Pier 23 (1950)

Director
William Berke

Main cast
Hugh Beaumont; Ann Savage; Edward Brophy; Mike Mazurki; Richard Travis

Genres
Crime, Mystery

Description
Pier 23 was one of three hour-long mysteries produced by Lippert Productions for both TV and theatrical release. Each of the three films was evenly divided into two half-hour "episodes," and each starred Hugh Beaumont as San Francisco-based amateur sleuth Dennis O'Brien. In Pier 23, O'Brien first tackles the case of a wrestler who has died of a suspicious heart attack after refusing to lose a match. He then agrees to help a priest talk an escaped criminal into returning to prison. The film's two-part structure leads to repetition and predictability, but it's fun to watch TV's "Ward Cleaver" making like Philip Marlowe.


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