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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52 episodes
Updated July 1

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Mar 4, 2022 · 48 min
Soho Bites 33: The Sandwich Man (1966)
Special Sandwich Special. We’ve done some episodes in the past with some disparate and unusual themes. We did a Spain themed episode, a sport one, a God special and even a wrestling / boxing episode, but we think we’ve surpassed ourselves this time as the theme linking the two items in episode 33 is sandwiches. Sandwich boards, that is, and the men who wear them. There was a time when Sandwich men and women and other forms of portable adverts were a common sight in the west end but In August 2008, Westminster council implemented a ban on such advertising, consigning this minor social menace to history. The ban came too late though, to have any effect on the sandwich men we’re talking about in this episode. Our first sandwich man is NOT a fictional character - Stanley Green, otherwise known as Protein Man. Stanley campaigned against the consumption of excessive protein for about 25 years and became a familiar sight to people in the west end during that time. We meet Honorary Research Fellow at the Museum of London, Dr Cathy Ross, to hear about Stanley, his writings and his life. Learn about Stanley’s unusual views in his Protein Wisdom leaflet. Read an ARTICLE by Cathy Ross about Stanley. For more info: Stanley’s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography And here’s a four page extract of Stanley’s unpublished novel, Behind the Veil: More than Just a Tale. I have corrected some of the spelling and some of the more confusing errors, but have tried to leave Stanley’s idiosyncratic punctuation and writing style in tact. Our second sandwich man IS a fictional character - Horace Quilby is played by Michael Bentine in the 1966 comedy, The Sandwich Man. The film is noteworthy mostly for its extraordinary cast and for its numerous London locations which you can see HERE courtesy of Reelstreets. To talk about The Sandwich Man we were joined by the novelist, Christopher Fowler. ***UPDATE*** Christopher very sadly died a few weeks after we recorded this conversation. You can read an obituary HERE. Film makers often cheat when it comes to locations - eg a person turns a corner and re-appears three streets away. In The Sandwich Man, Horace Quilby is supposed to be walking around the west end, but according to THIS MAP of his route, constructed using the locations listed on ReelStreets, he covers an unfeasible number of miles in one day. We have another podcast coming out! Starting in March, a series of screenings and Q&As will take place at the Kino Cinema in Bermondsey which will be magically turned into a podcast a few days after each one. Follow the podcast at KinoQuickies.com, follow us on Twitter and we'd love to have you come to a screening. All you have to do is buy a ticket. 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
Jan 22, 2022 · 53 min
Soho Bites 32: Turn the Key Softly (1953)
Softly Shoe Shuffle. Murphy's Law states that if you've arranged an interview with a brilliant guest to talk about a fantastic film in a great location, then you will catch Covid and have to self-isolate. This is why my interview with Ming Ho about Turn the Key Softly (1953) took place online and not in the lovely surroundings of the BAFTA bar as originally planned. Turn the Key Softly is set over a period of twelve hours and follows three very different women on their first day of freedom after their release from Holloway Prison. Starring Yvonne Mitchell, Kathleen Harrison and a very young Joan Collins, it is directed by Jack Lee who also wrote the screenplay along with producer, Maurice Cowan and is based on the novel of the same name by Johh Brophy. Have a look at these lovely old lobby cards, produced to promote Turn the Key Softly. Have a look at some of the locations in Turn the Key Softly on Reelstreets You can follow Ming on Twitter. As the period of self isolation dragged on, a real in-person meeting was still impossible, so Dom met up with John Snelson online to hear about two forgotten musicals set on the streets and nightclubs of Soho. The Crooked Mile ran for 160 performances at the Cambridge Theatre in 1959-60 and Ace of Clubs also ran at the Cambridge, for 211 performances in 1950. The Crooked Mile consolidated the UK career of Millicent Martin. Here is some publicity material from the show. Ace of Clubs was written by Noel Coward, the MD was Mantovani and Graham Payn & Pat Kirkwood starred. Pat Kirkwood did not have an affair with the late Prince Philip. Nope. No way. Definitely not. Graham Payn was Noel Coward's long-term partner. Here's some publicity material from the show. The Crooked Mile was based on Peter Wildeblood's very much out of print novel, "West End People". I can't afford it so have put it on my list for Santa. 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
