her rugged fisherman father. While Colbert's name heads the cast during the introductory title, it's Ben Lyon, in one of his finer screen roles at this point, whose name comes first during its second cast introduction (through newspaper clippings) and closing casting credits, and with good reason, too, because the plot revolves around his character suggested on Max Miller, while Torrence, who died before the film's release, being the most interesting of the two leads mainly because the way he acquires himself as both brutal and likable.

In a story set against the San Diego waterfront, H. Joseph Miller (Ben Lyon), an investigative reporter, takes up residence in the surrounding area while doing a series of "I Cover the Waterfront" articles for his newspaper. He is determined to get enough evidence on Eli Kirk (Ernest Torrence), whom he suspects is the leader of a smuggling racket. After meeting a girl named Julie (Claudette Colbert), who attracts his attention as well as a nosy busybody (Lillian Harmer) using a peril-scope, by taking her nightly ocean swim without anything on, Miller becomes interested in her, especially after learning she's Kirk's daughter. As gathering enough information about Kirk without her realizing his intentions, Miller comes close to making his catch at the risk of losing his bait.

An interesting mix of romance, comedy and drama with risqué dialog added in, I COVER THE WATERFRONT has its share of intense scenes along with some amusements provided by Hobart Cavanaugh as Miller's sidekick, McCoy. Other members of the cast include Purnell B. Pratt (John Phelps); Maurice Black (Ortega); Harry Beresford (Old Chris); Wilfred Lucas (Randall) and Claudia Coleman (Mother Morgan).

Not quite as powerful as other waterfront stories: ON THE WATERFRONT (Columbia, 1954) or EDGE OF THE CITY (MGM, 1957), for example, I COVER THE WATERFRONT shows how raw it could be. Aside from that, it does have its share of great scenes that build up suspense, thanks to its writing staff, leading players and some location scenery. While it's commendable for Colbert to try something different by playing stronger characters, her role as the tough waterfront girl, that have been better suited to the likes of a Jean Harlow or Carole Lombard for example, doesn't come off as hard as it should. Having Colbert as its leading lady is one of the reasons for viewing this one today.

Sad to say the prints that have been in circulation since the late 1980s are from a reissue containing different opening score and ten minutes clipped from its original 72 minutes. The reissue even eliminates Torrence's name entirely from the cast altogether as well as the closing cast listing and exit music. While Bob Dorian, former host of American Movie Classics, claimed that AMC never cuts its movies, it did acquire this edited version during its March 1989 presentation.

While it's hard to acquire a more concise print to the 1933 original copy these days, a close to complete version containing both the original "I Cover the Waterfront" theme and Torrence's name in the cast, would have to be processed by an old 1980s home video cassette from Kartes Communications, or watch a long awaited restored broadcast edition from Turner Classic Movies (TCM premiere: September 13, 2023) minus the exit black screen music, which is close to accurate with better visuals to the 1933 original. (****)

Some good stuff from Ernest Torrance in his penultimate performance as a sea captain adrift in corruption and dissipation. I also liked Colbert in an early, sexy, right profile turn. And a lot of Wells Root's dialogue from Max Miller's novel is properly cynical and funny, as befits a 1930s newspaper movie. But there is way too much of Ben Lyon, kind of a half ass Lee Tracy, and the dull as desalinated water romance between him and Claudette. And while I know I should put my 2023, anti MAGA viewfinder aside when watching this 1933 offering I confess I was fairly appalled to see Root and director James Cruze lavish so much sympathy upon Torrance's exploiter and murderer of Asians trying to enter the United States while regarding his victims as little more than supercargo. Give it a C plus.

This movie surprised me again and again with its unexpected plot twists. Movies of this era are usually so predictable. It has a giant hideous shark and a scenes with this shark in the water that are genuinely terrifying. I did not expect effects from this era to stand up.

There is a lot of distressing racist dialogue deprecating Chinese people.

Claudette Colbert is like a fireplace. She radiates warmth, friendliness and enthusiasm. She has alarmingly thin eyebrows and overly thick face powder, but you get used to it. If she were in movies today, she could hold her own. She has that indefinable something.

There is also a pretty racy scene when a women in a bar picks up the sea captain. I was shocked at how direct it was about what was going on. This must have blown the socks off the audience back in 1933.