John Gilling’s Pickup Alley starts out as a gritty, desperate, dirty London noir but eventually shifts into a continental crime adventure chasing through Rome, Athens, Lisbon, and the Côte d’Azur. The result is a satisfying balance of criminal atmospheres surrounding an ever-shifting plot (and a script that probably could have benefited from more polish) that rewards careful viewing. American drug enforcement agent Charles Sturgis (Victor Mature) is called to London to help track down the head of a sophisticated drug smuggling syndicate named Frank McNally (Trevor Howard) who makes it a habit of changing his appearance to avoid detection (Sturgis has extra incentive to catch the smuggler because he murdered Sturgis’ sister, who had been working undercover for Interpol). A set of fingerprints at a murder scene leads Sturgis and crew to the beautiful Gina Broger (Anita Ekberg) who’s been strong-armed into serving as McNally’s new top courier. Having alerted all European Interpol offices, Sturgis follows the leads to McNally’s whereabouts as he traverses southern Europe, including a secret rendezvous underground in the Roman catacombs where Sturgis meets “souvenir salesman” Amalio (Bonar Colleano) before an attempt on his life by one of McNally’s men. Cinematographer Moore creates plenty of luminescent style with characters framed in shadowy tunnels, skulking along alleys with moonlight reflected off the cobblestones, and occasional frenzies of Dutch angles. Channeling occasional Hannibal Lector vibes, Trevor Howard is outstanding as the posh and proper McNally who, when his patience is tested, hauls off and punches Gina in the face.