Soho Bites Podcast

Dominic Delargy

Soho, that one square mile at the heart of bohemian, cosmopolitan London, has been the setting for a surprisingly large number of films. In each episode of Soho Bites, producer and presenter Dominic Delargy is joined by a special guest to discuss a different Soho film, accompanied by a shorter, thematically linked item drawing on Soho's rich history of crime, music, art, vice & film.
Guests have included BFI curators, film scholars, crime historians, former Windmill girls, punk musicians, jazz singers and the occasional actual film star.
Written, produced & presented by Dominic Delargy.
Based on an original idea by Dr Jingan Young.
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20 episodes
Updated July 1

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Episodes20

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July 1 · 1 hr 8 min
Soho Bites 53: A Taste of Money (1960)
Oh I do like to be beside the seaside. For this episode, we braved the British railway system and went out to the Southend-on-Sea Film Festival to watch a screening of this month’s film “A Taste of Money”. A Taste of Money was produced by the Danziger brothers and was directed by Max Varnel (son of Marcel) and stars Jean Cadell as an OAP who has recently turned to crime and Dick Emery as her criminal associate. Pete Murray & Christina Gregg also appear and there’s a small role for a very young Anton Rodgers. After the screening, Dom sat down with national treasure, Noel Cronin BEM, to talk about the film and a variety of other subjects. Noel has had a long career in the film industry but is best known now as the founder of everybody’s favourite TV station, Talking Pictures TV. He also co-presents The Footage Detectives and rescued A Taste of Money from the obscurity on which it had languished for the last 65 years. In the second half of the show we meet the offspring of one of the film’s stars. Nick Emery is the son of Dick and he talks about his father’s early career and his troubled private life. You can watch A Taste of Money right now on TPTV Encore or buy it on the Danziger box set from Renown. Noel’s autobiography is worth a read. Watch a selection of Dick's work on Youtube or a clip of his 1972 film Ooh... You are Awful Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
May 28 · 1 hr 6 min
Soho Bites 52: Irina Palm (2007)
Do you need a hand with that? The NSFW Irina Palm (2007) was directed by Sam Garbarski and stars 1960s icon, Marianne Faithfull as Maggie, a middle aged woman who turns to sex work to raise money for her grandson's medical treatment. Adopting the name Irina Palm, the service she provides is a very limited one and is such that she never has to change out of her floral overall. The film was described by Guardian's film critic, Peter Bradshaw, as “a gobsmackingly awful British film - awful in the way that somehow only British films can be…” To talk about Irina Palm, we were joined by author & former associate professor of film and culture at the University of the West of England, Estella Tincknell to see if she agrees with Peter's opinion. For the thematically linked supporting feature© we talk to Laura Watson from the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP) to hear about their history, aims and campaigns. Watch a trailer for the film HERE In this scene, Maggie succumbs to one of the dangers of the job, Penis Elbow. Estella's new book will be released later this year. Irina Palm had an award name after it - the Irina Palm D'Or Although Irina Palm received a thumping from the UK critics, it did actually win some foreign film award and was viewed more favourably, on the whole, by foreign critics. Follow the ECP on Facebook and Instagram. They do also have a Xwitter account but I wouldn't want to post that here for Musk reasons. The ECP's YouTube channel is great though. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
April 14 · 1 hr 6 min
Soho Bites 51: King of the Underworld (1952)
Not a Humphry Bogart film. King of the Underworld (1952) stars Tod Slaughter as Terence Reilly - a master criminal who is always one step ahead of his arch nemesis, Inspector Morley, played by Patrick Barr. The film should not be confused with King of the Underworld (1939) which stars Humphry Bogart and is a very different film all together. It was not originally made as a film and is actually three episodes of a low budget TV show called Inspector Morley, Late of Scotland Yard, Investigates, clumsily stitched together. To talk about King of the Underworld, we’re joined by Vic Pratt from the BFI, a man who loves a bit of Slaughter and has a tenuous family connection to him. Aidan McManus joins us in the first half of the show to talk about a different, real life king of the underworld, Bernie Silver. Follow Vic on Blue Sky and read some of his work at the BFI website. Next time you're in Foyles, pick up his book (available at other places too, obvs) Listen to Aidan on Portobello Radio and book for one of his walking tours of Soho HERE. He also does a tour about David Bowie and he came on episode 29 to talk about him. Watch King of the Underworld at TPTV Encore and if that's simply not enough Tod, pick up this box set from Indicator films. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
