Thank you for uploading this. I only watched Saint Jack recently. I visited Singapore in 1986, so it hadn’t changed much since this movie. I worked in Singapore in 1994 and I couldn’t believe how much it had changed since ‘86! I’ve lived in SG since 2007 and it seems to be constantly changing now. I still love to be around the old shop houses and peranakan buildings as it takes me back to my first time in Singapore in ‘86. Saint Jack also took me back in time. I loved the movie.
Just saw this. I was an extra in the film - in a few scenes, most notably playing touch football (American) in the background at the Goodwood Park. The only thing I would say is that I thought the Dun Roamin house was torn down soon after filming and that is why they were allowed to trash the place in the film - but maybe I'm wrong. I am in one of the Dun Roamin scenes - a blurred image in a mirror with my flatmate at the time. And one of my shirts makes an appearance - on the back of one of the cameraman who played one of three visitors leaving the brothel. Interesting experience - when there was still some sin in Singapore - as they used to say.
@@ColinHexr They put an ad in the paper for extras to play American soldiers, as I recall. And a lot of people showed up as you can see from the film - many of whom don't look particularly American or soldierish (including me) - most of the unemployed or underemployed expats living in Singapore at the time. As an actual American I had a small speaking part for a while, but then an American navy ship arrived in port and they used real sailors to play many of the American soldiers in the R and R scenes. And I got bumped.
@@ColinHexr TBH, getting the speaking role would have probably meant not being able to be in any other scenes - even blurred - and it was fun hanging out on set - particularly with the female extras - many of whom were actual prostitutes or escorts. Gazzara actually nixed me from a scene for continuity reasons - because he had just spent an hour watching me play touch football in a scene. One other interesting thing about the call for extras was that they asked for blacks and whites - and a lot of Singaporean Tamils showed up expecting to play "blacks". They were all sent home, despite being quite dark-skinned, they didn't look like African Americans. And I think the only Black soldiers in the actual film were the sailors off the ship, like the guy who opens a Coke bottle with his teeth.
@@ZlatyTigre Wow, you remember everything! I can imagine the set atmosphere to be quite electric. How did the Hollywood crew treat the locals? Were they friendly and welcoming?
Wow It is hard to believe all the research that went into making this video. Thank you Colin for doing this comparison between then and now. It was shocking, but at the same time a good reminder that time waits for nobody.
Well done, I was so very pleased to find this having watched the film. Having been to Singapore in the late 1970's and again recently it was interesting to see the changes to the landscape. I do find that it lacks much of its former charm but perhaps that is just my take on it. Malaysia seems a little more closer to that time. Whatever, a great post Thank you!
This video piece was created by Toh Hung Ping and included on the Saint Jack Blu-ray produced by Scorpion Releasing. If you're interested in Singapore's film locations you should check his website: sgfilmlocations.com
Thank you for this Toh Hun Ping. I was intrigued by the movie which I only just discovered. Not least because I was trying to recognise all of the places in memory from when I lived there in 1982/3. Which your curation here has helped with a lot :) Just a few years (1982) after the film was shot I lived in a shop house on East Coast (No. 356 unless I'm not very much mistaken), though these days the ground floors of this block are no longer shops, they still were in 1992 when I last stopped by the old place. I lived above a fried pork restaurant in fact. I didn't eat the pork much but they sold chilled Tsingtao which was very handy!
Thank you! I recently watched the film and was wondering where were all those old places filmed. I was born in 1996, so I didn't get to experience the era of shophouses and real hawker food. Thank you once again 😊
A couple of places in the film that haven't changed that much are the Shangri-la Hotel (where the Senator stayed) and the Hilton Singapore (where the Senator played).
Such a wonderful meditation on a brilliant - and very cheeky - piece of film-making in a much more gritty and real era of Singapore. Thank you Toh Hun Ping for doing this. As someone who has lived very happily in Singapore for nearly 35 years, I found the comparisons deeply poetic and downright stirring and, as someone who has watched and read Saint Jack many, many times, the mirror Toh holds up is a testament to not only Bogdanovich's skill but also to the Singapore government's relentless pursuit of improvement...all too often to the detriment of retention of local character, culture and, some may go as far as to say, much of the soul of the country. I feel, as with most major Asian cities, develop and modernise or be left behind. Sad but true.
Thank you for this upload which I enjoyed very much, and can so relate to both the historical & modern Singapore - being born in SIN in 1950, but was away from 1965-2000.
I grew up overseas thru most of the 60s and was a frequent visitor to Singapore from '67-70..We always stayed at the Goodwood..Wonderful and pleasant..all the comforts of the US combined with the mystique of the orient..
Such a disastrous to destroy all those charming places that had a real spirit for shopping malls and hotels...the power of money killing it all including culture and taste...so glad that Paris remains the same as it has always been with no shopping malls only boutiques and vintage places
Thank you for uploading this. I only watched Saint Jack recently. I visited Singapore in 1986, so it hadn’t changed much since this movie. I worked in Singapore in 1994 and I couldn’t believe how much it had changed since ‘86! I’ve lived in SG since 2007 and it seems to be constantly changing now. I still love to be around the old shop houses and peranakan buildings as it takes me back to my first time in Singapore in ‘86. Saint Jack also took me back in time. I loved the movie.