Dec 13, 2021 · 37 min
Soho Bites 31: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Sohohoho Bites Christmas special. In this festive special, we’re talking about the much loved Christmas classic, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) which, according to this article, is the greatest film ever made. In the first half of the show we meet up with Jonathan Foster. He works at the Prince Charles Cinema, just off Leicester Square and is the co-host of the Pod Charles Cinecast. The PCC is renowned for its special event screenings including its Muppet Christmas Carol Singalongs which are are wildly popular. In the second half we’re off to a festive get-together of podcasters to find out what they think about The Muppet Christmas Carol (spoiler – everybody loves it, obvs) Muppet Christmas Carol trailer Different versions of the film have been released over the years. Read about those differences in this article by Mark Harrison. This Wikipedia article about the history The Prince Charles Cinema is worth a read and you can check out the current PPC season and book tickets on its website. You can also follow the PCC on Twitter. A lot of people graced the Soho Bites microphone in the second half of the show talking about The Muppet Christmas Carol – many of whom (but not all) are connected to the Talking Pictures TV podcast. Click below for their info… Adam Dani Helena Kev Murder Mile Mike Shameful Steve Tracy Phil is not on Twitter 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
Nov 12, 2021 · 50 min
Soho Bites 30: Good-Time Girl (1948)
Kent Noir. Good-Time Girl is a post war UK film noir with three main locations – Lambeth, Soho and “Soho-On-Sea” (AKA Brighton). James Harrison of South West Silents & Film Noir UK joins Dom to talk about the film and about Film Noir UK. The star of Good-Time Girl is Jean Kent, known throughout the 1940s and beyond as UK film’s “bad girl”. To talk about Jean’s life and career, we drop in to the BFI to meet up with curator, Josephine Botting. For a few years before she became famous, Jean Kent worked as a Windmill girl. This scan is from the autobiography of Vivian Van Damm, the long term producer at the Windmill, who sacked Jean for being “immature” and “lacking personality”. He later realised he had made a mistake! Our guest, Jo Botting, met Jean Kent in 2011 for a special screening of Jean’s 1946 romantic drama Caravan. Here’s the photographic proof of that meeting…. In 2011, not long before she died, Jean’s 90th birthday was celebrated on local TV. In this clip from Good-Time Girl, Gwen meets Rosso for the first time – a meeting that ultimately has unfortunate consequences for Gwen. Good-Time Girl was based on a novel by Arthur La Bern called, “Night Darkens the Streets”. La Bern also wrote, “It Always Rains on Sunday” which was adapted for the screen and “Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square” upon which, Alfred Hitchcock’s “Frenzy” was based. Night Darkens the Streets is now out of print and the cheapest available copy online was £47 when last checked, so here’s a picture of the cover for free. Interesting article by Josephine Botting & Sarah Castagnetti about the co-writer of Good Time Girl, Muriel Box Good-Time Girl is available to view for free on the brilliant BFI Player Although not always in perfect quality, there are several Jean Kent films available on the Internet Archive including The Browning Version and Caravan. Find more HERE You can follow both Josephine Botting and the BFI on Twitter James Harrison is also on Twitter and so are South West Silents and Film Noir UK You can also find both organisations on the same website Have a look at some of the locations in Good-Time Girl, courtesy of our friends at Reelstreets. ***** UPDATE***** Since publishing the episode, Caroline Champion got in touch pointing out that Jean was in an episode of Steptoe & Son in 1970. She plays Daphne who finds herself at the centre of an unlikely love triangle. Thanks to the wonder of the internet, the whole episode is HERE. 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 25, 2021 · 49 min
