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The title of the film is taken from a real life police report (pictured above) from 1936, written following the raid on Billie’s Club. The report provides ‘evidence’ of the kinds of crimes the club goers had seemingly committed - including being ‘powdered and dancing’ - revealing how police observations related ‘effeminacy’ and stereotypical female gender expression as a sign of homosexuality.
‘Powdered and Dancing’ is set in 1930s London, between the wars, when homosexuality was deemed the worst imaginable crime. Homosexuality was seen as a social contagion, sweeping across the country, with the Met Police running their very own Vice Squad tasked with hunting down ‘moral perverts’. The character of Bettie is inspired by real life landlady Billie Joyce who ran a Soho Members club ‘Billie’s Club’ that attracted a queer clientele. Plain clothes officers ended up raiding the bar in 1936, a trial then took place and 21 men and Billie herself were found guilty. The discussion at the end between Fowler and Jennings reflects the real life police brutality, and pervasive, media endorsed homophobia of the time.
