Les corrompus

"The Corrupt Ones" is a Cold War-era adventure story about a chase for the Peking Medallion, which is the key to an ancient Chinese treasure. The stars are Robert Stack and Elke Sommer, but, as is usual in this type of film, the villains, of whom Nancy Kwan is the chief, are more colorful. The film starts with a fight for the medallion on board a train, and the pace rarely lets up from there. It's a great time waster, if you've got the time to waste. Of course, this particular genre was done practically to death by the Indian Jones series, but, if you can get past the low budget, there's a lot to enjoy here, not the least of which is Dusty Springfield's singing of the title tune. It's one of those multi-country productions, and that makes for an appealing supporting cast, but someone ought to have been shot for dubbing Elke Sommer's beautiful voice in English. She sounds like a real simp. Citizens of Macao, by the way, must have been shocked by the tagline: "The Deadliest City in the World Is about to Get Deadlier!"

I knew this title from many years ago but never bothered to watch it until now. After I watched it, I realized that the Italians had made many "similar" movies a couple of years earlier. Just to name a few: HONG KONG, HOT HARBOUR, BLACK PANTHER OF RATANA, MYSTERY OF THE RED JUNGLE, SECRET OF THE CHINESE CARNATION, MISSION TO HELL...etc. All with similar plot twists and action but none of which had the elaborate budget that The Corrupt Ones had. But all were made a few years earlier. So why bother making The Corrupt ones in 1967 when so many similar stories already existed? I guess some producer had money to burn. The Corrupt Ones is still worth watching, but do check out the other titles. Larry Anderson.

Nothing to add, really, to the earlier reviews except to clarify some things about the film. The location is never really stated explicitly in the film, except that it is somewhere on the border of 'Red China' where foreigners are safe. In 1967 that is either Hong Kong or Macau. Since there is legal gambling shown going on, it has to be notionally Macau. Except that I cannot detect a single scene shot in Macau. Many of the interiors look like they were done on a European sound stage as well.

All the street signs, for example, have Chinese and English text (= Hong Kong; in Macau it is Chinese and Portuguese.) There are identifiable shooting locations in Hong Kong. The opening train sequence is shot on the Kowloon-Canton Railway tracks somewhere in the vicinity of Taipo. There is a back-projected car ride down Nathan Road, Kowloon, and one can see the wall and gate of St. Andrew's Church for a second or two. Earlier, there's a car ride shot in Wanchai. There are several scenes shots in Aberdeen, and a little booth selling tickets for the "Ap Lei Chau Ferry" (this was before there was a bridge there.) Some of the waterfront/speedboat shots appear to have been done in Clear Water Bay or Sai Kung, probably because of the proximity of the Shaw Brothers Studio which might have offered some advice. Perhaps most amusing is the 'Temple of the Bells' under which the treasure is buried, which is actually the exterior of the Roman Catholic Diocesan Seminary at Wong Chuk Hang! For me it's actually these shots of a run-down but livable Hong Kong in the Vietnam War era that are most interesting, a document that preserves a lot of footage of a place that has now completely disappeared under 20 years of 'Red Chinese' rule.

I guess that "Die Holle von Macao" (called "The Corrupt Ones" in the US) is the sort of movie that you can only find in Movie Madness here in Portland. Cliff Wilder (Robert Stack) is an American spy in Hong Kong who gets hold of an ancient medallion and finds himself the target of various and sundry groups. His only escape is gorgeous Lilly Mancini (Elke Sommer). Meanwhile...

Oh come on folks. THIS IS AN ELKE SOMMER MOVIE!!!!!!!!! You don't watch this sort of movie to have a life-changing experience; you watch it to see her, uh, features. Some people may claim that this movie's just trying to be a James Bond movie. SO WHAT?!!!!!!! It's Elke Sommer, people! Who cares about a decrepit old right-winger like Robert Stack dodging bullets when you've got her hot features on the screen? I know. You say that my infatuation with her is inane, immature, pathetic, and non-respectable, given that she mostly starred in skin flicks in the '60s and hasn't done much since then. Well too bad. I've always found her hotter than the likes of Julia Roberts. In fact, that's why I gave this movie 5/10 stars: the plot is pretty routine, but her presence makes it worthwhile. If I was going to make a movie, I'd do everything possible to try and get her a role, even if it was the same kind of role with which she's always been associated. Hubba hubba...

Perhaps Mr. Spielberg found his inspiration for Indiana Jones not only in "That Man from Rio" (1964), but also in this "The Corrupt Ones" (1967). Elke Sommer and Nancy Kwan are the most important assets of the film. Neither Robert Stack, Werner Peters and Christian Marquand, they are not bad at all, on the contrary. The film has rhythm, is well done, in all respects. The most exciting, original and ingenious scene is when Stack is tied up with a rope, attached to a motor boat and dragged through the sea, to be made to talk. I'm a big fan of Elke Sommer too (especially due to "Deadlier Than the Male" made in the same year 1967) but here, Nancy Kwan is the sweetest, sexy, cool, etc.