March 6 · 1 hr 15 min
Soho Bites 50: Bartleby (1970)
I would prefer not to. Based on “Bartleby the Scrivener - A Story of Wall Street”, a short story by Herman Melville, Bartleby (1970) is the story of a young man at odds with the world in which he finds himself. He starts work as an audit clerk at an accountancy firm but within a few days begins to refuse to do any work, saying merely that he “would prefer not to”. Starring John McEnery in the title role and Paul Scofield as his extremely patient boss, the film is the only feature to be directed by Anthony Friedman. Stephen Armstrong, journalist at The Observer and freelance film critic joins us to talk about the film. In popular culture, Bartleby has become a symbol of passive resistance to corporate bureaucracy. Among many other things, Bartleby’s famous line “I would prefer not to” has become a: Column in the economist Several T-shirts A slogan used at Occupy Wall St and other protests Socks The official motto of philosopher Slavoj Žižek! In Herman Melville’s original story, he mentions the names of two real life people - John C Colt & Samuel Adams. Little heard of today, they would have been extremely famous at the time due to a notorious murder which gripped the United States. We tell the story of this case in the first half. Read or listen to Stephen Armstrong’s work at the Observer and find his books here. Stephen also produces an extremely Soho podcast called Strippers in the Attic. The director of Bartleby, Anthony Freidman, did not direct any other feature films and went back to academia. See the Bartleby locations thanks to our friends at ReelStreets. Buy the Blu-ray from Indicator Films. The New York Sun published this special edition all about the John C Colt / Samuel Adams case in January 1842. Most of the information about the Colt / Adams case came from two books by Andie Tucher and Harold Schechter. The Bartleby sound track, composed by Roger Webb, was released by Trunk Records on vinyl. It’s also available on Spotify. Troy Taylor provided the voice of John C Colt. Check out his website, his podcast and his Museum of American Oddities on Facebook. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
February 6 · 1 hr 14 min
Soho Bites 49: Noose (1948)
Spiv Noir. According to the billing, the stars of 1948's Noose (known as The Silk Noose in the US) are Carole Landis, Joseph Calleia & Derek Farr, but the real star of the film is Nigel Patrick who is cast against type as Bar Gorman, a sharply dressed, fast talking spiv. Set firmly in Soho, it tells the story of how the police, the press & a group of normal citizens, try to loosen the choke-hold of gangsters on the city. The film is one of a group of films known as "the spiv cycle". The director, Edmond T. Gréville, also directed Beat Girl which is straight from the fridge daddio. Dr Josephine Botting, curator at the BFI, joins us to talk about Noose, Edmond T. Gréville and the spiv cycle. Interesting article about the spiv cycle of films. In the first half of the show we were joined by the mighty Steve Hayes to talk about the life and death of Carole Landis. Steve has a brilliant YouTube channel, Tired Old Queen at the Movies and, rather like Morgan Freeman, George Burns and John Huston, he once played God in a movie. In our interview, Steve mentioned those two famously bitchy and competitive Hollywood gossip columnists, Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons. Here's the listing for the 1947 stage version of Noose on the Theatricalia website and also a copy of the programme. We're fans of vintage lobby cards on Soho Bites - here's a couple of colourised ones for Noose. Friend of the show, Rob Baker, wrote an article about British post-war gangster films on his Flashbak website. A News Chronicle article from September 13th, 1945 by Bill Naughton - "Meet the Spiv". There's plenty of stuff online about Carole Landis and her suicide, most of which is pretty salacious and muck-rakey. This one is too, but written slightly better than the rest. A Carole Landis tribute site. Carole did not appreciate being called The Ping Girl. Booking for the monthly Projecting the Archive at the BFI is highly recommended. At the time of writing this, the Museum of Soho website is under redevelopment - check back soon. In the meantime you can follow their Instagram. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
January 6 · 1 hr 8 min
Soho Bites 48: Mona Lisa (1986)
