The Woman on Pier 13 (1949) Card Carrying Commie Noir

"Propaganda at it's most ridiculous!"

Directed by Robert Stevenson. The screenplay was by Charles Grayson and Robert Hardy Andrews and was based on a story by rabid anti commies George W. George and George F. Slavin. 

This ridiculously over the top story by George and Slavin was optioned by Howard Hughes when he first took over RKO. Looking for "Red"s under every bed, he used it as a litmus test for his directors. Cinematography was by the great Nicholas Musuraca. Music by Leigh Harline. 

The film stars Robert Ryan (ten Classic Noir), Laraine Day (two Classic Noir), Janis Carter (two Classic Noir) Thomas Gomez (eight  Classic Noir), William Talman (five Classic Noir), and John Agar. 

Laraine Day and Robert Ryan

Janis Carter and Robert Ryan

Thomas Gomez

William Talman rt.

Ryan and Day are newlyweds nesting in San Francisco Ryan is a Vice President of a shipping company. All is well until commie Femme Fatale Janis Carter shows up and Ryan's past as a commie pinko is revealed. 

Noirsville

Gomez is great as the manipulating oily Commissar of a nest of card carrying commies. Gomez blackmails Ryan into becoming a useful stooge doing his bidding by threatening to reveal his real identity and involvement in a strike that resulted in the death of a participant.  Talman plays a suave hit man for the party (he also has a cover as the operator of a shooting gallery at a penny arcade) he goes giddy whenever he's assigned a kill and gleefully does Gomez's bidding. Carter later gets her hooks into Ryan's younger brother and tries to turn him to do the party's bidding.

This Noir is off the radar, at least not in the first edition of the American Encyclopedia of Film Noir list of Noirs.

The first 19 minutes is sunny California, but as soon as Janis Carter shows up its boom into Noir Land, great waterfront locations, a carnival arcade, Pier 13, even a strip joint. It was mildly amusing, especially the whole commie plot. 7/10