Waterfront

This film is just an hour long,but full of suspense!Jim Dolen (Dennis Morgan) is a guy who can't seem to stop getting in trouble and Ann Stacey (Gloria Dickson) refuses to get married to him until he changes his attitude.Ward Bond is great in this one.Dennis is very young and this is one of his first films at Warner Brothers as "Dennis Morgan" and not "Stanley Morner"!I hope you'll enjoy it if you see it!

Quickly Paced Programmer (B-Movie) that is Enjoyable Despite some Silly Conventions like the Irish Priest as Saviour and Cornball Romanticism.

A Quick Tempered and Nasty Longshoreman (Dennis Morgan) Smacks People Around, Including Women, with Abandonment and is in and Out of Jail His Whole Life. But He is Handsome and is Worth Saving (by Gloria Dixon) because He is Better than the Villain (Ward Bond) who Smacks People Around, Including Women, with Abandonment but isn't Handsome.

But Both have a Woman Willing to Sacrifice All to Save Their Man from Ultimate Doom and One Guess as to who will Come Out on Top. Worth a Watch if You can Handle the Clichés because it is Only an Hour Long and has a Certain Blue-Collar Charm.

Dennis Morgan's first starring movie at Warner Brothers is a typical fast-paced Warners B movie. It has a young cast on the rise and if the idea seems to be to make Morgan into their B version of Jimmy Cagney, the company soon realized their mistake. Morgan can't say "ain't" without it sounding phony; just as Cagney never dropped his streets-of-New-York accent, Morgan always sounded like he had just come from an elocution lesson.

In this one, Morgan is a dockworker whose Irish temper keeps him in trouble all the time, despite the love of Gloria Dixon and the supervision of Aldrich Bowker, the local priest. If the story is told a bit too often by newspaper headline, it was a common device in the Warner Bs. It's no world beater, but the familiar faces from Warner's stock company and occasional flashes of interesting camera work by James van Trees will keep fans of the B movies interested.

I agree it's very corny and exudes sentimentality but it's worth watching if only for Gloria Dickson doing the fox trot. At least it looks like her and they don't show her full length but it's a good number anyway. Marie Wilson is definitely dancing and she's charming as always. Ward Bond is also great as the bad, deeply troubled and insecure guy. The movie's fast so you can't get bored but oh, is it corny. The added attraction of Sheila Bromley rounds this out. She fakes the cops so well! It's Gloria Dickson's eighth film and she's the headliner. This is an actor you love to watch. She's relentless in her pursuit to keep Dennis Morgan out of trouble. He's such a dope but she makes it so believable. This was his first starring role and he puts in a very good effort but he doesn't sing and that's too bad. There's also a car chase that's quite fake but still fun, especially the real parts. It turns out as you might expect and keep that in mind if you watch it and enjoy the performances.

Jim Dolen is the twice-elected head of the dock-worker's union. Ann Stacey would marry him if he stops fighting for a month. He gets arrested for accidentally knocking out his friend Frankie Donahue in a fight with rival Mart Hendler. Ann has had enough of his short temper. He vows to change and even quits being a longshoremen. Mart is elected the new President. After a tragic incident, Jim's vow is put to the test.

The acting is a bit melodramatic at times. The plotting gets a bit stiff at times. It's a crime drama adapted from a play. It's trying to treat the material seriously. I did see James Cagney in the 1931 film Taxi. Cagney is superior although this movie has the better story. I would like a better ending but this is still fine.