Woman On Pier 13 And Shack Out On 101

Two period pieces of anticommunist noir. Woman on Pier 13 (1950), which started out under the title I Married a Communist, was offered to various directors by RKO studio head Howard Hughes, who theorized that anyone turning down the assignment must be suspect. Unfortunately the movie itself, a standard and fairly unimaginative gangster film directed by Robert Stevenson, doesn’t live up to its legendary reputation, despite the presence of Robert Ryan. I probably haven’t seen Shack out on 101 since it came out in 1955, but judging by its castTerry Moore, Frank Lovejoy, Lee Marvin, and Keenan Wynnand its rock-bottom budget, it’s probably much more interesting. Edward Dein directed. (JR)

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