Just saw this. I was an extra in the film - in a few scenes, most notably playing touch football (American) in the background at the Goodwood Park. The only thing I would say is that I thought the Dun Roamin house was torn down soon after filming and that is why they were allowed to trash the place in the film - but maybe I'm wrong. I am in one of the Dun Roamin scenes - a blurred image in a mirror with my flatmate at the time. And one of my shirts makes an appearance - on the back of one of the cameraman who played one of three visitors leaving the brothel. Interesting experience - when there was still some sin in Singapore - as they used to say.
That's so cool! How did you get involved?
@@ColinHexr They put an ad in the paper for extras to play American soldiers, as I recall. And a lot of people showed up as you can see from the film - many of whom don't look particularly American or soldierish (including me) - most of the unemployed or underemployed expats living in Singapore at the time. As an actual American I had a small speaking part for a while, but then an American navy ship arrived in port and they used real sailors to play many of the American soldiers in the R and R scenes. And I got bumped.
@@ZlatyTigre Wow that's really cool, bummer you didn't get the bigger role. But that must've been a great experience!
@@ColinHexr TBH, getting the speaking role would have probably meant not being able to be in any other scenes - even blurred - and it was fun hanging out on set - particularly with the female extras - many of whom were actual prostitutes or escorts. Gazzara actually nixed me from a scene for continuity reasons - because he had just spent an hour watching me play touch football in a scene. One other interesting thing about the call for extras was that they asked for blacks and whites - and a lot of Singaporean Tamils showed up expecting to play "blacks". They were all sent home, despite being quite dark-skinned, they didn't look like African Americans. And I think the only Black soldiers in the actual film were the sailors off the ship, like the guy who opens a Coke bottle with his teeth.
@@ZlatyTigre Wow, you remember everything! I can imagine the set atmosphere to be quite electric. How did the Hollywood crew treat the locals? Were they friendly and welcoming?
Wow It is hard to believe all the research that went into making this video. Thank you Colin for doing this comparison between then and now. It was shocking, but at the same time a good reminder that time waits for nobody.
I like to think Bens character lives on as Jackie Treehorn
Well done, I was so very pleased to find this having watched the film. Having been to Singapore in the late 1970's and again recently it was interesting to see the changes to the landscape. I do find that it lacks much of its former charm but perhaps that is just my take on it. Malaysia seems a little more closer to that time. Whatever, a great post Thank you!
This video piece was created by Toh Hung Ping and included on the Saint Jack Blu-ray produced by Scorpion Releasing. If you're interested in Singapore's film locations you should check his website: sgfilmlocations.com
I love the movie and am always on the look out for the locations when out and about in Singapore.
Great work! This is amazing.
Thank you for this Toh Hun Ping. I was intrigued by the movie which I only just discovered. Not least because I was trying to recognise all of the places in memory from when I lived there in 1982/3. Which your curation here has helped with a lot :) Just a few years (1982) after the film was shot I lived in a shop house on East Coast (No. 356 unless I'm not very much mistaken), though these days the ground floors of this block are no longer shops, they still were in 1992 when I last stopped by the old place. I lived above a fried pork restaurant in fact. I didn't eat the pork much but they sold chilled Tsingtao which was very handy!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing. Love the side by side photo comparisons. Almost forgot how it was like back in the 70s
Thank you! I recently watched the film and was wondering where were all those old places filmed. I was born in 1996, so I didn't get to experience the era of shophouses and real hawker food. Thank you once again 😊
A couple of places in the film that haven't changed that much are the Shangri-la Hotel (where the Senator stayed) and the Hilton Singapore (where the Senator played).
Excellent legwork by Toh Hung Ping. The before-and-afters side-by-side are illuminating.
This is so well done. So sad to see many of these places gone now.
Well done! I always enjoy "then and now" works like this, particularly when it comes to films. I appreciate the work you did here, and thank you.
Such a wonderful meditation on a brilliant - and very cheeky - piece of film-making in a much more gritty and real era of Singapore. Thank you Toh Hun Ping for doing this. As someone who has lived very happily in Singapore for nearly 35 years, I found the comparisons deeply poetic and downright stirring and, as someone who has watched and read Saint Jack many, many times, the mirror Toh holds up is a testament to not only Bogdanovich's skill but also to the Singapore government's relentless pursuit of improvement...all too often to the detriment of retention of local character, culture and, some may go as far as to say, much of the soul of the country. I feel, as with most major Asian cities, develop and modernise or be left behind. Sad but true.
Thank you for this upload which I enjoyed very much, and can so relate to both the historical & modern Singapore - being born in SIN in 1950, but was away from 1965-2000.
Thank you for uploading this
Fantastic! I just watched it last night for the first time. An amazing discovery for me.
I grew up overseas thru most of the 60s and was a frequent visitor to Singapore from '67-70..We always stayed at the Goodwood..Wonderful and pleasant..all the comforts of the US combined with the mystique of the orient..
Really well done! Keep up the good work! Enjoyed and am pretty amused by some of your comment and I like the aesthetics of the video too! Cheers!
Not my video but thanks lol
At 5:18 on the left there is my grandmother shop.....
you did an amazing job !
Very interesting ❤
I think you mean wistful instead of bitter
SgWine Noob open to interpretation i guess, i would say bittersweet
Intéressant !!!
Such a disastrous to destroy all those charming places that had a real spirit for shopping malls and hotels...the power of money killing it all including culture and taste...so glad that Paris remains the same as it has always been with no shopping malls only boutiques and vintage places