Saint Jack (1979)

Jack Flowers (Ben Gazzara) is an American living in Singapore in the early 70s.  Though he has a 'job' with Mr. Hing, his true profession is pimp.  His dream job is to run a brothel, but the locals don't like the idea of a foreigner in that position.  Jack seems to know everyone as he wanders the streets.  He makes friends easily, most notably an accountant from Hong Kong, William Leigh (Denholm Elliott).  William follows Jack on his rounds, both witnessing some girls performing for a client and fleeing from angry rivals.  Jack introduces William to the local expat community that includes Yardley (Joss Ackland) and Frogget (James Villiers); they are mostly drunk.  Speaking of alcohol, Jack lives on it.  He is repeatedly told to eat by a matronly Chinese woman and, though he agrees that she is right, pours himself a Scotch.  When things look particularly bleak for Jack, CIA operative Eddie Schuman (Peter Bogdanovich) provides a jackpot opportunity: run a brothel that caters to US servicemen on leave.  Schuman also offers a big score if Jack can get embarrassing photos of a visiting senator (George Lazenby).

Jack is the movie.  There are twists and turns, opportunities and setbacks, successes and tragedies along the way, but not much of a plot.  It is the exploration of the life of a genial but immoral man.  For a man out to make a fortune, he is astonishingly generous.  He gave away the watch he was wearing to a random prostitute so she could gift it to a boyfriend, he offered a music box to another woman he has just met, he buys drinks for virtually anyone he encounters, and yet he is often in financial difficulty that he sold his car.  At one point, he encounters Katie, who says the kids asked about him.  Whoa, he has an ex-wife and kids that he never contacts.  Interesting.  His friendship with William is an annual thing that has three instances.  When in Singapore to check Mr. Hing's books, William and Jack are best friends.  William has plans of returning to England before much longer, but it often seems as though he has a lot more to say but is unwilling to say it.  There is a deeper backstory to William that is only hinted at.

Gazzara is good in the role, managing to be quite likeable for a pimp.  Other than Denholm Elliott, none of the other characters are fleshed out.  It was funny to see George Lazenby, the man who abandoned James Bond after one outing, playing the small role of a US Senator looking for a good time.

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