In the 1950s, American actors were in demand in European films. It seems that it was far cheaper to make movies there and by bringing in one or two big-name or semi-big name American actors the movie would have greater international appeal. So the likes of Richard Basehart, Anthony Quinn and many other mostly B-list actors made there way to Europe, though a few, such as Alan Ladd, were big name stars. Almost as big as Ladd at that time was Victor Mature and here he stars as, what else, an American in Europe!

The film finds American Cop, Charles Sturgis (Mature) in Europe to try to break up an international drug smuggling outfit. His part in the film was at best mildly interesting...as mostly he played the stereotypical angry, blustering American. What WAS interesting was the leader of the baddies. While you don't think of Trevor Howard in such a role, he was vicious and very exciting to watch...and sadly he was barely in the film! As a result of this and a mediocre script, the film has 'time-passer' written all over it and nothing more.

Seems to me the title of the picture should have been saved for a noir tale, what with the inference of a sleazy femme fatale. One could make the case if hard pressed enough, since Anita Ekberg got pushed around considerably, but with the quickly changing venues from New York to a handful of European cities, the pace was just a bit too hasty for a noir treatment. I really dug the opening New York City street scene filled with era marquees and storefronts, that was pretty cool.

Victor Mature puts in an earnest performance as the hard bitten Narcotics Bureau detective on the trail of an international drug kingpin. Fueled by the murder of his sister by the notorious Frank McNally (Trevor Howard),Charles Sturgis (Mature) makes it his personal mission to bring the gangster to justice, even if he has to hop half way around the world to do it.

You know, if you never get a chance to see the Roman catacombs, pretty much all you have to do is tune in to this flick. The tour guide gives you a pretty good rundown on everything you need to know before you ever get there.

The main thing that impressed me here was that wild rooftop chase right after McNally did in his partner Salko (Alec Mango). When McNally lit out on that slanted runway he slid more than half way down before getting back his footing. I had to wonder if it was planned that way or the stunt guy really slipped and played it out to a conclusion. The same with the cops who high tailed it right after him. That was some nifty stunt work.

Well after rolling out the barrels for McNally, Sturgis gets his man, but I couldn't help feeling that the finale was somewhat anticlimactic. I thought McNally was a lot smarter than getting ID'd by a narc detective, and he probably should have just dropped the getaway effort until it was a safer bet. When all was said and done, the pickup alley of the title never came into play, the bad guy got nailed right out in the open.

American British co-production, released as Picket Alley on USA and Interpol on UK, Mature plays Charles Sturgis an American policeman from US narcotics department, when his sister who works as informer, was killed before to reveal the identity of the smuggler's Boss in New York, now he got starts again from scratch, the new clue nothing less than the beauty Anita Ekberg as Gina Bolder a delivery girl, they track down his steps, a long journey through Lisbon, Rome, Greece and finally back to New York, this picture goes far beyond the standards known, Charles Sturgis tireless pursuit of his unknown target, the long waiting romance between he and Gina Bolder never Happens, actually she plays a cold women, pressure by his Boss, due she committed a murder of his former old partner, the highlights coming from of nowhere, the Italian character Amalio played by the big mouth Bonar Colleano brings some relief on the plot, also a bit humor neither, Trevor Howard was fabulous as the slippery man, moving each couple days, unknown face, a hard assignment really, interesting picture!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD-R / Rating: 7