Soho Bites 29: Absolute Beginners (1986)
Wham bam Bowie special. In this Bowie special, we talk to Del Pike about the much maligned Absolute Beginners (1986) - was the critical mauling justified? And Aiden McManus returns to the show to talk about Bowie's pre-fame years in Soho. Arriving on cinema screens on the back of an inordinate amount of pre-publicity in 1986, Absolute Beginners was, notoriously, an instantaneous disaster at the box office and was ripped to shreds by the critics. Thirty years later, freelance writer, Del Pike wrote an article entitled “Absolute Beginners at 30 – Was it Really So Bad?” so we had to get him on the show to talk about the film that ruined the studio that made it. Although not the star of Absolute Beginners, David Bowie provided the theme song and was a major feature of the pre-release publicity campaign. Twenty years before that, he was a struggling musician trying to make it big, and was deeply in involved in the Soho music scene. Aidan McManus returns to the podcast to talk about Bowie’s Soho years. Interesting article in the Guardian about the making of Absolute Beginners Read Del Pike’s 1986 article asking if Absolute Beginners was really so bad. Follow Aidan McManus on Twitter, book a scheduled or bespoke tour with him and listen to his radio show 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 24, 2021 · 52 min
Soho Bites 28: Value for Money (1955)
Early Dors. We look at two extraordinary lives in this episode. The film under discussion is Value for Money (1955) about a naive northern man played by John Gregson who becomes captivated by a glamorous West End showgirl played by Diana Dors. Hmm…. sounds familiar…. We meet Diana’s biographer, Anna Cale, to talk about the film and about the star’s tumultuous private life. Value for Money is on YouTube As is this two part biopic of Diana - Blonde Bombshell One of Diana’s early boyfriends was Michael Caborn-Waterfield, known colloquially as “Dandy Kim”. The name Kim was originally given to him by nuns at his prep school to distinguish him from another Michael, a Mike and a Mick. It was Diana who dubbed him “Dandy” because of his taste in clothes and it stuck. Dandy Kim was best known for being the founder of Ann Summers but he was infamous well before that. We talk to his biographer, Nigel Hamilton-Walker Read the obituary of Dandy Kim published on the website of his Alma Mater, Cranleigh School What on earth is Shoddy and Mungo? Don’t buy Anna Cale’s, “The Real Diana Dors” from Amazon – Jeff Bezoz definitely doesn’t need your money. Buy it directly from the publishers and get a discount while you’re at it. Read Nigel Hamilton-Walker’s biography of Dandy Kim on his Inkitt site Presumably for a limited time only, there appears to be one copy of Kim’s late 60s pioneering sex manual, Variations on a Sexual Theme available to buy on Ebay. Don’t be fooled by the author’s name – he wrote it under a pseudonym to avoid publicity from the tabs. Snap it up while you can! Fine Anna Cale HERE Have a look at the the & now locations of Value for Money courtesy of our friends at Reelstreets 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 10, 2021 · 55 min
Soho Bites 27: Saturday Night Revue (1937)
Yesteryear's Soho club-land. Dr Lawrence Napper of Kings College London met up with Dom to discuss 1937’s Saturday Night Revue. Starring Sally Gray and Billy Milton, it’s a role call of some long forgotten cabaret & variety acts of the day. That doesn’t sound promising but it’s great! Short clip from Saturday Night Revue. Not sure why they chose this bit to promote the film... The plot revolves around two night clubs, both called “Moons”. One is in Soho and the other is in Mayfair and is based on the Cafe de Paris. In the first half of the show, author Rob Baker returns to the show to tell us about the terrible night during World War 2 that the Cafe de Paris was bombed. A very popular performer at the Cafe de Paris was Ken “Snakehips” Johnson and he has an uncredited cameo in Saturday Night Revue. Ken gave this interview to the BBC in 1940. The unexpected star of Saturday Night Revue is not even an actor – he’s a BBC producer and presenter called John Watt who plays himself. His wife wrote a biography of him which was published in 1964 and it contains this picture. One of the characters in Saturday Night Revue is a sound engineer at the BBC at “Radio House” (yes I know it’s called Broadcasting House – for some reason they call it Radio House in the film). There are references in the film to broadcasts