Written by Smith and based on the Paul Theroux story of the same name (originally published in his collection The Consul’s File (1977)), this is about a heiress accused of a white-collar crime hides away with her husband at a luxury resort in an Indian holy city. In deep denial of the growing scandal, they distract themselves with sexual escapades and spiritual dalliances. Meanwhile, the hotel staff who pamper them by the pool return each night to a village plagued by civil unrest and a deadly water crisis. When the couple ventures past the hotel gates that protect them, they awaken the sleeping giant of fate.

After a three-year absence following the release of Nickelodeon, Bogdanovich returned with this dark tale of an American expatriate pimp, based on a novel by Paul Theroux and shot entirely on location in Singapore. Ben Gazzara is simply mesmerizing as Jack Flowers, the perennial operator determined to set up a business of his own gradually realizing that his territory and way of life are being challenged. An unexpectedly touching and revealing character study, Saint Jack contrasts its tale of redemption and morality against the lurid backdrop of the Singapore underworld. Bogdanovich himself appears as a seedy American government official who offers Flowers a way out of his old life – for a price.