The Woman on Pier 13

When mogul Howard Hughes seized control of RKO, one of his credos was to use the studio and its product as an anti-communist tool, and this moody and suspenseful thriller was the first fruit of his labours. Originally previewed as I Married a Communist, the plot premise is ostensibly that of a shipyard boss being blackmailed over past affiliations. Interestingly, real-life liberal Robert Ryan plays the "hero". The mercifully short movie was plagued by Hughes's predilection for constant reshoots, so don't blame director Robert Stevenson (Mary Poppins) for what is, or isn't, on the screen. The film leaves a genuinely nasty taste in the mouth today, but is undeniably interesting as a social document of its time. Both Thomas Gomez (Force of Evil) and the lovely Laraine Day are extremely watchable, as is, of course, Ryan, but On the Waterfront was the movie which would deal with similar concerns definitively.