of nightingales and this were a real thing. Read an article about them HERE. We have another returnee to the show – Richard Luck of the New World pops in to enthuse about his home town. Dr Lawrence Napper, this episode’s film expert, is a lecturer on Film Studies at Kings College London. Check out his details and published works on the KCL website and follow Lawrence on Twitter. Visit Rob Baker’s websites: Another Nickel in the Machine & FlashBak, check out his fascinating Pinterest site and follow him on Twitter. You can also buy his books directly from the publisher. Follow Richard Luck on Twitter, checkout out his contributions to The New World and listen to his previous appearance on the Soho Bites. 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 11, 2021 · 42 min
Soho Bites 26: Too Hot to Handle (1960)
Lobotomy Room special. For the first part of episode 26, we headed out to Fontaines bar in Dalston (Stoke Newington if you’re an estate agent, Dalston if you’re “street”) to catch a screening of the kitsch, sexploitation B movie from 1960, Too Hot to Handle. The film was one of two that its star, Jayne Mansfield, made in the UK that year. Jayne plays Midnight Franklin an exotic dancer at the The Pink Flamingo club in Soho and Leo Genn plays her love interest, Johnny Solo (there’s only a 28 year age difference so that’s fine then). Christopher Lee plays the club’s sinister manager, Novak, and Austrian actor Karlheinz Böhm plays a French reporter writing a feature on Soho nightlife. Chirpy, cockney national treasure, Barbara Windsor turns up in the film as chirpy, American(!) exotic dancer, Ponytail. The screening was put on as part of “Lobotomy Room” – a regular film night at Fontaines run by Graham Russell. Too Hot to Handle was made in Eastman Colour but the only prints in circulation (that haven’t been dubbed into German) are in black & white. Here’s a taster of the colour version. Here's some (unfortunately lo-res) lobby cards. We spoke to Graham briefly after the screening but met up with him in the glorious Soho sunshine a couple of days later to discuss his love of Too Hot to Handle and its star, Jayne Mansfield. Because you probably missed the screening at the Lobotomy Room, here’s the full film in all its black & white glory. Find out more about the Lobotomy Room HERE Or follow Graham on Twitter for news of upcoming screenings at the Lobotomy Room and check out his sleazy, trashy Blog. Read an interview with Graham HERE And if you’d care to venture to Dalston / Stoke Newington, have a cocktail at Fontaines. Most scenes in Too Hot to Handle, even the Soho street scenes, is shot in a studio. Have a look at the few genuine locations on Reelstreets. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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 21, 2021 · 49 min
Soho Bites 25: The Golden Disc (1958)
Just for the record. The theme of episode 25 is record shops. Soho was, for a long time (and arguably still is?) THE place to go to buy records of all genres with dozens of shops packed closely together. In the first half of the show, Dom talks to Garth Cartwright, the author of two books about record shops, about the history of the Soho record shop scene. Kenny Lynch in Soho, including his shop, The Kenny Lynch Record Centre on Walker’s Court In the second half of the show. Ken Hollings talks about the 1958 B Movie, The Golden Disc – known in the US as The In Between Age. Starring Lee Patterson as Harry, Mary Steele as Joan and Terry Dene as Terry Dene, it’s a tale of Exceptional Success as our heroes take a failing greasy spoon cafe and turn it first into a groovy coffee bar, then a record shop and finally a record label. We couldn’t find a trailer for The Golden Disc but here’s a short extract from the film. And here's a set of original Golden Disc lobby cards. Here’s a short biography of Terry Dene and he has a YouTube channel! Renown Films (otherwise knows as the great Talking Pictures TV) have a CD for sale of Terry’s music. You can buy your copy HERE You can buy Garth Cartwright’s books on record shops HERE, check out his website and follow him on Twitter. There’s a great website called The British Record Shop Archive on which you can read about some of the shops and characters mentioned by Garth including Alex Strickland, Harlequin Records, Dobells and Collets. And have a look at this map of Soho record shops. Ken Hollings has a blog and of course he was on Twitter but no longer. Read Ken’s essay on the The Golden Disc and the concept of Exceptional Success. Discover some of the locations in The Golden Disc (apart from the scenes shot in Walton Studios) on Reelstreets. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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 3, 2021 · 50 min
