Re: Pulp Reading
Books/stories:
Well, although H.P. Lovecraft's stories are more in the "Horror Hero" vein, those would be good sources for the era.
The Fu Manchu novels
The Father Brown Novels
R.E Howards John Kirowan stories (again, more Horror Hero but they still have that pulp feel)
Ironcastle, as translated by Jose Philip Farmers
Movies:
The obvious Indiana Jones trilogy, plus the Mummy and the Mummy Returns
Any of the 1940s movie serials
The television show Tales of the Gold Monkey with Stephen Collins