Quartier des Spectacles

This guide to the Quartier des Spectacles in Montreal follows the ten-block red light district that ran wide open here from the 1920s through the late 1950s, brothels and illegal casinos protected by police paid to look away. You'll hear about Anna Labelle, who built a brothel empire under an alias, gambling kingpin Harry Davis, and Pacifique Plante, the lawyer who took over the police morality squad and started naming corrupt officers in print in the newspaper Le Devoir. Look for the red neon Cafe Cleopatre sign still flickering above the sidewalk on Saint-Laurent Boulevard.