Soho Bites 24: Something in the City (1950)
Art Attack. The theme of Episode 24 is painting and painters, of which Soho has seen many. In the first half of the programme, David Boyd Haycock joins Dom in the Leicester Arms on Glasshouse Street to talk about the so called “King of Bohemia”, the artist, Augustus John. John was described by one of his tutors as the greatest draftsman since Michelangelo – high praise indeed! Lovely photograph of Augustus John in 1929 with Tallulah Bankhead and his painting of her. Short film about Augustus John from the Pathe “Picture Personalities” series. In the second half of the show, writer and broadcaster, Mark Brisenden, talks about the 1950 comedy, Something in the City starring Richard Hearne. Richard Hearne was incredibly famous in his day, mostly for his “Mr Pastry” character who was a staple of kids radio and TV throughout the 40s and 50s. Click HERE to see a set of lobby cards produced to promote Something in the City. Richard Hearne in another short film from Pathe Follow David Boyd Haycock’s BLOG and check out his publications. You can follow Mark Brisenden on Twitter, buy all three series of Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel on CD and download his recent book, Cybil Liberty: Radio Detective inspired by the Golden Age of American Radio. It was whilst having a conversation with Phil from Reelstreets, that I first heard about the Something in the City and its particular Soho connection. Have a look at the locations from the film on the ReelStreets website. A key location in the film is a cafe which is now, in real life, The Toucan on Carlisle St. The pub features as a location in another, more recent and, some might say, more famous Soho film. Buy the Mr Pastry Collection DVD box set, which includes Something in the City from Renown Pictures. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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 12, 2021 · 48 min
Soho Bites 23: The Boys (1962)
Youthful rebellion. Episode 23 is all about generational conflict – specifically, older people disapproving of “kids today”. In the film chat, Dom talks to members of the South Bank Talkies movie discussion group about The Boys (1962), a courtroom drama in which four young men are on trial for murder. Starring Dudley Sutton, Jess Conrad, Tony Garnett and Ronald Lacey as the boys, they also have to contend with the prejudice of the court & witnesses against “teddy boys”. The film has a great ensemble cast including Richard Todd and Robert Morley as the barristers and Roy Kinnear, Wilfred Bramble, Carol White and David Lodge. Erratum! In the episode, I mistakenly call Tony Garnett, Tony Garrett and refer to the character called Webster as Webb. Apols. The Shadows provided the music for The Boys and released this EP. Watch the whole film HERE An example from The Boys of a the same incident viewed from different perspective Have a look at this Tweet by one of the stars of the film about the passing of another We also met up with Shanne Bradley, founder member of punk band, The Nipple Erectors (later abbreviated to The Nips) to hear about her time on the punk scene and how she views subsequent youth subcultures that have come along. In 2000, this restrospective compilation album of Nipple Erector and Nips songs was released: The Tits of Soho. Picture of Shanne Bradley and Shane MacGowan taking a sheep outside Buckingham Palace Read about the history of youth subcultures at the Museum of Youth Culture Peruse the filming locations of The Boys courtesy of our friends at ReelStreets In the discussion about The Boys, one of the participants mentioned the Lombroso theory of criminal behaviour. You can read about that HERE. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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 7, 2021 · 48 min
Soho Bites 22: A Touch of Class (1973)