After two years in the wilderness, we return to your ears with episode 48 and a brilliant film - Mona Lisa (1986). Directed by Neil Jordan and written by David Leland, it’s a noir thriller with a fantastical edge - or perhaps a fantasy cloaked in noir - about humans finding connection in a grim world. Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine and Robbie Coltrane all turn in beautiful performances and we catch a glimpse of the real Soho as it was before gentrification began. Soho based film producer, Colin Vaines, returns to the show to talk about Mona Lisa. Our guest for the thematically linked supporting feature© is Professor Oliver Carter of Birmingham City University. Oliver has been running a research project called Under the Counter looking at the history of the British pornography industry for several years and he shares some of the nuggets of his extensive research. Mona Lisa is available to stream on various platforms but if you’re a physical media person and if you prefer to not give money to Jeff Bezos when you can help it, you can buy it from Arrow Films. The famous scene in which Bob Hoskins walks around Soho is, perplexingly, accompanied by In Too Deep by Genesis. We try not to promote Xwitter these days so follow Colin on Facebook. Oliver has various links - his website, the Under the Counter website from where you can buy his book and the Under the Counter archive at the Bishopsgate Institute (slightly NSFW). Check out Mona Lisa’s then & now locations thanks to our friends at Reelstreets. Thank you to the Museum of Soho for allowing us to record in their gallery at All is Joy, 75 Dean Street, Soho. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Feb 1, 2024 · 1 hr 1 min
Soho Bites 47: Monsieur Ripois (1954)
Bienvenue dans le premier épisode de 2024. Monsieur Ripois (1954) was directed by René Clément and stars the French heart throb, Gérard Philipe along with the English beauties, Joan Greenwood, Natasha Parry & Valerie Hobson. It was based on the 1912 novel, Monsieur Ripois et la Némésis by Louis Hémon. The film was released under several other titles including “Lovers, Happy Lovers” & “Knave of Hearts” and was made in both English and French with the two versions being shot concurrently. We talk about Monsieur Ripois to the actor and director Jason Morell, whose mother was Joan Greenwood, one of the stars of the film. Listen out for some seventy year old hot gossip! Also on the French theme, we revisit an episode of Mural Morsels to hear about the notorious bohemian French poet, Paul Verlaine. This was an interview I did with another poet, Niall McDevitt, back in 2020 who has since sadly passed away. We’re using this interview with the blessing of his partner, Julie Goldsmith. Read this article by Jason Morell about dear old mum. Follow Jason on the Twitters. Here’s a little extract from the film. Of course our friends at Reelstreets have watched M. Ripois and you can look at some of the locations from the film HERE. Julie Goldsmith, the partner of the late Niall McDevitt, is a sculptor. You can see some of her work on Instagram and on her website. Niall’s obituary in The Irish Times. The 1995 Paul Verlaine biopic, Total Eclipse is worth watching if you can find it - although it’s quite difficult to track down. Here are a few options. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Dec 21, 2023 · 54 min
Soho Bites 46: Don't Open 'til Christmas (1984)
Ching ching etc - it's the Soho Bites Christmas special. Having just left behind the wholesome world of Jessie Matthews and 1930s musicals, it feels right to descend into the grubby underbelly of Soho with the festive fiasco, Don't Open 'til Christmas. The "plot" such as it is, is a basic one. A crazed serial killer is roaming the west end murdering men dressed as Santa Claus. If there's a worse Christmas film (not including anything by Hallmark) we'd be very interested to hear about them. Written, produced & directed by a rotating motley crew of exploitation regulars, the film apparently took two years to make which is possibly the most shocking thing about it. Our guest for this episode is the magnificent David McGillivray who has not only written about this film in the past but also knew many of the people involved. David's Wikipedia entry and his IMDB listing. Buy David's books, Doing Rude Things and Little Did You Know. Thanks to Danny Cox for the countdown of festive Santa murders. If you really want to see Don't Open 'til Christmas, you can find it on YouTube. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Dec 20, 2023 · 1 hr 9 min
Soho Bites 45: Friday the Thirteenth (1933)
Jessie part three. For this, the third and final instalment of our mini-series about the 1930s' biggest UK film star, Jessie Matthews, we met up with Dr Jennifer Voss of De Montford University to talk about Friday the Thirteenth (1933). NB: this is the Friday the Thirteenth from 1933, directed by Victor Saville with a large ensemble cast including Jessie as well as her husband, Sonnie Hale, Emlyn Williams (who also wrote the script), Gordon Harker, Edmund Gwenn, Eliot Makeham, Frank Lawton and the lovely Ursula Jeans plus many more. It is not the silly 1980s slasher film of the same name. Friday the Thirteenth consists of seven separate stories which all come together at the end when our many protagonists find themselves aboard a bus which is involved in a fatal accident. To talk about Jessie, her life & career we're joined again by Rob Baker, Jade Evans and Dr Lawrence Napper. For this episode we also meet David Drummond who knew Jessie for the last thirty years of her life and dated her daughter! For many years, David ran a shop in the West End selling theatre and film related memorabilia & ephemera. Sadly the shop is no longer there but you can still visit the Pleasures of Past Times website. Our thanks to Professor Sean Street who provided some of the archive audio in the programme. Watch this 1981 BBC documentary about