Billie Morin This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

liscarkat-2 "i think they just want to evilize the Chinese communist government (they may be or not be, now their people are manufacturing for the world)"This, posted above, reflects the attitude of several commenters whose left-wing sphincters reflexively contracted the second they read the name "John Wayne". "Blood Alley" isn't great, and it isn't one of Wayne's best movies, but it's well-made and entertaining enough to be worthy of at least one viewing. As for "evilizing" the Chinese government, Mao Zedong and his regime did a fine job of doing that themselves when their actions resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of their own people, not to mention brutal imprisonment of non-criminals, slavery, stupid agricultural policies that resulted in mass starvation, etc., etc. It's no wonder the people in the film's village wanted to escape. But damn John Wayne and his conservative cronies for making it the background of an escapist adventure movie. Because after all, the death and oppression of countless innocent people that is the legacy of the communists in China is okay, because "now their people are manufacturing for the world", and who is the Duke to say otherwise?

EndlessBob Others have reviewed this film better than I could, but I would like to point out one misconception I've seen in a couple of places: "Blood Alley" is not the Formosa Straits.The Straits are approximately 420 miles ENE of Hong Kong, and are 118 miles wide at its widest point, which is practically the open sea. It's also nearly 250 miles from the end of the Straits to Hong Kong, which definitely would be open sea. The movie makes it clear that the refugees are moving 300 miles downriver to escape to Hong Kong, and at one point John Wayne's character worries about about what might happen to the boat in any kind of real waves.Most likely "Blood Alley" is the Pearl River, which is China's third longest river after the Yangtze and Yellow, second largest in terms of volume, and does empty into the sea at Hong Kong. The delta near Hong Kong is wide and deep enough for the Chinese warship that was firing at the refugees later in the film. (Terrible shots weren't they?) The refugees also would have been following the east side of the delta rather than what appeared on Wayne's hand-drawn chart to be the west side, but hey -- it's the movies.

magicmyth505 This movie seems to get a bum rap in John Wayne histories as a trite anti communist movie, just pushing Wayne's right wing politics. Speaking as a long time leftie, it is worth noting the politics in China was not Marxist socialism at the time but a fascist dictatorship under Mao. And shocking as this may seem the film, while the communist are the heavies, is not anti-Chinese but is about the Duke taking a group of boat people to safety over terrible waterways in a rickety boat where they are received by a British soldier with the words "Refugees God bless them" Like that would happen today. More likely to spend the next 10 years in a refugee camp than get a welcome. A curious thing that a film made by someone who is often accused of being a right wing extremist is so 'liberal' in its response to refugee issues.The character is not quite in the usual Duke mode. Apparently they were negotiating with Bogart to do the role and then Duke had to step in and its a little like they did not change the role to make it a John Wayne role. There is a little bit of Casablanca 'I stick my neck out for nobody' before he comes to support the villagers wholeheartedly. And a little bit of African Queen bum. Wayne is a lot less heroic than usual, the bravest thing he does is steer the boat and save the heroine from being raped by using a gin with a bayonet. He even needs a couple of Chinese monks to help him when he can't punch out one small Chinese assassin. And the Chinese are the ones who do all the planning, work out how to get away and solve most of the problems.The costuming is interesting too. Wayne either looks ridiculous (intentionally) in European clothing 3 sizes too big for him, or wears a Chinese villager's costume that integrates him into the village.The film is beautifully shot, William Clothier is the photographer, and the old ferry they use sort of has an African Queen quality to her, a character in herself.Lauren Bacall is Lauren Bacall but at least she and Duke have some chemistry going. The kiss at the end looks like they are really connecting not like Duke is wishing to god he is somewhere else which can happen with some leading ladies. Some people have criticised the talking to "Baby" but I thought it was rather fun and a really clever way to get some quick exposition.The film does have European actors playing Chinese, including the buffoon, but most of the performances are pretty restrained and not caricatures. There is a little bit of fifties pigeon English, mimicked quite affectionately by Duke and Laureen Bacall but as the character that does it is the one that pulls Wayne's character into line, it does not grate like some fifties films that use it.All in all, Blood Alley is a film I had not seen for a long time but surprised myself how much I enjoyed it and found quite relevant in its presentation of the boat people/ refugee picture.

charlytully This film has an abrupt, jarring opening, even by 1950s B-Movie standards. The "chemistry" apparently sought between John Wayne and Lauren Bacall was a blatant effort to reprise 1951's Humphrey Bogart pairing with Katharine Hepburn in THE AFR!CAN QUEEN. But Bacall makes a second-rate Kate at best, while tagging the Duke as a third-string Bogie is a charitable description. Picture Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire starring in a 1977 remake of BONNIE AND CLYDE, and you'll know what a misfire BLOOD ALLEY is. For a movie nearly two hours long, the close is just as off-putting and curt as the beginning. While Susu's pidgin English and the just off-camera attempted rape of Cathy Grainger (Bacall) by a Chinese soldier are quaint period touches, the real drama was in which of their friends Ronald Reagan, John Wayne, and Charlton Heston were ratting out to Joe McCarthy's U.S. Senate witch hunt around this time. If Bogie isn't the never-revealed key to the imaginary friend of BLOOD ALLEY's "hero" Captain Tom Wilder (Wayne), perhaps the drunken Senator Cheesehead IS?