Blood Alley (1955)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Albert Sidney Fleischman (novel)
Albert Sidney Fleischman (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 October 1955 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

Adventure on the danger waters of the Orient!

Plot:

A merchant marine captain, rescued from the Chinese Communists by local visitors, is "shanghaied" into...

Plot Keywords:

Captain | Bayonet | Drunken Doctor | Father Daughter Relationship | Steam Whistle

Cast

John Wayne	...	Capt. Tom Wilder
Lauren Bacall	...	Cathy Grainger
Paul Fix	...	Mr. Tso
Joy Kim	...	Susu, Cathy's maid
Berry Kroeger	...	Old Feng (as Berry Kroger)
Mike Mazurki	...	Big Han
Anita Ekberg	...	Wei Ling

Also Known As:

William A. Wellman's Blood Alley (UK) (complete title) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

110 min | Argentina:116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording) (optical prints) | 4-Track Stereo (WarnerPhonic/RCA) (magnetic prints)

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-16 (re-rating) | Finland:(Banned) (original rating) | Norway:16 | Netherlands:6 | USA:Approved (certificate #17459) | West Germany:12 (f) | Germany:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Belvedere Island, California, USA

Company:

Batjac Productions

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~6.2 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~5.6 seconds. Both of these figures are fast for an early CinemaScope film, and much faster than William A. Wellman's first CinemaScope film, The High and the Mighty (1954).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In three scenes with Captain Wilder and Big Han are talking, the sampan is not moving. The trees reflected in the water behind the sampan are the give away.

Quotes:

Capt. Tom Wilder: [spoken through voice tube to engine room] If you want a last look at home, you'd better take it now.
Tack: [heavy with sorrow] I looked.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "I Love Lucy: Lucy and John Wayne (#5.2)" (1955)

Worth a look if you are a fan of Wayne or Bacall

This is one of Wayne's non-westerns, and Lauren Bacall in a different role to what we are accustomed to. 'Blood Alley' never reaches anything approaching greatness, but if you're a fan of Wayne or Bacall you may as well check it out.

Right-wing Wayne plays Captain Wilder in this decidedly right-wing film. It seems to be an excuse for the film-makers to express their anti-communist sentiments, with the Chinese being portrayed as a backwards race in quite a few scenes. Add to that the countless American actors playing Chinese characters, and you have a very pretentious product overall. Anita Ekberg even plays a Chinese, evoking more than a few giggles from this viewer.

The Wayne-Bacall teaming never entirely pays off, despite their best efforts.

5/10.