Jessie Matthews. Jessie appeared on This is Your Life in 1961. Jessie's biographer, Michael Thornton wrote this appalling, salacious, muckraking and probably untrue article for the appalling, salacious, muckraking Daily Mail which I have pasted it into this Google Doc to deprive the Mail of your clicks. Rob Baker is on Twitter too and you can buy his books HERE. Article about Jessie by Rob on his Flashback website. Follow Jade on Twitter and/or Instagram to learn about her research in fact you can find all her links HERE. Buy Jessie's autobiography or read it for free online. Of course, Lawrence is on Twitter too and here's his At the Pictures blog. The passages from Jessie's autobiography were read by Jane Slavin whose official title is, apparently, "Queen of Loveliness". During the pandemic, we made an episode of Mural Morsels about Jessie Matthews. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Oct 24, 2023 · 1 hr 1 min
Soho Bites 44: Evergreen (1934)
Jessie part two. This is the second instalment of a three part mini-series about the 1930s' biggest UK film star, Jessie Matthews. Evergreen (1934) was based on Ever Green, CB Cochran's 1930 musical spectacular at the Adelphi Theatre. Jessie starred as Harriet Green in both the stage show and the film. We're joined by Dr Melanie Williams of The University of East Anglia to talk about the film and Rob Baker, Jade Evans and Dr Lawrence Napper return to the show to talk about Jessie's life. Evergreen is the story of two Harriet Greens, in which one Harriet finds fame and fortune by impersonating the other. Evergreen was third of five Jessie Matthews films directed by Victor Saville and co-starred Mr Jessie Matthews, Sonnie Hale. Barry Mackay plays the love interest, Tommy Thompson and Betty Balfour plays Maudie, continuing her successful transition from silent films to talkies. Watch this 1981 BBC documentary about Jessie Matthews. Jessie appeared on This is Your Life in 1961. Jessie's biographer, Michael Thornton wrote this appalling, salacious, muckraking and probably untrue article for the appalling, salacious, muckraking Daily Mail which I have pasted it into this Google Doc to deprive the Mail of your clicks. Melanie has a ton of film & TV writing out there including books on David Lean and A Taste of Honey. Follow her on the site formally known as Twitter. Rob Baker is on Twitter too and you can buy his books HERE. Article about Jessie by Rob on his Flashback website. Follow Jade on Twitter and/or Instagram to learn about her research in fact you can find all her links HERE. Buy Jessie's autobiography or read it for free online. Some nice old Front of House lobby cards. Of course, Lawrence is on Twitter too and here's his At the Pictures blog. The passages from Jessie's autobiography were read by Jane Slavin whose official title is, apparently, "Queen of Loveliness". During the pandemic, we made an episode of Mural Morsels about Jessie Matthews. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Sep 20, 2023 · 1 hr 3 min
Soho Bites 43: The Good Companions (1933)
The Big Jessie series. This is the first of a three part mini-series focusing on the 1930s' biggest UK film star, Jessie Matthews. None of Jessie's films were set in Soho, but the fact that she was born on Berwick Street where her dad was a market trader, that she lived in William & Mary Yard on Brewer Street and that she learned to dance in an upstairs room at The Blue Posts means that, as far as we're concerned, any film starring Jessie Matthews is a Soho film. Across the next three episodes we will talk about three different Jessie films and learn about her life through talking to several special guests. In this first episode, we talk to Rob Baker, Jade Evans and Dr Lawrence Napper about Jessie's early life and her rise to stardom and Lawrence hangs around to talk about Jessie's 1933 breakthrough film, The Good Companions. Also starring a very young John Gielgud, Edmund Gwenn and Mary Glynne, The Good Companions was directed by Victor Saville, produced by Michael Balcon and was based on a best selling 1929 novel of the same name by JB Priestley. And yes, I know that Michael Balcon link goes to a Wetherspoons named after him. Here's a more serious link. Watch this 1981 BBC documentary about Jessie Matthews. Jessie appeared on This is Your Life in 1961. Jessie's biographer, Michael Thornton wrote this appalling, salacious, muckraking and probably untrue article for the appalling, salacious, muckraking Daily Mail which I have pasted it into this Google Doc to deprive the Mail of your clicks. Rob Baker is on Twitter and you can buy his books HERE. Article about Jessie by Rob on his Flashback website. Follow Jade on Twitter and/or Instagram to learn about her research in fact you can find all her links HERE. Buy Jessie's autobiography or read it for free online. Of course, Lawrence is on Twitter too and here's his At the Pictures blog. In this episode, the passage from Jessie's autobiography was read by Jane Slavin whose official title is, apparently, "Queen of Loveliness". During the pandemic, we made an episode of Mural Morsels about Jessie Matthews. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Jul 15, 2023 · 46 min
Soho Bites 42: A Fallen Idol?
