Interpol (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Interpol

| image = Interpol_film_Theatrical_release_poster_(1957).png

| caption = UK theatrical release poster

| director = John Gilling

| producer = Albert R. Broccoli
Irving Allen

| writer = John Paxton

| based_on = {{based on|Interpol
1955 novel|A.J. Forrest}}

| narrator =

| starring = Victor Mature
Anita Ekberg
Trevor Howard

| music = Richard Rodney Bennett

| cinematography = Ted Moore

| editing = Richard Best

| studio = Warwick Films

| distributor = Columbia Pictures

| released = {{Film date|1957|04|02|df=yes}}

| runtime = 92 minutes

| country = United Kingdom
USA

| language = English

| budget =

}}

Interpol (USA title: Pickup Alley; also known as International Police) is a 1957 British-American CinemaScope crime film noir directed by John Gilling and starring Victor Mature, Anita Ekberg, Trevor Howard, Bonar Colleano and Sidney James.{{Cite web |title=Interpol |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150039754 |access-date=3 February 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}} The screenplay was by John Paxton, based on the 1955 non-fiction book Interpol, about the agency, by A.J. Forrest. The film was produced by Irving Allen and Albert R. Broccoli for Warwick Films.

It concerns an Interpol effort to stamp out a major drug-smuggling cartel in numerous countries.

In the United States, the film was released as a double feature with The Brothers Rico (1957).{{IMDb title|0050841}}

Plot

Charles Sturgis is an FBI agent on the trail of a drug-smuggling operation run by crazed criminal mastermind Frank McNally, who has murdered Sturgis's sister. He travels to Europe to find McNally and destroy the organisation. In Rome he gets a tip that he can find McNally by following his mistress, Gina Broger. Sturgis is captured and beaten up, then rescued by an Interpol officer. Sturgess tails McNally to New York, where McNally falls to his death from a dockyard crane.

Cast

Victor Mature as Charles Sturgis
Anita Ekberg as Gina Broger
Trevor Howard as Frank McNally
Bonar Colleano as Amalio
Dorothy Alison as Helen
André Morell as Commissioner Breckner
Martin Benson as Captain Varolli
Eric Pohlmann as Etienne Fayala
Peter Illing as Captain Baris
Sydney Tafler as Curtis
Lionel Murton as Murphy
Danny Green as second bartender
Alec Mango as Salko
Sidney James as Joe as first bartender
Marne Maitland as Guido Martinelli
Harold Kasket as Kalish

Production

Michael Wilding was originally announced for the role later played by Trevor Howard.{{Cite news|title=Drama: 'Interpol' on Schedule for Wilding; Richards Booming; Elliott Sleuth|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=Mar 24, 1956|work=Los Angeles Times|page=13}}

The story was based on the files of the International Criminal Police Commission. Filming began on 15 August 1956 and took place in New York, Paris, Rome, Genoa (Italy), Madrid, London and Athens.{{Cite news|title=GREGORY TO FILM NOVEL BY KANTOR: Producer Will Make 'On My Honor' From 'God and My Country' for R.K.O. Warwick Signs Two Of Local Origin|author=OSCAR GODBOUT|date=June 23, 1956|work=New York Times|page=15}}

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Despite extensive location shooting in London, Paris, Rome, Athens and New York, and an elaborate, elliptical sub-Welles plot, this film does not escape the common rut. It suffers from obvious and unresourceful type-casting, and badly fumbles its few climaxes. There is a superficial vitality about it – mainly achieved by noise; and Trevor Howard plays with jaded relish."{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1957 |title=Interpol |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1305820491 |journal=The Monthly Film Bulletin |volume=24 |issue=276 |pages=60 |id={{ProQuest|1305820491}} |via=ProQuest}}

British film critic Leslie Halliwell said: "Drearily routine thick ear electrified by one performance but not helped by wide screen."{{Cite book |last=Halliwell |first=Leslie |title=Halliwell's Film Guide |publisher=Paladin |year=1989 |isbn=0586088946 |edition=7th |location=London |pages=217}}

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "average", writing: "Howard dominates rather sloppy thriller."{{Cite book |last=Quinlan |first=David |title=British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 |publisher=B.T. Batsford Ltd. |year=1984 |isbn=0-7134-1874-5 |location=London |pages=328}}

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 1/5 stars, writing: "this feeble thriller about tracking down a dope-peddling syndicate by the international police force boasted that it was filmed in London, Paris, Athens, Naples, Rome, Lisbon and New York. It looks as though they sometimes forgot to take the script with them. Trevor Howard obviously relishes acting the master villain for a change, though co-stars Victor Mature and Anita Ekberg don't try to act at all."{{Cite book |title=Radio Times Guide to Films |publisher=Immediate Media Company |year=2017 |isbn=9780992936440 |edition=18th |location=London |pages=468}}

Novelization

In advance of the film’s release, Avon Books in the US released a novelization of the screenplay under the film’s US title, Pickup Alley. It was the first such adaptation by veteran thriller and mystery author Edward S. Aarons as “Edward Ronns,” a frequent pseudonym he would also employ for most of his tie-in work to follow.