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Blood Alley

Blood Alley

Adventure · Action · Drama · 1955

An American Merchant Marine captain, rescued from a Chinese Communist jail by local villagers, is "shanghaied" into transporting the entire village to Hong Kong on an ancient paddle steamer.

Movie details

Blood Alley

“Adventure on the dangerous waters of the Orient!”

1955 Adventure · Action · Drama 1h 50m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

An American Merchant Marine captain, rescued from a Chinese Communist jail by local villagers, is "shanghaied" into transporting the entire village to Hong Kong on an ancient paddle steamer.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Blood Alley?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Waterworld

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Gray Lady Down

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

William A. Wellman

Written by

Albert Sidney Fleischman

John Wayne

John Wayne

Capt. Tom Wilder

Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall

Cathy Grainger

Paul Fix

Paul Fix

Mr. Tso

Joy Kim

Joy Kim

Susu

Berry Kroeger

Berry Kroeger

Old Feng

Mike Mazurki

Mike Mazurki

Big Han

Anita Ekberg

Anita Ekberg

Wei Ling

Court is in session

Put Blood Alley on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.