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The San Francisco Docks
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Wikipedia article
'The San Francisco Docks' is a 1940 film directed by Arthur Lubin and starring Burgess Meredith, Barry Fitzgerald, and Irene Hervey.San Francisco DOCKS
Picture Show; London Vol. 45, Iss. 1151, (May 17, 1941): 12.San Francisco Docks
Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 8, Iss. 85, (Jan 1, 1941): 35.
Plot
When his sweetheart, barmaid Kitty Tracy, is annoyed by a customer, longshoreman Johnny Barnes slugs the guy. The man is later found dead. Johnny is tried for murder and convicted.
Kitty and a priest, Father Cameron, believe in Johnny's innocence and search for a way to exonerate him. They discover that Monte March, a prisoner who has escaped Alcatraz prison, is the real killer, being helped by wife Frances in fleeing from the law. March is apprehended and Johnny's set free.
The movie is noteworthy in that featured a fight scene between two of the actresses, Esther Ralston and Irene Hervey. Both women told director Arthur Lubin that they did not want to have stunt doubles perform the fight scene, described by press accounts as a "... whirlwind fistfight... said to overshadow the most hectic feminine movie battles seen in recent motion pictures." Hervey later described the fight as a "...terrific battle between me and Esther Ralstonwith hair-pulling, kicking, the works."
Cast
* Burgess Meredith as Johnny Barnes
* Irene Hervey as Kitty Tracy
* Barry Fitzgerald as Icky
* Robert Armstrong as Father Cameron
* Raymond Walburn as Admiral Andy
* Esther Ralston as Frances
* Edward Pawley as Monte March
Production
In May 1940 Universal announced the film as part of its schedule for the following year.UNIVERSAL PLANS TO MAKE 59 FILMS
New York Times 13 May 1940: 23. On September 20 the studio said Meredith would star alongside Irene Harvey and Barry Fitzgerald, with Arthur Lubin to direct.Lubitsch, Universal Both Sign Meredith
Scheuer, Philip K. Los Angeles Times 21 Sep 1940: A7. The film was shot in eleven days.MEREDITH -- THE UNMELANCHOLY DANE
By JOHN R. FRANCHEY. New York Times 12 Jan 1941: X4.
Reception
The 'New York Times' called it "routine... a lot of melodramatic foolishness."THE SCREEN IN REVIEW New York Times 26 Dec 1940: 23.
References
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