PIER 13

US, 1940, 64 minutes, Black-and-white.
Lynn Bari, Lloyd Nolan, Joan Valerie, Douglas Fowley.
Directed by Eugene Forde.

This is a film from the B-film unit at 20th Century Fox. The Director, Eugene Forde, made many of these films. They were supporting features – topical entertainments with some up-and-coming actors.

At this time, Lloyd Nolan made quite a number of features, especially the Michael Shayne Detective series. He was to have a long career as a character actor. Lynn Bari had appeared in some supporting roles but gets top billing here.

The film creates the atmosphere of a New York pier and its neighbourhood. Nolan portrays a young policeman who is assigned to the neighbourhood, is seen to be more effective than some of the assigned detectors and is promoted to be a detective. He calls in at a diner and is attracted by the tough woman behind the counter, Lynn Bari, chewing gum and wisecracking, looking after her elderly father upstairs (a very jovial type) and concerned about her younger sister who is about to be engaged.

While the romance goes in its expected way, some snappy interactions between Nolan and Bari, the tension in the plot comes from the younger sister who had been involved with a criminal who is just released from jail. He and his accomplices are planning a robbery, make demands on the younger sister to give them inside information. Finally, the criminal demands some shelter from the two sisters before he makes his getaway.

The young detective uses his brains, works out what might be happening leading to a final confrontation, the taking of the criminal, a happy wedding and happy ever after. Standard B-budget entertainment of the period.