Kinda Hot: The Making of Saint Jack in Singapore by Ben Slater

This book reveals, for the first time, the extraordinary story behind the making of Saint Jack (1979), the only American film to be entirely shot on location in Singapore. Filmed in secret, it was subsequently banned by the authorities.

Adapting Paul Theroux’s celebrated novel about pimps and prostitutes in the Lion City, a local, amateur cast and crew worked right alongside brilliant film-making talents gathered from all over the world.

Bank-rolled by B-movie legend Roger Corman and executive produced by Playboy’s Hugh Hefner, the director was Peter Bogdanovich, one-time Hollywood golden-boy whose career was in decline. Saint Jack was his chance to climb back on top. Ben Gazzara played the charismatic pimp Jack Flowers, and the powerful method actor, along with Bogdanovich, immersed himself into the world of brothels in the name of ‘research’.

Kinda Hot is published by Marshall Cavendish.