The Woman On Pier 13 (1949)

An ex-communist (Robert Ryan) is blackmailed by the communist party to subvert negotiations between a dockworker's union and the ship owners. But it goes way beyond that when Ryan's commie ex-girlfriend (Janis Carter in the film's best performance) goes after Ryan's kid brother in law (the awful John Agar) and attempts to lure him into the party too but she didn't account for falling in love with him. Directed by Robert Stevenson (better known for Disney confections like MARY POPPINS and THE LOVE BUG), the film is riddled with the "red scare" hysteria that proliferated during the late 40s and early 50s in America. The movie treats the communist party as if they were the Mafia. Squealers are weighed down and tossed in the bay or run down in hit and run accidents if they don't toe the party line! The commie leader (Thomas Gomez) plays it as if he were a Mafia kingpin. Which, alas, makes it all seem ludicrous which is unfortunate because in execution, it's a taut little noir-ish thriller. Laraine Day is the woman of the title, the naive bride of Ryan who gets her eyes opened. William Talman is the henchman who carries out the commie killings.