Ben Gazzara plays Jack and early on in the film, he escorts a visitor through a red-light district of Singapore where beautiful ladies abound.
Jack’s visitor comments, “The women here are all so attractive.”
Jack responds, “They’re all guys.”
Wow – I did not see that coming!
“Singapore’s Bugis Street was renowned as a meeting place for trans women to mix, mingle and have fun during the 1950s-1980s. Each evening, a fabulous parade of glamorous trans women would walk up-and-down the rundown streets at Bugis Junction, flirting with tourists, sailors and G.I.s, often charging them to have their photograph taken, inviting them to a bar for a drink, or taking them to a quiet room (or rooftop) for sex.
“Bugis Street was a popular area for touring British servicemen in the 1950s, who became fans/lovers of many of the trans women, and rechristened the area ‘Boogie Street’—a mispronunciation of the district’s name that stuck in 1970s with the rise of disco.
“For thirty years, Bugis Street thrived as a haven for trans women and their admirers, until the government cracked down on what was described as ‘shameful’ and ‘lewd behavior’ in the 1970s. Many servicemen were arrested at gunpoint, tourists were threatened and frightened away, the bars were closed and many trans women were arrested. Eventually the hard-line puritans won and old Bugis Street was demolished in the mid-1980s and replaced by a shopping mall and entertainment outlet.” (source: dangerousminds.net)
The image above is not from the film; rather, it is a collage of the girls who actually populated Bugis Street, circa 1970.
By the way, Saint Jack was very good and Ben Gazzara was excellent.
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| Wearing Venus |
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| Singapore’s Bugis Street ladies, circa 1970 |
