Lo schiavo della violenza

One understands why Nicholas Ray turned this picture down. Yet, the final product could have been worse: the Communist Party could have been portrayed as something less attractive than a waterfront mob. Remember that audiences are and were used to identifying with glamorous gangland and this mob is not lacking in muscle, molls, and even a certain coolness (they have social parties and are intellectual). And the finale scene nearly matches some of best film noirs. 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. Apart from all this, the movie's worth a look if only for Ryan and Lorraine Day (some faces).

By today's standards it seems quite dated, but back in 1950, the possibility of this happening seemed very real. 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!!). The style is very film noir...close ups of faces showing over the top expression, jerky body movements, and odd, minimalist lighting techniques. Remember too, that it's 1950 and acting styles today seem far less "dramatic".

The subject matter seems paranoid, but for those of us old enough to remember the Cold War, the fear of what the "commies" were up to was VERY, VERY real. I remember "duck and cover" and "...we will bury you!". Some of us might still associate communism with the labor unions (which is the salient point of the plot). As silly as this movie will seem to younger people, try to remember from a historical perspective that it was only five years from the end of World War II, and herein were the first clashes of the two "great ideologies". At the time it was either freedom or subjugation (democracy or communism). Subtle, this movie is not...

There are better examples of film noir, but this a very good example. 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. Under either title, give it a chance and enjoy an example of a time and film style gone by.

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. The cinematography is dark and moody, with good use of San Francisco backdrops. The script is not bad either, with a certain amount of very bleak humor which does little to soften the harsh view of most of the characters. Put politics aside and enjoy this noir-ish and entertaining movie!

THE WOMAN ON PIER 13 is probably the most anti-Communist film that came out of Hollywood. It seems to have been made purely by Howard Hughes in order to score political points, and the original title (I MARRIED A COMMUNIST) is telling in itself. 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.

A film for Robert Ryan fans, for this shows how handsome he was. Fit and virile, and before smoking began to take its toll. He was 40 yrs old by the time he made this film. He got the chance to be something of a hero for a change. He does some pretty good acting, for him, and romantics everywhere will love the way he desperately tries to save his wife in dramatic scenes. This movie pushes home the paranoia of anti-communist views as it was in the 50's. People scoff at the fear of communism in todays climate, but things were different then. People have forgotten how men died because of communist spies. British soldiers and some Americans and Polish too, died at the hands of communist spies such as Guy Burgess, Kim Philby and Anthony Blunt. They mainly operated from Whitehall, London, and spilled secrets to Russian Communists in the 40's during the war. They leaked details of planned operations that got back to the Russians. When they started being discovered by the British and American Intelligence they fled to live in Russia and they died in the 70's. However, this film expresses a fear and nothing more than that of dark forces at work among men. Essentially a "B" movie but certainly adequate and worth a look for Robert Ryan alone, and probably as a history lesson for movie makers.