Not a normal episode. We're not actually talking about a Soho film in this episode. It's a long story... We do, however, talk to a genuine film star from the golden era. As an eight year old boy, Bobby Henrey was rocketed into the public eye when he starred in Carol Reed & Graham Greene's 1948 thriller, "The Fallen Idol". He joins us on Soho Bites (on his 84th birthday!) to tell us about that experience. Bobby is now known as Robert and there is a double reason for having him on the show. His mother, Madeleine Henrey, was a French author, based in London, who wrote several memoirs - social histories - about Soho and the west end. These included "A Village in Piccadilly" from 1942 and "Spring in a Soho Street" from 1962. Her books were often published under her married name, "Mrs Robert Henrey" which seems quite an odd decision to make, but Robert explains the reasoning behind this and talks about how this literary career began. Robert spent his early childhood living in Mayfair, specifically in Shepherd Market during the blitz. This period is documented in Mrs Robert Henrey's memoir, A Village in Piccadilly. In the final part of the show we preview our upcoming three part special seasn about Soho's very own fallen idol, the 1930s mega star, Jessie Matthews. An article about Robert. You can buy Robert's book, Through Grown Up Eyes, at Foyles. Some of the people who have helped me research this episode include Professor Debra Kelly of Westminster University, Celia Cotton of the Brentford High St Project, who put me in touch with Anne Wallace who is a distant relative of the Henreys and Roger Greaves, whose book, Reading Madeleine, is currently in production. Madeleine Henrey's Wikipedia entry and her obituary. Images of Shepherd Market from then & now. Our favourite tired old queen reviews The Fallen Idol. During the pandemic, we made an episode of Mural Morsels about Jessie Matthews. Custom artwork for this episode was created by Andy Oliver. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
May 26, 2023 · 51 min
Soho Bites 41: The Green Cockatoo (1937)
At last! It's the long awaited exotic birds episode. The Green Cockatoo (1937) is a noir-ish thriller set in gangland Soho. The Green Cockatoo of the title is not actually a beautiful tropical bird but a drab Soho nightclub. When Dave Connor gets on the wrong side of some gangsters, his brother, Jim and an innocent bystander, Eileen get caught up in the trouble. Directed by William Cameron Menzies, it stars John Mills, supported by Rene Ray (The Countess of Midleton! Yes really!) & Robert Newton. The film has a superb supporting cast and was based on a story by Graham Greene. Nigel Smith pays his first visit to Soho Bites to talk about the film. Follow Nigel on Twitter & check out his many projects HERE. Watch Nigel's Nerd Nites talk about Alfred Hitchcock HERE. At Soho Bites we regularly scour the internet looking for those lovely old lobby cards that cinemas would display in their... er... lobbies. We found some for The Green Cockatoo. In the first half of the show, the exotic bird we're talking about is an actual bird, not a night club - the Green Ringed Parakeet. London is home to tens of thousands of these green feathery friends and their population is growing. Nick Hunt became, for a few months, a "Gonzo Ornitholigist" investigating these birds and he joins us to tell us about his discoveries and explain what Gonzo Ornithology is. In collaboration with photographer, Tim Mitchell, he wrote a fantastic little book on the subject: "Parakeeting in London: An Adventure in Gonzo Ornithology". Buy your copy HERE. Follow Nick on Twitter and read about his other work on his website. Read all about Ring Necked Parakeets. You can watch The Green Cockatoo, in full, on YouTube. Interesting article about The Green Cockatoo. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has a new book out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho! Get your copy at Foyles. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Apr 28, 2023 · 49 min
Soho Bites 40: All Night Long (1962)
It's Jazz, man. Also, it's Shakespeare. All Night Long (1962) is a re-telling of Shakespeare's Othello in which Othello is Rex, the famous leader of a jazz band, Desdemona is a singer called Delia and Iago is the band's drummer, Johnny. The film was directed by Basil Dearden and stars Patrick Mcgoohan and Richard Attenborough plus several major jazz stars of the day, including Tubby Hayes, Charles Mingus, Johnny Dankworth and Dave Brubeck. Film & theatre composer, Gary Yershon, returns to Soho Bites to talk about the film. Watch a trailer for All Night Long And look at these (badly colourised) lobby cards Our other guest is a two time finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition, Saxophonist, Tom Smith. Tom has an intriguing connection to the late Ronnie Scott and we recorded both interviews at Ronnie's famous club. On the same day we recorded the interviews, Tom as performing at Ronnie Scott's that night with the band, Resolution 88. Here's some more of the Tom's music on Soundcloud and you can find more details about him on his website and of course, follow him on Twitter. During lockdown, Tom and his big band did that remote recording thing. Watch one of Tom's performances on BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year. We were first introduced to Tom through the late, legendary Barry Fantoni in an interview he did with our sister podcast, Mural Morsels, about Ronnie Scott. Gary isn't on social media but he does have a website and you can find all of his previous visits to our three podcasts on the links below. Soho Bites episode 22: A Touch of Class Mural Morsels episode 9: George Melly Kino Quickies episode 5: Say it With flowers Kino quickies episode 12: Scrooge And recently Gary did a series of on-stage Q&As with Mike Leigh at the Garden Cinema which you can find HERE. Follow Ronnie Scott's on Twitter and see what shows are coming up on their website. A few years after the release of All Night Long, John Dankworth (who appears in the film and his wife, Cleo Laine (who doesn't) must have caught the jazz Shakespeare bug because they released this album. If you want to keep up to date the efforts to bring the Kino Cinema back from the dead, follow Kino Quickies. