But not the only reason. Blood Alley is actually a very well made old time, action, adventure movie with the anti-communist angle in the background most of the time. It is hardly the "right wing propaganda" some questionable sources have labeled it. Salty skipper John Wayne taking a boatload of freedom-loving Chinamen and Chinawomen down the coast in a rickety tub of a ship to Hong Kong with Lauren Bacall along as an unlikely if pleasant love interest. The concentration is on the adventure, not the politics. Adventure movie was a genre excelled in by both star Wayne and director William A. Wellman, a tough, old World War I veteran, whose credits went back to the silent days and included such top-notch numbers as Wings (1927 AA winner), The Public Enemy (1931), and Battleground (1949).

Wellman's direction, if not exactly taut, is precise and on target all the way through. The picture has excellent production values and is impressively filmed. Cimemascope and other 2:35:1 ratios are not exactly the ideal screen shape for good composition, but Wellman and cinematographer William H. Clothier make good use of the extra-wide screen, filling it with full-length shots of ships and panoramic views of the California coast ( well-disguised as the Chinese coast). This movie just missed the gorgeous three-strip Technicolor era, but the Warner Color, which bathes the colors in a nice, unifying blue wash looks better than most other versions of Eastman Color.

Good support is given to the stars, especially by an unrecognizable Paul Fix as the Chinese villagers' wise leader, Mike Mazurki as Wayne's right-hand man, and Henry Nakamura as the cigar chomping, Americanized chief engineer. Of course the politically correct gestapo has complained about Occidentals playing Orientals, but, I'm sorry, Fix made a better Chinaman than any real one could have, and he was a reliable character actor already on the payroll. Mazurki makes the best of one of his few good guy rolls and steals practically every scene he is in.

One wonders why all the little fellow-travelers, useful fools, and European socialists who find the anti-commie theme so offensive would watch this movie other than to carp about it. Any perusal of literature available describing the picture, including what's on the DVD jacket would reveal its nature. Am I the only veteran who despises that bunch even more that the actual commies? Cold war paranoia, they like to say. A paranoia is defined as an unreasonable fear. It was hardly unreasonable in the 1950's or any other time from 1917 to the fall of the Berlin Wall to think we might have reason to fear the communists. That gang of snot-nose socialist punks who creep around IMDb would be better off taking in some crude pro-commie propaganda movie such as The Battleship Potemkin or Earth, then all agree what great "films" they were -- while holding their wrists flipped and their snouts up in the air.

Blood Alley isn't a great movie, but it is a very entertaining adventure story. One more thing -- I don't normally thrive on violence, but I loved it when John Wayne gave it to the Chicom who was raping Laren Bacall in the back with a cuneiform Mosin-Nagant bayonet. Ouch! and good riddance!

Years ago I saw this movie and didn't remember it being so bad. I was surprised, in fact, that upon seeing it again I really disliked the film and thought it failed on so many levels. While not as bad as JET PILOT or THE CONQUERER, this is a truly stupid film and is best skipped by all but the most devoted fans of John Wayne.

The biggest and most annoying aspects of the film is Wayne's continually talking to his invisible girl "Baby". Repeatedly throughout the film, he talks to her almost like he's a narrator describing his character's inner machinations. And he does it in such a clumsy way with lines like "did ya hear that, Baby?" or "Eh, Baby" every few minutes. PLEASE JUST SHUT UP!

Secondly, there just isn't much chemistry between him and Lauren Bacall. Her character is completely undeveloped and rather wooden (except when she inexplicably wants to drop everything and get herself killed for absolutely no reason late in the film). His character is a moron--and an obnoxious one at that.

Third, I hated seeing Americans playing lead Chinese characters. While this may have been more common in the 1930s, it's here as well. The funniest example is Mike Mizurki as a Chinese guy!!! Hmm,....very reminiscent of John Wayne as Genghis Kahn in THE CONQUERER.

So all-in-all, this is a bad movie--whether or not it stars John Wayne. The writing, acting and direction are all poor and I can think of no reason to see the film. I know some of his devoted fans will think it's heresy for me to pan this film, but for every great film he made at least one dud. And this one, while not his worst film, is a dud.

American merchant Captain Tom Wilder (John Wayne) is stuck in a Chinese Communist prison. He escapes with the help of the locals organized by missionary Cathy Grainger (Lauren Bacall). She needs him to pilot a flat bottom river boat to transport the local villagers out of Red China and sail to Formosa down Blood Alley. It's a treacherous 300 miles to the safety of Hong Kong.

This should be a great action adventure of a fight on the river. Instead, the movie is stuck in the town for over half of the time. It should also be a tense action-packed thriller. John Wayne does his cheese humor and it drains the intensity every time. The juxtaposition between the attempted rape of Cathy to John Wayne's grab as humor is tone-deaf. For movies of its time, there are the expected annoying white-people-playing-Chinese but it's excusable. Overall, it's not that great even for its time. It's functionally watchable. There is the exotic nature with its background actors. It's unrealistic for the river boat to escape the naval ship. I expected more shooting action. Quite frankly, they could have run into some pirates. I really like the lack of chemistry between Bacall and John Wayne until they force in a romantic relationship. This is marginal.