User Reviews

Enjoyable crime programmer stars Lloyd Nolan as a rookie cop assigned down on the docks, searching for a notorious wanted crook sneaking his way back into the country. Falling for a tough talking waitress (Lynn Bari), Nolan is unaware that the wanted crook is being hid by Bari and her sister, basically blackmailed into helping him. As Nolan gets closer, Bari fears that their future is in jeopardy, leading to the predictable conclusion and the usual clinch (done realistically for these types of characters).

It's the snappy dialog between Nolan and Bari that keeps the interest in thus fresh, some of the dialog pretty darn clever. The atmosphere is believable, the hard-boiled characters in both sides of the law pretty tough, and the action sequences somewhat tense. But it's pretty ordinary for this type of crime drama, watchable but instantly forgotten once its over. I find Nolan an interesting second string leading man, something people forget about with his long reign as an elderly character actor.

A re-make of Me and My Gal (1932) with Lloyd Nolan in the Spencer Tracy role and Lynn Bari as the waterfront waitress. Neither movie is particularly good, though this one is the better bet, despite the fact that the original was directed by Raoul Walsh (on an off day), while this one is a product of Sol Wurtzel's "B" unit and was directed by the nondescript Eugene Forde. What is more to the point, however, this one was photographed by one of Hollywood's top five cinematographers, namely Virgil Miller – a whiz with film noir lighting. In fact, this one starts off with an action "bang" and then follows up with a delightful scene in which Lloyd Nolan's rookie cop, Dolan, exchanges some bright back-chat with Lynn Bari's gum-chewing waitress, Duchess. Alas, from this point on, the screenplay takes a nosedive and not all Eugene Forde's smooth direction not all Wurtzel's excellent production values can save Pier 13 from utter tedium.

While I enjoy watching Lloyd Nolan's B-movies, I really think "Pier 13" is among his worst films....mostly because the script is so poorly written. Again and again, the film just doesn't make a lot of sense.

When the story begins, Danny (Nolan) is a new cop on the beat. Through some quick thinking, he's soon promoted to detective and his job is to catch a notorious thief, Johnnie Hale, down by the docks. Most of the time, however, he hangs around Sally (Lynn Bari)...trying to make time with her.

Wow...so illogical. First, Danny spends about 80% of the movie flirting with Sally...as if he doesn't have a job to be doing. Second, and by far the worst part of the film, is that Sally's sister becomes involved with Johnnie and soon Sally is as well. What sense does it make their trying to hide the guy from the cops?! None whatsoever. And, why not just tell Danny, as he's engaged to Sally by the end of the film and they certainly could have trusted him. Overall, a mess of a film due to some inconsistencies which took me out of the story. A misfire.