Pier 13

Lloyd Nolan is the new beat cop on the East River pier. He's much taken with coffee shop waitress Lynn Bari. Her sister, Joan Valerie, however, is mixed up with thief and cop killer Douglas Fowley -- against her will.

It's a Code-compliant remake of the pre-code ME AND MY GAL, starring Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett. Adrian Morris plays the same role in both movies. Earlier, the story was one of three in the silent WHILE NEW YORK SLEEPS. This version is a pretty good one for the year and budget; Miss Bari is top-billed and gives a lively performance, even though it lacks the dirt, grime and sparks of the older versions. Nolan, as always, is solid in his working-class personna, Miss Bari gets a few memorable wise cracks, and B director Eugene Forde gets through the effort in jig time, barely topping an hour in run time.

Director Eugene Forde spent most of his forgettable career at Twentieth Century Fox studios, only on B pictures and of course several CHARLIE CHAN movies. All his stuff was rather agreeable, fast paced, well chain made, without any trademark nor spirit. The kind of film maker who worked without any inspiration, only the talent necessary to obtain what audiences of those periods wished to see in double feature matinees. In any studios, even in Poverty Row, those one hour features were more or less on the same scheme, mix up of drama, thriller, comedy. This one makes no exception, with a Lloyd Nolan in great shape who helps, enhances a lot the quality of this good little mystery thriller.