Pulp International

vintage and modern pulp fiction; noir, schlock and exploitation films; scandals, swindles and news

UNMADE IN CHINA

Cross country train thriller never quite reaches its destination.

Our interest in Peking Express was wholly due to Corinne Calvet, who we’ve seen in promo images, but never speaking and moving. The movie, which was an update of 1932’s Shanghai Express, is an overcooked spy adventure with cheesy, anti-commie filling, making for a creation that’s hard to swallow. Joseph Cotten arrives in Shanghai as a World Health Organization specialist on a mission to operate on some bigwig general. On a Peking bound train he encounters two complications—his ex-flame Calvet, and attempted murder. The latter has to do with the smuggling of contraband inside WHO crates. Soon both Cotten and Calvet are held prisoner by ringleader Marvin Miller (playing a Chinese military officer named Kwon) who wants to engineer a hostage exchange.

The movie ultimately portrays Miller as a money-grubbing bandit willing to betray wife, party, and country for personal gain. Threats and torture are his methods of persuasion, along with a hefty dose of general sneakiness. He spouts some of the worst dialogue ever, often starting with, “We Chinese…” But he doesn’t get the worst line. We just about upchucked on this, spoken about Miller by a saintly priest played by Edmund Gwenn: “If only he had as much devotion to God’s cause we would never have to worry about the world.” Really? Is that so? History says otherwise. To add insult to cognitive dissonance, the soundtrack contains some of the worst villain music imaginable. Composer Dimitri Tiomkin must have worn out an entire brass section recording it.

We’re fine, in principle, with the main plotline. The seemingly contradictory idea of a villain driven by a mix of entrepreneurial greed and communist doctrine is fertile. The crosscurrent of the WHO trying to save lives in a country where many are suspicious of its mandate struck us as relevant. But the operatic dimensions of the characters backfire to infantilise the movie’s messages. We suspect that the average Christian would find Gwenn’s missionary priest a pompous cardboard cut-out. The average communist would laugh the entire enterprise off as delusional b-grade propaganda. And the typical thief would judge Miller to be an incompetent boob. What would the typical Chinese person think? We can’t say, but our special consulting critic Angela the sunbear, whose native habitat includes China, might be able to enlighten us. And finally, what do fans of Corinne Calvet think? We thought: What a waste.
Thanks for throwing that China question my way, boys. I disliked the movie, and I extend an invitation to any who want to understand the complicated reasons why to discuss it with me over grubs and beetles.

China, Peking Express, Joseph Cotten, Corinne Calvet, Edmund Gwenn, Marvin Miller, Benson Fong, poster art, cinema, communism, movie review

MANILA HEAT

Caffaro knows how to Handle her business.


Why do we spend our valuable time watching exploitation movies? Well, because we watch all pulp related genres of movies, from film noir to horror. So why discriminate? We also watch such movies (which is a set we figure includes sexploitation, blaxploitation, women-in-prison, and more) because owing to their sexual, racial, and political aspects, their like will probably never be made again. Last month we completed our look at Cheri Caffaro’s infamous Ginger McAllister sexploitation-spy trilogy. Now we’re moving on to her later work in Too Hot To Handle, which premiered today in 1977.

Set in and around Manila, Caffaro plays an experienced and wealthy assassin named Samantha Fox who takes on a difficult triple-contract. In order to succeed she’ll need all her skills of disguise, deception, and sexuality. Meanwhile the cops are on her trail. When one of the investigators gets close—real close—Caffaro takes a liking to him and, passing herself off as her alter ego Melinda Burroughs, tries to navigate sleeping with the enemy while fulfilling her murderous obligations.

All Caffaro movies are low budget, and all are bad. This one is poorly written and acted, and as usual there’s a touch of the kinky, both in front of the camera, as well as behind, as Caffaro’s husband Don Schain directs her getting her squeezebox fondled by hairy co-star Aharon Ipalé. That’s called commitment to the product and your art—or alternatively, finding a way to monetize your spouse-sharing fantasies. It didn’t improve the movie.

The only surprise here was that former top European star Corinne Calvet somehow got suckered into playing a brothel owner named Madame Ruanda, later dying as one of Caffaro’s targets. Alas, Corinne—sexploitation is a welcoming mistress for those desperate to pay bills, but next time we recommend a loan shark. The vig is a bitch but at least you get to hang onto your dignity. But even if Too Hot To Handle was too bad for Calvet to be in, it isn’t too bad for you to watch. Caffaro is weirdly great. In the sexploitation realm nobody did more with less.
Philippines, Manila, New World Pictures, Too Hot To Handle, Cheri Caffaro, Aharon Ipalé, Vic Diaz, Corinne Calvet, Don Schain, poster art, cinema, sexploitation, movie review

WIDE EYES SHUTTERED

Enjoy the view while it lasts, pervs. Once I install these on my windows showtime is over for good.

We had to bring back Corinne Calvet to share a shot of her at her most beautiful. And here you have it. This should put to rest any doubts about her being one of the loveliest stars of her era. Simply put, she had it all. We’ll get into one or two her movies pretty soon and report back. Meanwhile, here’s one of the pervs that made her buy shutters.

France, Corinne Calvet

SMOKE JUMPERS

Every time she takes out a cigarette she barely survives a forest of fires.


Above: an interesting of shot of French actress Corinne Calvet made in 1951 when she was filming the anti-communist thriller Peking Express. It was a remake of the 1932 film Shanghai Express starring Marlene Dietrich. Tough shoes to fill but Calvet was a major star in her day, and considered a major beauty. You can’t see that in this photo, what with all the smoke, but you can in a shot we shared earlier, at this link. 

