ONCE AGAIN, WE are able to refer to our having seen this film "with the naked eye"; that being, at the local movie house in our neighborhood. In much of the same way that God intended us to see Baseball Under the Lights; he also wanted us to see Movies at the Show! IN OUR CASE, it was the Ogden Theatre at 63rd & Ashland, in Chicago's West Englewood neighborhood. We were about ten years old at the time and really didn't particularly like the film. This was probably and most likely due to the fact that a young kid would not understand the story, nor its relevance to recent history and current events.HAVING VIEWED THE same movie in recent times (more than once)and owing to the undeniable consequences of growing decidedly "long in the tooth", we have radically altered our opinion of BLOOD ALLEY.SO, UPON FURTHER review, we must proclaim this to be one of the better dramas of that middle 1950s. Its offbeat characters, desperate situations and the winning premise of a cynical, world weary boozer's finding both redemption and love are the makings of a dynamite winning combination.STRONG FEATURES OF the production were: realistic settings, great incidental music, fine color work and a plausible storyline that keeps one interested from start to end. Of course, all of these elements were skillfully blended by one Mr. William Wellman, Director extraordinaire.A large cast was assembled that featured many of the Chinese actors of Hollywood, including such names as Victor Sen Young. There are very many extras of Asian descent present; as well as some Caucasians masquerading as Chinese. Two names that stick out to us are Mike Mazurki and Anita Ekberg.ITS LARGE CAST features the main characters of Stars John Wayne and (Mrs. Betty Bogart, herself) Lauren Bacall. They do make for a very interesting, albeit quite offbeat, couple. We also learned that Mr. Robert Mitchum was fired off of the picture and replaced by the Duke; who incidentally produced it.AS ENJOYABLE AS Mr. Wayne and Miss Bacall in the picture, we can't help feeling that Mitchum was much more the real world counterpart of this crusty sea-dog of a Merchant Captain.

Sorry to say this but, this movie would have rated much higher if a different lead was cast. Don't get me wrong this movie is very watchable. With Wayne & Bacall starring, Paul Fix supporting, good writing, solid acting by leads and bit players it had it all but one thing... John Wayne is out of character. This movie as I said before would probably have been rated at between 7.5 to a 9 if Robert Mitchum had not been fired from the lead role early in the picture. Since this movie was being produced by Wayne's fledgling BATJAC Productions, he was forced into the role by Warner Bros., saying they would pull the plug on distribution if he did not star. Too bad. I can easily see Kirk Douglas sending this over the top. Just think of his performance in the movie In Harms Way and you'll get the idea. Jimmy Stewart would have been great also. Think Harvey....see what I mean! If your a Wayne fan as am I, you'll scratch your head and wonder.....hmmmmmmmmm. Later Wayne would have had the clout to say no. I'll rate this at 7 paddles on the River-boat wheel.

