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The Film: 4/5
Say the name of Mike Hodges to a seasoned cult movie buff and they may instantly respond with a title like the campy sci-fi extravaganza Flash Gordon (for good reason) and the icy cool crime drama Croupier (likewise), but his greatest achievement as a filmmaker remains the 1971 revenge thriller Get Carter, which also functioned as an early showcase for the prodigious acting talents of the legendary Michael Caine. A year later, Hodges and Caine reunited for - to borrow the words of John Cleese - something completely different, the quirky comic thriller Pulp.
Though nowhere near as bleak and provocative (or memorable) as Carter, this genre-blending, goofball yarn is a tasty concoction from an invaluable director-star pairing that proves they really should have worked together more because they undoubtedly brought out the best in each other. Caine is cast here as Mickey King, a British writer (and former funeral director) who abandoned his wife and children to live abroad and dictate cheapjack crime fiction to a pool of typists in the Mediterranean who then transcribe his macho prose into the form of novels that are usually published under pseudonyms like “Guy Strange” and “S. Odomy”.
After dictating his latest novel, The Organ Grinder, King and his long-suffering publisher Marcovic (Leopoldo Trieste, The Godfather Part II) receive an offer from the mysterious Dinuccio (Lionel Stander, Caliber 9) for King to ghostwrite the autobiography for an elusive client whom he refuses to name at first. King reluctantly accepts the assignment and soon finds himself travelling to Malta to meet with his famous literary collaborator – retired movie star Preston Gilbert (Mickey Rooney). Known to moviegoing audiences around the world for playing colorful gangsters on the screen, Gilbert left the industry fifteen years earlier and self-exiled himself to the lap of luxury with various eccentrics and his aging mother.
It doesn’t take long for King to realize what a surreal nightmare his life has become, beginning with meeting a man named Miller (Al Lettieri, The Getaway) who claims to be a college English professor from the U.S. and quickly winds up the victim of a hit King believes was meant for himself…. or does he? The writer has barely met Gilbert before the bodies begin to hit the floor (and other places as well), and King, under the impression that the movie star’s real-life acquaintances with actual underworld figures may be the cause of the sudden killing spree, decides to do a little detective work of his own.
Pulp is an indelibly daffy film that devotes equal amounts of its 96-minute running time (incorrectly stated as 108 on the packaging of this Arrow Video Blu-ray) to both respecting the narrative traditions of paperback crime fantasies and sending them up with deadpan aplomb. If this makes any sense whatsoever, the things that happen in this crazy, inspired lark are simultaneously nothing that they seem and exactly what they seem. Narrating the story like he was one of the flawed, pistol-packing hardasses from one of his own hard-boiled thrillers, King makes a memorably unlikely gumshoe navigating the serpentine sequence of events that begins once he arrives in sunny Malta and meets up with the reclusive Preston Gilbert.
Directing his own screenplay, Mike Hodges loads Pulp up with visual and verbal wit (the police lineups of priests wearing dark shades and hats is a good example of the film’s organic absurdity) and tasks Caine with playing its debonair, though barely likeable hero. The role of Mickey King would be a lighthearted trip in the hands of any experienced actor, but Caine gives the part a distinctive icy demeanor and a dark side that proves tough for King to conceal as he leaves his comfortable life of dictating novels to highly-skilled secretaries so he can spare his previous fingers the strain of actual work to take a little walk on the wild side. Decked out in a white suit and wearing his trademark oversized eyeglasses, the screen icon has rarely looked more iconic than he does here.
Mickey Rooney, Lionel Stander, and Al Lettieri lend the production and their characters more personality than the script provides them. Representing the female side of the supporting cast with class and presence are Lizabeth Scott (The Strange Love of Martha Ivers) as a princess and wife of a local politician who appears to have intimate knowledge of Preston, and Italian screen siren Nadia Cassini (Starcrash) as King’s hesitant sidekick and the closest he has to a romantic connection. Other oddball characters with vague motivations who float in and out of the story when it is required of them are played wonderfully in their limited screen time by Dennis Price (Kind Hearts and Coronets), Robert Sacchi (The Man with Bogart’s Face), and Luciano Pigozzi (Yor, the Hunter from the Future). The lovely Janet Agren of Umberto Lenzi’s Eaten Alive and Lucio Fulci’s City of the Living Dead puts in a brief but welcome appearance as Marcovic’s lusty secretary.
Audio/Video: 4/5
Arrow Video’s 1080p high-definition presentation of Pulp was sourced from a recent 2K resolution scan of the film’s 35mm interpositive, with color grading overseen by cinematographer Ousama Rawi (Zulu Dawn). The restored video transfer and mono soundtrack were supplied for this release by MGM.
Presented in the 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio, Pulp looks better than it ever has on home video and I highly doubt this transfer could be improved upon. The picture is awash in warm golds and browns primarily for its color scheme, and the timing is top-notch. The amount of grain – which is what you would expect from an early 70’s feature – is moderately heavier, but never overwhelming, and it remains consistent from first frame to last. The upgrade in image clarity reveals additional texture and detail in the characters’ faces and their vivid surroundings. Outside of slight muffling at times with Caine’s narration, the English LPCM 2.0 mono soundtrack is quite solid. Dialogue and the original soundtrack composed by the Beatles’ legendary producer George Martin are integrated into the overall mix with pleasing results, distortion is absent, and imbalance in the volume levels never becomes a problem. English subtitles have also been provided.
Extras: 3/5
Created exclusively for this Region A Blu-ray edition from Arrow Video are four new interviews with crucial members of the creative team: director Hodges (17 minutes); cinematographer Rawi (9 minutes); editor/assistant director (and future director of my 3rd favorite James Bond film, License to Kill) John Glen (5 minutes); and producer Michael Klinger’s son, Tony (6 minutes). The participants provide a solid, broad overview of the project’s inception and production, and occasionally they offer insightful contemporary observations about Pulp’s eventual reception. There are also four still galleries that aren’t separated by category and the original theatrical trailer (2 minutes), which is hosted by co-star Stander directly addressing the camera and interacting with scenes from the film.
Arrow’s customary collector’s booklet features the new essay “A Death Rattle in Paperback” about Pulp by Australian film critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and “The Letter That J.G. Ballard Wrote to Me About My Thriller Pulp”, which turns out to be self-explanatory, by director Hodges, along with disc production credits and details about the restoration. The Blu-ray also comes with reversible cover art, with a newly commissioned image by Nathaniel Marsh and the original poster design on opposing sides.
Overall: 4/5
Working together for the second and (sadly) final time, writer-director Mike Hodges and Michael Caine deserve much of the credit for Pulp’s success, at least when it comes to creative and cohesively telling an original story with style, wit, and a surprising amount of soul. It’s a delicious little comedic thriller that entertains greatly and rewards attentive viewers. With its excellent new HD transfer and good bonus features. Arrow Video’s Blu-ray will go a long way towards helping Pulp earn a larger audience on home video. Highly recommended.
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