Blood Alley (1955)

Director:

William A. Wellman
(more)

Writers:

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

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 villagers, is "shanghaied" into...

Plot Keywords:

Captain | Hero | Fighting | Food Shortage | Sabotage

Cast

John Wayne	...	Capt. Tom Wilder
Lauren Bacall	...	Cathy Grainger
Paul Fix	...	Mr. Tso
Joy Kim	...	Susu
Berry Kroeger	...	Old Feng (as Berry Kroger)
Mike Mazurki	...	Big Han
Anita Ekberg	...	Wei Ling
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
George Chan	...	Mr. Sing (uncredited)
W.T. Chang	...	Mr. Han (uncredited)
David Chow	...	Boat Man (uncredited)
Chester Gan	...	Ferry Boat Captain (uncredited)
Lowell Gilmore	...	British Officer (uncredited)
James Hong	...	Communist Soldier (uncredited)
Eddie Luke	...	Feng's #2 Nephew (uncredited)
Henry Nakamura	...	Tack - Engineer (uncredited)
Walter Soo Hoo	...	Feng's #1 Nephew (uncredited)
Victor Sen Yung	...	Cpl. Wang (uncredited)

Directed by
William A. Wellman
John Wayne		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Albert Sidney Fleischman		(screenplay) (as A.S. Fleischman)
Albert Sidney Fleischman		(novel "Blood Alley") (as A.S. Fleischman)

Produced by
John Wayne	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Roy Webb

Cinematography by
William H. Clothier		(photography)

Film Editing by
Fred MacDowell

Production Design by
Alfred Ybarra

Set Decoration by
Victor A. Gangelin		(set decorations) (as Victor Gangelin)

Costume Design by
Gwen Wakeling		(costumes designed by)

Makeup Department
Margaret Donovan	....	hair stylist
Web Overlander	....	makeup supervisor
Norman Pringle	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Tom Andre	....	unit production manager
Nate H. Edwards	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrew V. McLaglen	....	assistant director
Robert H. Justman	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Joe LaBella	....	property master (as Joseph LaBella)

Sound Department
Earl Crain Sr.	....	sound
Carl Mahakian	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Paul Reuting	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Daniel Hays	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
David Chow	....	stunts (uncredited)
Gene Coogan	....	stunts (uncredited)
Evelyn Finley	....	stunts (uncredited)
Duke Green	....	stunts (uncredited)
Tom Hennesy	....	stunts (uncredited)
Stubby Kruger	....	stunts (uncredited)
Sharon Lucas	....	stunts (uncredited)
Shirley Lucas	....	stunts (uncredited)
Harvey Parry	....	stunts (uncredited)
Regis Parton	....	stunts (uncredited)
Peter Peterson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Sterling	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Carl Walker	....	costumes: men's

Music Department
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (as Maurice de Packh)
Gus Levene	....	orchestrator
Lloyd Young	....	music editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
George Coleman	....	transportation coordinator (uncredited)

Other crew
Sam Freedle	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Warner Bros (presents)
• Batjac Productions (as A Batjac Production)

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1955) (USA) (theatrical) (as Warner Bros.)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• AFEX (1956) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1956) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• U.S. Department of Defense  we wish to express our appreciation to: for their cooperation and assistance (as the United States Department of Defense)
• United States Coast Guard  we wish to express our appreciation to: for their cooperation and assistance (as the United States Coast Guard)

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 (WarnerColor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

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

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Belvedere Island, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros

Trivia:

In an interview Lauren Bacall said that she took the role when Robert Mitchum was to be the male lead. When John Wayne took the role after Mitchum was fired she expected to clash with him since she was a left-wing Liberal and he was a right-wing Conservative. She said that he was warm and friendly and they did not discuss politics. She later starred with him again in his last movie 'The Shootist' (1976).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Captain Wilder leans against the window, the wall moves.

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)

Even John Wayne seemed bored by the movie.

Nobody does John Wayne as good as John Wayne. But in 'Blood Alley' Wayne didn't even portrait himself well. He seemed bored through out the movie, failing to give anything better than an average performance. Maybe he knew the script was weak. I certainly felt no interest in the characters or what they were doing, maybe Wayne didn't either. Too bad because it seemed like a good premise for a movie.

You do get to see Lauren Bacall in color. However she didn't get to do much of anything interesting. Nobody really does.

One good point, the film is directed by William Wellman who goes back to the silent film era and directed such monumental films as 'The Public Enemy', 'The Ox Bow Incident' and 'A Star is Born' 1937 version, which he also wrote. And another good point is that it was shot in CinmaScope with glorious 'Warner Color', looks good. And don't forget the actual footage shot at the graveyard of ships, which was cool.

Not a classic, but a worthy diversion.