Police internationale

This was an interesting film which starred Victor Mature, (Charles Sturgis) who was a US Narcotics Agent working with Interpol in order to catch a large dope smuggling operation. Gina Broger, (Anita Ekberg) played a young gal who was working with a big shot dope king, Frank McNally, (Trevor Howard) and was only working with him because he kept her against her will and would not let her go. There is plenty of travel into Lisbon, Greece and New York and it seemed at times that Charles Sturgis was running around in circles. Trevor Howard gave a great supporting role along with Anita Ekberg, but this film was definitely a low budget film and because this was a 1957 film, the gals all wore skirts down to their ankles.

Found in Noir Archive vol 3, this is a watchable English noir that has some perfunctory acting from Mature and Ekberg, along with enjoyable scene chewing from Howard--what a long way from The Third Man and Brief Encounter!--and a terrific cameo from Bonar Colleano, whom I don't recall seeing before.

You won't care about the plot--something to do with international heroin smuggling, a murky subject dealt with carelessly by John Gilling. The interest lies in the locales, which are beautifully shot by Ted Moore, who besides making a half dozen Bond films also won an Oscar for A Man For All Seasons. The catacombs scene might have come from an Orson Welles film, Othello say, it's that evocative.

This has got quite a field of recognisable talent, but the story is a bit thin. "Frank McNally" (Trevor Howard) is a ruthless drug dealer who makes a bit of a mockery of the efforts of Interpol to track him down. It's only when he kills the sister of US agent "Sturgis" (Victor Mature) that he finds a foe worthy of him. This fellow is much more determined, and quickly alights on the mule of the operation "Gina" (Anita Ekberg) trailing her all around Europe before finally honing in on his prey as "McNally" plots an huge job in New York. The format of the storyline takes a bit of a travelogue style and though that does give it some pace, it means we spend way too much time on planes, at airports and touring the sites rather than developing any characters of even a substantial plot. Neither Mature nor Howard really engage, Ekberg has practically no dialogue until the very end and the best effort comes from grifter Bonar Colleano's ("Amalio") who seems way more adept at tracking "McNally" than his policeman buddy. The ending is weak - it's more of a testament to the effectiveness of global policing and communications that it is to a thriller, and I felt the whole thing just lacked oomph.

1957's Pickup Alley, or Interpol, directed by John Gilling, looks like a travelogue but evidently a lot of it was filmed in Naples. However, cinematographer Ted Moore did such a beautiful job - the locations are really the star.

The film begins with a woman calling "Charles" with urgent information; someone then enters and kills her.

She turns out to be the sister of an American narcotics agent Charles Sturgis (Victor Mature). The killer is international drug smuggler Frank McNally (Trevor Howard), and Sturgis is determined to bring him to justice.

With the aid of Interpol, he is able to track McNally and his girlfriend Gina (Anita Ekberg) to Europe.

Clearly a B movie using British and American actors, Pickup Alley is on the dull side without much in the way of characterization, except showing McNally's violence toward women. The old buildings, the streets, the docks, plus a chase on a roof make it interesting.

Ekberg is beautiful as McNally's drug mule but has been shown to much better advantage. She met Tyrone Power when she was an extra in Mississippi Gambler and embarked on a several year affair with him, even meeting his family in Cincinnati.

To avoid a lawsuit, wife Linda Christian's did not name her in her book, but she is clearly the woman for whom he wanted a divorce. He and Christian eventually reconciled. He liked blonds with accents.

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!!

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