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has a new book out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho! Get your copy at Foyles. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Mar 29, 2023 · 59 min
Soho Bites 39: Nighthawks (1978)
Thirty nine episodes in and we finally do a gay themed episode of the show. About time too! Nighthawks (1978) was directed by Ron Peck and was based on a script developed by him and Paul Hallam. It stars Ken Robertson as Jim, a geography teacher at a London comprehensive school who spends his nights looking for love in gay bars, clubs and discos (discos were still a thing then). To talk about Nighthawks we're joined by Prof Glyn Davis of St Andrews University. Turns out he's not as Welsh as you expect him to be! Watch Nighthawks on the BFI Player or buy the DVD which has a ton of bonus features. Ron Peck named the film after Edward Hopper's 1942 painting. Both, he said were about, "essentially lonely people, trying to come together, maybe succeeding for a while" Our other guest, author, Will Hampson, has been living with HIV for three years. His book, The Lost Boys of Soho, is an account the months following his diagnosis. Follow The Lost Boys of Soho on Instagram The director of Nighthawks, Ron Peck, died in November 2022. Here an obituary. Some of the filming locations in Nighthawks. Some 1978 press clippings about Nighthawks. Interesting experimental by Ron Peck & Paul Hallam - "Soho" Soho has it's very own sexual health clinic for LGBT people - 56 Dean Street. The Terence Higgins Trust is one of the oldest HIV charities. If you want to keep up to date the efforts to bring the Kino Cinema back from the dead, follow Kino Quickies. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has a new book out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho! Get your copy at Foyles. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Feb 27, 2023 · 53 min
Soho Bites 38: East of Piccadilly (1941)
Murder mystery? Rom-com? And, as an afterthought.... wartime boosterism? East of Piccadilly (1941) was known as "The Strangler" in the US and was directed by Harold Huth. It stars Judy Campbell & Sebastian Shaw and was written by the then quite young J Lee Thompson. It tells the story of a murder investigation and is (extremely) loosely based on a real life case, that of the "The Soho Strangler". 1940s UK film expert, Mel Byron, comes all the way in from Talking Picture TV Podcast HQ to talk about the film. It's her third visit to the podcast - she wasn't that keen on Street of Shadows and her second visit was for Soho Conspiracy which is possibly the worst film ever made. Apologies to Mel. Will she like this one more? The 1930s Soho Strangler case upon which the film is supposedly based, is largely forgotten now but not by our other guest, Michael J Buchanan Dunne. Mike is the creator of the Murder Mile podcast and at the time of publication has just released the third episode of a TEN PART series about the Soho Strangler. At the time if writing this, East of Piccadilly is simply NOT AVAILABLE to stream (legally) anywhere online. It does sometime crop up on certain streaming services - if you fill in THIS FORM you will be notified when it appears (can't guarantee it will be free though!) However, if you are based in London or are ever a visitor to our beautiful city, you can watch East of Piccadilly in the BFI Library. Grab yourself a terminal and ask one of the nice librarians for help. The reference number is N-626109. Did the director of East of Piccadilly, Harold Huth cast himself in a small uncredited role as a Spiv in Joe's cafe? You decide. The Spanish version of the film poster is ace! A 1938 article in the Chicago Tribune about the Soho Strangler case. Mel Byron is on Twitter and has a website. You can also follow Talking Pictures and the podcast on Twitter. Murder Mile Mike is on the Twitters too as his girlfriend. Catch up on the Murder Mile podcast HERE. If you want to keep up to date the efforts to bring the Kino Cinema back from the dead, follow Kino Quickies. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has a new book out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho! Get your copy at Foyles. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Feb 5, 2023 · 49 min
Soho Bites 37: Beat Girl (1960)
