A year after they’d created one of the defining British gangster pictures with Get Carter, three Michaels - Bristol-born writer-director Mike Hodges (who joins us for a Q&A), producer Michael Klinger and star Michael Caine - reunited for another crime picture, albeit with a more oddball flavour…

Pulp fiction writer Mickey King (Caine) gets mixed up with gangsters and murder on Malta in this parody of private eye mysteries. It all begins wihe movie legend Preston Gilbert (Mickey Rooney) hires King to ghostwrite an autobiography about his colourful life, a book that will include the names of the many shady people he's known over the years. But when Gilbert ends up dead, King turns sleuth to find out who killed him - whilst trying to stay alive himself...

A favourite of J.B. Ballard, Pulp has long existed in the shadow of its predecessor. Tonally, it could not be more different - Get Carter never had the time for sight gags and one-liners - but it's a real gem in its own right and an underrated comedy masterpiece.

Archive 35mm Print Courtesy of Park Circus.

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