France, Peking Express, Shanghai Express, Corinne Calvet, Marlene Dietrich, communism

BRAVO NEW WORLD

West German magazine tears down the wall.


German isn’t one of our languages, but who needs to read it when you have a magazine with a red and purple motif that’s pure eye candy? Every page of this issue of the pop culture magazine Bravo says yum. It hit newsstands today in 1957 and is filled with interesting and rare starfotos of celebs like Romy Schneider, Horst Buchholz, Clark Gable, Karin Dor, Mamie Van Doren, Ursula Andress, Marina Vlady, Corinne Calvet, jazzists Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington, and many others. This was an excellent find.

We perused other issues of Bravo and it seemed to us—more so in those examples than this one—that it was a gay interest publication. After a scan around some German sites for confirmation we found that it was as we thought. The magazine’s gay themes were subtle, but they were there, and at one blog the writer said that surviving as a gay youth in West Berlin during the 1960s, for him, would have been impossible without Bravo. We will have more from this barrier smashing publication later. Thirty-five panels below.
West Germany, Berlin, Bravo Magazine, Romy Schneider, Horst Buchholz, Clark Gable, Karin Dor, Mamie Van Doren, Ursula Andress, Germaine Damar, Marina Vlady, Corinne Calvet, Oscar Peterson, Little Richard, Sylvia Sims, James Dean, Ursula Andress, John Bromfield, Beverly Garland, Olga Varen, Hélène Vallier, Odile Versois, Andrea Checchi, Irene Tunc, Joan Crawford, tabloid, lgbt

CRIME AMERICAN STYLE

Four U.S. authors make their mark on France and on film.

Above, four covers from Éditions Ditis for its La Chouette collection, circa late 1950s. All of these were originally published in the U.S. and translated into French after being adapted into films. The first three were turned into the film noir classics Sudden Fear, A Kiss Before Dying, and Black Angel, while the fourth became the French crime thriller Bonnes à tuer, which is known in English as One Step to Eternity.

France, Ditis, Sudden Fear, A Kiss Before Dying, Black Angel, Bonnes à tuer, One Step to Eternity, Joan Crawford, Robert Wagner, Corinne Calvet, Michel Auclair, Virginia Leith, William Irish, Cornell Woolrich, Edna Sherry, Ira Levin, Patricia McGeer, cover art, literature, film noir, cinema

INTERIOR DECORATOR

Calvet proves red warms up any room.

Corinne Calvet, née Corinne Dibos, was born in Paris and tried a few different careers before migrating to Hollywood. She studied criminal law at the Sorbonne, then became an interior designer, where we assume all she did was walk into a room to redecorate it. When she made the move to Hollywood in 1940 she generally played French characters, appearing in On the Riviera, Rope of Sand, The Far Country and numerous other films. This is really a stunning shot of an especially beautiful star but we aren’t positive of the date. Best guess—1950.

France, Paris, On the Riviera, Rope of Sand, The Far Country, Corinne Calvet, Corinne Dibos
Femme Fatale Image

ABOUT

EMAIL

LEGAL

  • CATEGORIES

SEARCH PULP INTERNATIONAL

PULP INTL.
HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

1916—Richard Harding Davis Dies

American journalist, playwright, and author Richard Harding Davis dies of a heart attack at home in Philadelphia. Not widely known now, Davis was one of the most important and influential war correspondents ever, establishing his reputation by reporting on the Spanish-American War, the Second Boer War, and World War I, as well as his general travels to exotic lands.

1919—Zapata Is Killed

In Mexico, revolutionary leader Emiliano Zapata is shot dead by government forces in the state of Morelos, after a carefully planned ambush. Following the killing, Zapata’s revolutionary movement and his Liberation Army of the South slowly fall apart, but his political influence lasts in Mexico to the present day.

1925—Great Gatsby Is Published

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is published in New York City by Charles Scribner’s Sons. Though Gatsby is Fitzgerald’s best known book today, it was not a success upon publication, and at the time of his death in 1940, Fitzgerald was mostly forgotten as a writer and considered himself to be a failure.

1968—Martin Luther King Buried

American clergyman and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., is buried five days after being shot dead on a Memphis, Tennessee motel balcony. April 7th had been declared a national day of mourning by President Lyndon B. Johnson, and King’s funeral on the 9th is attended by thousands of supporters, and Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

1953—Jomo Kenyatta Convicted

In Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta is sentenced to seven years in prison by the nation’s British rulers for being a member of the Mau Mau Society, an anti-colonial movement. Kenyatta would a decade later become independent Kenya’s first prime minister, and still later its first president.

1974—Hank Aaron Becomes Home Run King

Major League Baseball player Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run, surpassing Babe Ruth’s 39-year-old record. The record-breaking homer is hit off Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and with that swing Aaron puts an exclamation mark on a twenty-four year journey that had begun with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro League, and would end with his selection to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame.

  • FEATUREd PULP

BRAZIL UNDERGROUND

Edições de Ouro and Editora Tecnoprint published U.S. crime novels for the Brazilian market, with excellent reworked cover art to appeal to local sensibilities. We have a small collection worth seeing.

FLUENT IN VIOLENCE

Walter Popp cover art for Richard Powell's 1954 crime novel Say It with Bullets.

IN HOT WATER

There have been some serious injuries on pulp covers. This one is probably the most severe—at least in our imagination. It was painted for Stanley Morton's 1952 novel Yankee Trader.

VINTAGE ADVERTISING

Things you'd love to buy but can't anymore

Vintage Ad Image

Around the web