Attention jiving scum! This is one is straight from the fridge dad. It doesn't get more Soho than Beat Girl (1960) - coffee shops, beatniks, strip clubs, The 2 i's.... it's got the lot. Gillian Hills leads the cast of Beat Girl, which also stars Adam Faith, Christopher Lee, Shirley Ann Field and, in a very small role, a young Oliver Reed. We met novelist, Des Burkinshaw in the bar of the Soho Theatre to talk about Beat Girl which is the closest we could find to a bohemian coffee bar. Des is a huge fan of John Barry, who wrote the music for Beat Girl and he recently concluded a two year stint as the presenter of the Museum of Soho Show on Soho Radio. Beat Girl is available to stream on the website of our favourite TV channel, TPTV Encore. TPTV Encore is this 2016 BFI interview with the star of Beat Girl, Gillian Hills, about the making of the film. It's well worth a watch. Back in the day, Des actually met one of the stars of Beat Girl and grabbed this selfie. Gillian Hills released a four part podcast about her life in December 2021. Follow Gillian on Facebook. Our other guest for this episode is Paris based journalist Hanna Steinkopf-Frank. Paris is some distance from Soho - the connection is that Gillian Hills became a Yé-yé singer and Hannah came on to talk about this genre. What's Yé-yé? Find out in this article by Hannah. Follow Hannah on Twitter and check out her website. You can also follow Des on Twitter. There' s a LOT of music in this episode. Here's a track list: Eiko Shuri - Yé-Yé France Gall - Poupée de cire, poupée de son Françoise Hardy - Comment te dire adieu J Girls - Kiiro no sekai Brigitte Bardot - Moi Je Joue France Gall - Les Sucettes Gillian Hills - Tut Tut Tut Tut Gillian Hills - Zou Bisou Bisou Françoise Hardy - Tous les garçons et les filles Sylvie Vartan - La Plus Belle Pour Aller Danser Nancy Holloway - T'en va pas comme ça France Gall - Laisse tomber les filles John Barry Seven - Beat Girl Theme In one scene in Beat Girl, the youths all go off to a gig / party in Chislehurst Caves. Did you know about Chislehurst Caves? I didn't! The voice of the person recommending we do Beat Girl on Soho Bites was provided by Murder Mile Mike. If you want to keep up to date the efforts to bring the Kino Cinema back from the dead, follow Kino Quickies. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has a new book out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho! Get your copy at Foyles. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Aug 29, 2022 · 55 min
Soho Bites 36: The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973)
Everything changes but.... The changing faces of London neighbourhoods is our loose theme for this episode. In the first half, the novelist, Christopher Fowler makes his second appearance on the podcast, talking about his latest book and about his memories of Soho - a neighbourhood which changes constantly but somehow always remains the same. ***UPDATE*** Christopher very sadly died a few weeks after we recorded this conversation. You can read an obituary HERE. Read about Chris's most well known characters in The History of Bryant & May. This episode features a snatch of original music composed by Des Burkinshaw. It was written as the theme tune for proposed TV adaptation of the Bryant & May series. Listen to it on this page of Chris's website. Follow Des on Twitter. Our featured film is The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973) in which Peter Sellers, playing a faded former music hall star, befriends - or is befriended by - two local kids. It's a beautiful portrayal of an unlikely friendship and of an area that has massively changed in the intervening 50 years. Our film chat guest, Robert JE Simpson, rather likes it. Follow Robert on Twitter and check out his podcast Cinepunked. He is also engaged in some detailed research into Exclusive Films. Definitely definitely definitely try to watch the Optimists of Nine Elms. It's available to stream on the BFI Player. This clip will give you a flavour of it Here's a set of lovely old lobby cards of the film. Have a look at some of the locations from the film, then & now, on the every brilliant Reelstreets website. *** COMPETITION *** COMPETITION *** COMPETITION *** COMPETITION ** In episode 33 we discussed The Sandwich Man with the aforementioned Christopher Fowler. That episode has just been included as a bonus feature on a new 4K release of the film. To win a DVD, answer the question: Who was Dora Bryan frequently mistaken for by members of the public? Winners will be announced in the next episode. If you would like to support the show with a small financial contribution towards our running costs you can do that here. For every £1 donated, a kitten lives. If you are a business and would like to sponsor us, please get in touch and let's talk the talk. Please leave us a review or a star rating HERE. Between March & May 2022, we ran a series of screenings of 1930s quota quickie films at the Kino Cinema in Bermondsey. Each screening was followed by a Q&A with our resident quickie expert, Dr Lawrence Napper of Kings College London and a specially invited expert guest. We will be returning to the Kino in the autumn for season 2 but, in the meantime, you can hear season one of the Kino Quickies podcast at KinoQuickies.com. You can also follow us on Facebook. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has a new book coming out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho! Get your copy at Foyles. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Jul 25, 2022 · 57 min
Soho Bites 35: Zeta One (1969)
