Review of I Cover the Waterfront (1933) by Walter M — 08 Mar 2013

In "I Cover the Waterfront," Joe Miller(Ben Lyon) is an aspiring novelist who has gotten bored with his beat on the waterfront, a job which McCoy(Hobart Cavanaugh), his new bunkmate, would kill for. That still does not explain why Miller is reluctant to cover reports of a skinny dipper. His interest perks up when he finds out it is Julie Kirk(Claudette Colbert) who is the daughter of Eli Kirk(Ernest Torrence) who is suspected of running a human smuggling ring.

"I Cover the Waterfront" is a prime example of an early social issues drama. While I might not be surprised by the less than enlightened attitudes, I was kind of taken aback by the ignorance of the human cost involved and making the villain more than a little sympathetic in favor of a message against ambition. And I am pretty sure that a reporter has never before or since brought a human body into a newsroom. But then the always delightful Claudette Colbert has excellent chemistry with Ben Lyon and that is enough to spare the movie, however marginally.