S2 Ep. 4: I Married a Communist A.K.A. The Woman on Pier 13 (Robert Stevenson, 1949)

This week on Cold War Cinema, we discuss Robert Stevenson’s 1949 drama, I Married a Communist, also known as Woman on Pier 13. This Hollywood production is one of the most storied—and notorious—anti-communist films of the early Cold War era. The movie revolves around a San Francisco shipping executive who worked his way up from the docks, as a stevedore, only to find himself embroiled in a Communist plot to sabotage a labor contract. 

Join hosts Jason Christian, Tony Ballas, and Paul T. Klein as we consider:

• How Hollywood colluded with the government to portray Communists as nihilistic, intellectual, unfeeling and yet effeminate organized criminals. 

• The condescension at the heart of anti-Communist propaganda in the US that implies that ordinary Americans are too "dumb" to recognize when they are being duped. 

• The paradoxical role of unions in New Deal liberal ideology as a potential bulwark against Communists. 

• The perennial recycled anti-Communist tropes in American political rhetoric to this day.

_____________________

We love to give book or film recommendations on the podcast, so here are ours for this episode: 

Paul recommends Foster Hirsh’s 2023 book Hollywood and the Movies of the Fifties: The Collapse of the Studio System, the Thrill of Cinerama, and the Invasion of the Ultimate Body Snatcher—Television.

Tony recommends Gerald Horne's 2011 book, Fighting in Paradise: Labor Unions, Racism, and Communists in the Making of Modern Hawai'i.

Jason recommends Rebecca Prime's 2013 book, Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture.

_____________________

Like and subscribe to Cold War Cinema, and don’t forget to leave us a review! Want to continue the conversation? Drop us a line at any time at [email protected].

To stay up to date on Cold War Cinema, follow along at coldwarcinema.com, or find us online on Bluesky @coldwarcinema.com or on X at @Cold_War_Cinema.