Temptations of Travel: Singapore and Tourism On Film
By Ben Slater & Toh Hun Ping
Sun, 15 May | 2pm to 3pm
Venue: Oldham Theatre
Fee: $10 per pax
This talk lifts the curtain on Cinema Reclaimed: Temptations of Travel, a programme of films exploring how international films make use of Singapore as an exotic locale, as well as how Singapore films depict travellers at home, overseas and the travel industry itself. Armed with clips, images and background knowledge on the locations, intrepid film historians and researchers Ben Slater and Toh Hun Ping take you on a journey from a Singapore stop-over in Hitchcock’s Rich And Strange, to Hayley Mills’ long stay in Noel Coward adaptation Pretty Polly, from the anarchic tourism of European superspies in 1960s, to romance-inflected visits from Hong Kong tourists (Tropicana Interlude, The Orchid), Japanese tourists (Raffles Hotel, Love from Temasek) and visitors from India (Avanthan Manithan, Priya). Travel and tourism in these films are markers of progress and modernity, as well as danger and transgression.
Cinema Reclaimed: Temptations of Travel is curated by Ben Slater and Toh Hun Ping with support and collaboration from the Asian Film Archive.
Rasa Sayang Eh (1959)
Directed by L. Krishnan
Starring Wahid Satay, Kasma Booty, Puteh Lawak, Shariff Medan, Dollah Sarawak
98 mins / Malay with English subtitles
Sun, 15 May | 5pm
Venue: Oldham Theatre
Fee: $10 per pax
Named after the classic folk song played, hummed and sung throughout the film, this feather-light comedy-thriller produced by Cathay-Keris showcases the charm of comic star Wahid Satay. He plays Baning, a travelling entertainer on tour in Penang before he flies commercial to Kuala Lumpur and then takes a private plane to Singapore, where most of the story unfolds. Unbeknownst to him, secret and valuable maps are hidden in his luggage, making him the Hitchcockian ‘wrong man’ target for wicked villains, while romancing a doctor (Kasma Booty) he met on the plane. Wahid stumbles and bumbles through a thoroughly modern urban Malaya - a world of hotels, room service, plane travel, dead bodies, sleeping pills, alcohol and lots of smoking.
Courtesy of Cathay-Keris Films Pte Ltd. Source: Asian Film Archive
Hawaii Five-O: The Year of the Horse (1979)
Directed by Don Weiss
Starring Jack Lord, Barry Bostwick, George Lazenby, Victoria Principal, Osman Jailani
97 mins / English
Sun, 22 May | 2pm
Venue: Oldham Theatre
Fee: $10 per pax
The most famous TV detective in the world Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) travels to Singapore to investigate an international drugs cartel, leading to adventures amidst Singapore’s biggest tourist attractions in 1978, notably the Mount Faber-Sentosa cable car and Chinese Gardens, Jurong. McGarrett’s touristic detachment is contrasted with his nemesis, a rogue American soldier played by Barry Bostwick who has ‘gone native’, leading a squad of local thugs and doing tai chi by the water. This special Hawaii-Five-O double episode, which plays as a feature-length movie, was shot in Singapore at the same time as Peter Bogdanovich’s infamous Saint Jack, and shares some of the cast, including (former James Bond) Lazenby and Malaysian actor Osman Jailani, however the TV production worked closely with the Ministry of Culture in the depiction of Singapore for an international market.
Episodes from Hawaii Five-O - Courtesy of CBS Broadcasting Inc.
Crazy Bumpkins in Singapore 阿牛下南洋 (1976)
Directed by John Law Ma
Starring Wang Sha, Ye Feng, Ai Ti, Rita Chao, Bai Yan, Chen Shucheng
100 mins / Mandarin with English subtitles
29 May Sunday, 1.30pm, Oldham Theatre
5 June Sunday, 2pm, Oldham Theatre
Sun, 29 May | 1.30pm
Sun, 5 June | 2pm
Venue: Oldham Theatre
Fee: $10 per pax
The fourth and final installment of the highly successful ‘Crazy Bumpkins’ comedy series, produced by Shaw Brothers in the 1970s, is notable in finally bringing comedian-stars Wang Sha and Ye Feng ‘home’ to Singapore. The double-act, who performed in multiple languages and dialects, gained popularity on local TV and radio, before their fame spread to Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, where the Bumpkins films were produced. Here, they travel to the Lion City to escape gangsters (of course!) and much slapstick mayhem ensues on their travels around the island, including hi-jinks with a baby. Unshown in Singapore since its original release, this is a precious record of the legendary comedians as well as a wide-ranging tour of mid-1970s Singapore in colour.
Note: The screening on 29 May will be followed by a talk in Mandarin by Su Zhangkai, film researcher, memorabilia collector and author of the book Agak-Agak - 90 stories of Wang Sha and Ye Feng (2019).
© Licensed by Celestial Pictures Limited. All rights reserved.
Part of the programme Cinema Reclaimed: Temptations of Travel curated by Ben Slater and Toh Hun Ping with support and collaboration from the Asian Film Archive.