"Blood Alley" details the story of a Chinese village trying to escape Maoist oppression during the 1950's. It is definitely anti-Communist in its theme and pro-West (United States) in showing the very common desire by those under Communist rule to escape that rule. The performances were okay, not memorable. The chemistry between Bacall and Wayne was okay, but not like Maureen O'Hara (whenever you saw Wayne and Ohara you honestly thought there was something between them). But there was chemistry, also shown later when Wayne starred opposite Bacall in "The Shootist". Basically, this is one of those movies where John Wayne played "John Wayne" – a remark Travolta made in "Get Shorty" referring to "El Dorado" and "Rio Bravo" about John Wayne movies. In some John Wayne movies, John Wayne showed his acting depth ('The Cowboys", "True Grit", "She Wore A Yellow Ribbon", "Fort Apache", "Stage Coach", "Red River"), some he just played "himself". This was one of them. That was not necessarily a bad thing: because the "himself" character was the stereotypical American Ideal of manhood, who is strong, independent, flawed, a man that loves liberty, and will fight to the death for the weak. That is the type of character that "Tom Wilder" played by Wayne in "Blood Alley".Since "Blood Alley"'s main theme is escape from a communist state: Communism is the "bad guy". So the movie must take the early portions of it to illustrate how bad the "Bad Guy" is. Once the escape takes place, then it is a classic chase movie with some good moments of suspense with rescue in the nick of time. The movie is uplifting and of course has a happy ending. The things that leave this movie open to criticism should be taken in context with 1955. Casting Paul Fix, Mike Mazurki, and Anita Ekburg as Chinese would be unthinkable today in the "uptight" period that we live in: I call it leftist Puritanism. But we must remember, there were not a lot of Asian leading men or women- and certainly not that many Chinese – as a matter of fact there are very few today if you think about it. So it is not strange to have Caucasians playing Chinese. One might laugh at having Anita Ekberg playing one, blond hair and all. What people also don't realize is not all Chinese nationals have the typical features that we consider Asian (the epicanthal folds or "slanted eyes"). I lived in China for many years, there are a large number of ethnic Russians from Inner Mongolia and they get extremely insulted if you call attention to the fact that they don't "look" Chinese. Furthermore, to the Chinese: casting a Japanese as a Chinese is far more offensive. Just ask a Mainland Chinese what they think of the Japanese. Casting based on the eyes is ignorance and arrogance of the American "thought police" who enforce this correctness. These "technical" issues with the movie that I saw are understandable and I place them with Derek Jacoby fulfilling the role of narrator in his cashmere ensemble right out of GQ in Henry V (Kenneth Branaugh). "Blood Alley" is a very good period piece to understand the fear and lines drawn between Communism and the Liberty found in the United States. To understand what really happened reading/watching histories that are produced 50 years later after never illustrates why people did what they did. This movie is not right-wing because Lauren Bacall was extremely liberal, but like most Democrats of the 1950's she was extremely ANTI-COMMUNIST and was a patriot like John Wayne: she wanted America to win. It was propaganda, like all movies are propaganda, because it tries to lead the viewer to a certain conclusion. If the director can't do this, he is a lousy story-teller. "Blood Alley" makes the following points: 1 Communism is bad. 2 Communists oppress their populations: True 3.People desired to leave Communism: True 4. Communists murder those who won't conform: True. The fact that you want the Chinese village to get away means William Wellman is good. "Blood Alley" was also allegorical. Because at this time, Hungary was in revolt and thousands of Hungarians were making their escape using the bridge at Andau. You really could not make a movie about escaping over a bridge because it would be boring. So "Blood Alley" was a morale building movie reminiscent of the movies made during World War 2 where Hollywood cooperated in the war against Nazism and all its evil. This movie was made during the Cold War with Hollywood at that time divided between avid Anti-Communists and Communist apologists. I have always been intrigued by the hypocrisy of liberals that wholeheartedly fought Nazism which was not really a threat against the United States, they really only threatened Europe, but dismissed Communism that was openly and passionately trying to overthrow the republican (not party) system of government in the United States and replace it with a socialistic Marxist/Leninist System. Communists had shown their willingness to be the aggressor already in Korea, Hungary, and Viet Nam. This movie was raising alarm bells. Strangely for all those who have this neutral view toward Communism, Communist countries had to put walls up to keep their people within their borders and employ trusted guards to shoot anyone trying to escape. But still with this reality, people tried to escape, because the value of freedom was worth the risk of death. They wanted freedom, and that meant leaving one political system to live under another – the American System. With the current political climate in the US where we have those who would like to change that system of Liberty to a Socialistic system with Marxist undertones, we should ponder the legacy of those people commemorated in "Blood Alley". "Better Dead than Red" was not just a cliché to some during the 1950's and now in the early 21st Century.

Them poor, pesky redskins are given a break at last; this time its the commies' turn to take a larruping.Big John pretty well epitomised the United States as it saw itself on screen, and being a true patriot himself it's hardly surprising that he was co-opted for the purpose of national propaganda.The year 1955 is right at the heart of cold-war paranoia. The Chinese cultural revolution is under way. Though quite why Uncle Sam should think it necessary to demonise the Chinese is not quite clear. Russia was far and away a greater threat at the time. However...Here, he's a yank imprisoned by the Chinese, and sprung by corruption and bribery. His task is to pilot a steam ferry that a whole village mean to hijack and collectively sail to freedom. That means Hong Kong.It's a sturdy, 1950's 'Boy's-Own' adventure, a sort of 'Von Ryan's Express' with noodles. Many of the 'Chinese' actors are played by Caucasians, there being an evident shortage of trained English-speaking Oriental players. But non of them are quite so bad as Kurt Jurgen's comic parody in 'Inn Of The Sixth Happiness'. Slyly-vixenish Lauren Bacall provides the love interest as a fellow escapee. There isn't much for her to do than what she does best, and she gets little enough opportunity even then. There's plenty of interesting little surprises and turns. Action and irony are served-up in about equal measure. And, of course, the capitalist way prevails.The two things that I think let it down are the two for which it is mostly remembered. Firstly, Wayne's frequent confidential asides with his invisible familiar, referred to as 'Baby' come across as a little contrived these days. And likewise; the needlessly laboured emphasis on the evils of communism seem way out of place in a movie. Today, most people (in the west) are slightly better informed about the political shape of our planet than they were in the blinkered black & white times of MAD morality. Even those of us who grew up under its shadow find the old jargon a little jarring, now.Without these things I'd give it at least another point. As it is, the work seems to resemble a piece of Pentagon propaganda rather than imaginative entertainment.Still, there's some nice set-pieces and camera work, a believably created sense of place, an adequate script, and two top-dollar actors. Hardly collectible, but worth a wet afternoon.