Two Films, One Guest. Normally we have two guests on each episode of Soho Bites, but when your guest is as good as David McGillivray, who needs a second? Long before Matthew Sweet gave him the moniker, "The Truffaut of Smut", David reviewed Zeta One (AKA The Love Factor - no idea why) for The Monthly Film Bulletin. He didn't have a lot of good things to say about it then - has his opinion changed over the last 51 years? He makes a return visit to Soho Bites to tell us. Produced by Tony Tenser, the film had a troubled shooting period and was shelved for two years upon completion. Although the main attraction was, presumably, the acres of naked flesh on display throughout the film, top billing nominally goes to James Robertson Justice as the chief baddy and his oily sidekick, Swyne, played by Charles Hawtrey. Any mention of Charles Hawtrey invites another reading of his Wikipedia entry which is always fun. But maybe watch the trailer first so you have some idea of what you're letting yourself in for. And here is an album of stills from the film. There are some outrageous Crimes Against Location in Zeta One - eg pretending Warwick Avenue is next to Greek Street and Berwick Street market leads to Camden. If you're a London geography geek just waiting be outraged, look at the film's locations on Reelstreets. In the first half of the programme , David talks about a film that promises to be a teeny-weeny bit better than Zeta One, although we won't get to find out until next year. The Wrong People is currently in pre-production and is David's own adaptation of Robin Maugham's 1967 novel of the same name. Set in Tangier in the early 60s, it's the uncomfortable story of Arnold, a closeted gay teacher who falls under the corrupting influence of Ewing Baird, a wealthy ex-pat with particular peccadillos. You could also follow him on Twitter. Here's an interesting short film about Dean's Bar in Tangier, the real life version of one of the book's fictional locations. And you can download the book in PDF format HERE. The author of The Wrong People, Robin Maugham, was an interesting character. If you would like to support the show with a small financial contribution towards our running costs you can do that here. For every £1 donated, a kitten lives. If you are a business and would like to sponsor us, please get in touch and let's talk the talk. Please leave us a review or a star rating HERE. Between March & May 2022, we ran a series of screenings of 1930s quota quickie films at the Kino Cinema in Bermondsey. Each screening was followed by a Q&A with our resident quickie expert, Dr Lawrence Napper of Kings College London and a specially invited expert guest. We will be returning to the Kino in the autumn for season 2 but, in the meantime, you can hear season one of the Kino Quickies podcast at KinoQuickies.com. You can also follow us on Facebook. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has a new book coming out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho! Get your copy at Foyles. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE
Jun 28, 2022 · 47 min
Soho Bites 34: It Happened in Soho (1948)
Double Stinker. After an extended break to allow our massive team to shift its attention to our most recent podcast series, Kino Quickies, we return to Soho Bites with the 1948 murder mystery, It Happened in Soho. It’s safe to say, the film had a very small budget and doesn’t have the highest of production values but it does boast a major star, Richard “Stinker” Murdoch. At the time the film was made, Murdoch was a big BBC radio star, having starred, at this stage, in two huge radio comedy hits - Band Waggon with Arthur Askey and Much Binding in the Marsh with Kenneth Horne. To talk about It Happened in Soho, we welcomed Paul Kerensa to the show. Paul is a stand up comedian and, most importantly for our purposes, is the creator of the epic British Broadcasting Century podcast - who better to talk to about a film starring one of early broadcasting’s biggest names. At the time of writing, It Happened in Soho is available to watch on TPTV Encore... ... and Band Waggon is on YouTube. Watch Richard Murdoch, in later life, talking about Much Binding in the Marsh. To begin the show, Mark Brisenden makes a return visit to Soho Bites talk about the London venue at which nearly all BBC radio comedies were recorded between 1946 and 1995 - The Paris Studios on Lower Regent St. Mark worked on Week Ending and The News Huddlines and was the creator of Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel - all of which were recorded at the Paris. During our conversation, Mark points out that the 1950 film, The 20 Questions Murder Mystery, was set at the Paris. You can watch that film at Archive.org. The pictures Mark brought from the last night of the Paris. Between March & May 2022, we ran a series of screenings of 1930s quota quickie films at the Kino Cinema in Bermondsey. Each screening was followed by a Q&A with our resident quickie expert, Dr Lawrence Napper of Kings College London and a specially invited expert guest. We will be returning to the Kino in the autumn for season 2 but, in the meantime, you can hear the Kino Quickies podcast at KinoQuickies.com. You can also follow us on Facebook. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has a new book coming out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho! Get your copy at Foyles. Thank you for listening. Follow us on Blue Sky (our Xwitter account is no more) We're now on YouTube Email us at sohobitespodcast@gmail.com We'd love it if you left us a lovely REVIEW. And if you'd like to help support the show we'd be very grateful. Check out our spin-off series Mural Morsels In fact, see all relevant links HERE