Il sigillo di Pechino

This movie begins with a fight between a man named "Danny Mancini" (Maurizio Arena) and an unknown assailant on a train in China near the border of Macao. As it so happens Danny kills the man and in the process retrieves a precious medallion. While on his way back to Macao he encounters another man by the name of "Cliff Wilder" (Robert Stack) who is trying to escape Chinese border guards for attempting to obtain unauthorized photographs for a magazine. Since they are both headed in the same direction Danny offers to help Cliff escape by giving him a ride in his boat. However, once they get to Macao Danny notices that he is being followed and asks Cliff to hold onto the medallion for a little while. Not long afterward, a pretty blonde is discovered by Cliff in his room looking for something. When confronted by Cliff she reveals that her name is "Lily Mancini" (Elke Sommer) and that she is the wife of Danny and that he told her to come by and pick up the package that he gave to him. When he refuses to give it to her she pulls a gun on him. Fortunately, Danny is quicker than she is and manages to grab the gun from her before she can fire it. Although he allows her to leave his hotel room their paths will soon cross again-along with several other characters who also want the medallion. Now rather than reveal any more and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this movie had some good things going for it. Filmed in 1967--in the exotic location of Macao--it had some good actors like Robert Stack, Nancy Kwan (as "Tina") and the aforementioned Elke Sommer. Along with that it had enough intrigue and action to keep me interested as well. It even had Dusty Springfield singing the opening title track. Yet, in spite of it all, the plot was a bit unrealistic and the film suffers as a result. But, like I said earlier, it was still somewhat entertaining and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

This movie doesn't start out too promisingly, with a claustrophobic, ho-hum fight between two guys in a boxcar (oh boy, a fight in a boxcar!). Then, during the credits, a shot of the passing train actually includes a moment where the camera wobbles quite badly. "Oh God," I thought, "what kind of low-budget boredom am I in for?" As it turns out, the movie gathers itself like a train gathering speed, becoming more splashy, ridiculous, and rollicking as it goes along. And it is perhaps not too low-budget, either--it may not be Bond, but the sets are suitably exotic and eye-catching, with a rich, velvety decadence permeating the proceedings. Robert Stack is amusingly noxious as a freelance photographer who tries to kiss every woman who is trying to steal from him or kill him. Within seconds of meeting her. In fact, if you're a woman, he's probably trying to kiss you. That would include Elke Sommer, of course, but even more notable is Nancy Kwan, who steals the movie along with her bad guy enemy/ cohort Christian Marquand (he's the plantation owner in Apocalypse Now Redux). The plot is ridiculous, the finer points are ridiculous, and the movie would not be half as entertaining were it not so. For a movie largely known for the title track, sung by Dusty Springfield, a lot more fun than I expected.

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.

(above is the only one of its several titles which actually reflects the nature and style of the film)

After a mediocre movie career Robert Stack finally made it big on television in "The Untouchables", after which he returned to the big screen for a second go-round, during which he appeared in this hybrid

In this one the Germans give us an unusual combination of Eurospy and "Indiana Jones" style treasure hunt, but it works well enough and is quite entertaining.

Robert is a freelance photographer who stumbles into a struggle for possession of an ancient medallion, which in turn can point the way to a hidden trove There are already four interested parties before Robert arrives on the scene, a Tong led by Nancy Kwan, a gambling gang led by Christian Marquand, Werner Peters, a corrupt police chief who can call on the manpower of the local constabulary to do his bidding, and "International Man Of Mystery" Maurizio Arena, along with his wife, Eurospy veteran Elke Sommer (perhaps the real reason behind how this movie came to be made).

Robert looks the part and brings his distinctive voice to proceedings, as well as his rather limited acting ability, but, this being a Eurospy, that is no more than par for the course and not a deal-breaker. As a romancer Robert repeatedly fails "James Bond bedroom etiquette 101". Every time a female tries to use her "womanly wiles" on him, just at the point things are about to get interesting, he always chooses to reveal to her that he knows what she's up to, which makes her angry and thus terminates the tryst. He makes the same rookie mistake with Heidi Bohlen, Nany and Elke. Now the way it's supposed to be done is, as Sean Connery or Sonny Chiba could explain to him, first you go along with the charade and bed the woman, then you tell her you know what she's up to and make her angry.

In the first two thirds of the film they do a good job of catching the flavour of Eurospy, with many colourful sets, including an elaborate bordello brothel, a casino club built atop a barge and a Tong mansion headquarters equipped with a torture chamber worthy of a Bond movie. Shades of "Get Smart" as a one piece garage door, disguised as an elaborate oriental wall panel slides slowly up and back, next, behind that, a set of wrought iron gates move aside to the left and right, revealing the torture alcove. The victim is tied to a thick wooden "T" with arms stretched out on either side, which can be pivoted up to an angle that allows the audience to see the suffering better. Then a grotesque metallic oriental demon head is lowered over the victim while acid is dripped onto them from its mouth.

Torture is something of a feature of this film, as, apart from two visits to the Tong torture chamber (first a failed henchman and later Elke), there is also some torture of Maurizio with a blow torch, and another nicely lit outdoor night torture scene, which involves dragging the Robert around the harbour behind a fizz boat. So this is a must see movie for any sadists out there.

The film is set in Macao (according to the German title, "The Hell Of Macao") but those who know identify all the location footage as being in Hong Kong. In any case it's a colonial city that borders on Mao era China.

Dusty Springfield sings the theme song, which is another plus and the music overall is good, assisting to create the appropriate mood of each scene, rather than undermining it.

The fight scenes are decently choreographed and the action is distributed evenly throughout.

The main weakness of the film is the middle third, which consists of nothing more than Robert wandering into ambush after ambush, never seeming to consider if it's an intelligent course of action. A strategy of "shaking the tree" is one thing, but wilful stupidity is another. Fortunately for him there are four sets of allies / antagonists who take turns at saving him from each other.

The final third of the movie goes full "Indy / National Treasure / Da Vinci Code" after Robert suddenly decides to make use an enormous mechanical gadget that he has clamped to a table in his hotel room, to decipher the medallion (I'm not sure what to call it, or how Robert managed to fit it in his luggage). Eventually the various interested parties pursue each other to the customary hidden cavern beneath the ancient temple and engage in the usual round of double crossing, which leads inevitably to a catastrophic cave in and the loss of all the booty.

Just time for a rom-com epilogue, where Robert, Elke (and Werner) commiserate, before running off together, frolicking toward the beach, while Dusty sings them out.

Bondesque quips

Nancy - "What are you doing?"

Robert - "You know what I'm doing, the point is, how am I doing?"

Heidi - "I don't get many visitors"

Robert - "Oh come now"

Heidi - "Well, not many that I'd like to know better"

Robert - "The least I can do is help restore your confidence"