Ola... ...and welcome to the The Soho Bites Spanish special. The film under discussion, the 1973 Rom-Com, A Touch of Class, is set partly in Spain (but also in Soho, of course, or it wouldn’t qualify to feature on the show) and stars Glenda Jackson and George Segal. In the 1970s, it was de rigueur for the writers of British sitcoms to set their big screen spin-offs in Spain. As 1000s of Brits travelled abroad for the first time, Spain was an exotic location that suddenly became within reach. A Touch of Class taps into that Spanish zeitgeist (whilst ignoring the fact that Spain was still in the grip of General Franco and was a fascist police state!) Oscar nominated composer, Gary Yershon joins us to discuss this multi-award winning hit film. A Touch of Class trailer Staying with the Spanish theme, we’re joined in the first half of the programme by Jan de Vries, manager of one of London’s quirkiest pubs, Bradley’s Spanish Bar on Hanway Street. As well as being one of the smallest pubs in London, it also has an interesting history and, like all pubs, has had a tough time during lockdown. Jan tells us all about it. John Cameron, who wrote the score for A Touch of Class, received an Oscar nomination for his efforts. You can hear some of the music from the film in this playlist Not only was Glenda Jackson an awesome actor, she was also a pretty awesome MP. Here she is in excoriating form…. During the making of this episode of Soho Bites, George Segal passed away. Here’s one of the many obituaries written about him. As Jan mentioned, there is a very interesting Twitter thread about Bradley’s Spanish Bar – you can find that HERE And you can also follow Bradley’s on Twitter and check out their website. This picture has pride of place in Bradley’s Spanish Bar. You can find Gary Yershon’s website HERE and listen to his appearance on our other podcast Mural Morsels, in which he spoke about George Melly. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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 4, 2021 · 49 min
Soho Bites 21: The Night Caller (1965)
Aliens in Soho. This is our (vegetarian friendly) Butcher’s episode and please don’t @ me about that apostrophe – it’s meant to be there because we’re talking about Butcher’s Film Services who were based in Soho for many years. In the first half of the show, Dr Laura Mayne of Hull University joins us to talk about this long departed fixture of Wardour Street. Here’s an interesting article from The Londonist by Zoe Craig about the history of Wardour Street as the centre of the UK film industry. In the second half of the programme we’re joined by Cevin Moore to talk about a 1965 SciFi/Noir/KitchenSink/PoliceProcedural called The Night Caller which was distributed by Butcher’s in their final few years Starring John Saxon as the handsome scientist turned de facto detective and boasting some great performances from, among others, Alfred Burke, Patricia Haines, Maurice Denham, Warren Mitchell, Marianne Stone and Aubrey Morris, it’s a low budget film that punches above its weight. The Night Caller – which was called “The Blood Beast From Outer Space” in the US, was made in black & white but, for some inexplicable reason,a colourised version was released in 2011. The Night Caller can be yours to own for ever as part of this DVD box set of vintage SciFi from Renown Films Discover the locations of some of the exterior scenes thanks to our friends at ReelStreets. The Night Caller was based on a novel by Frank Crisp called The Night Callers (must have been more of them in the book!) We love the cover…. And of course, at Soho Bites, we love Lobby Cards! Cevin Moore has (at least) two podcasts – check them both out. There’s the long running Film Guff and he can regularly be found on the House of Hammer podcast. Laura’s podcast, which she makes with Dr Adrian Smith (who has been on the show far too many times) is called Second Features and for info about her research interests, have a look at her her profile on the Hull University website. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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
Jan 25, 2021 · 46 min
Soho Bites 20: The Shakedown (1960)
None of it Augies well... For the first episode of 2021 we’re going back to 1960 for The Shakedown, a grimy tale of a pimp turned blackmailer, Augie Cortona played by the devilishly handsome Terence Morgan. We’re joined by Richard Luck of the New World to talk about this classic Soho noir which also stars Donald Pleasence, Harry H Corbett, Hazel Court and Bill Owen. Richard is very keen on the artwork for The Shakedown poster and there were several different versions made for various international territories. Click HERE for some lovely old posters and lobby cards. The film contains this music interlude provided by Sheila Buxton. The Song is also on this album. In this (possibly slightly spoilery) scene, Augie sets the trap for his first blackmail victim. In the first half of the programme, we are joined by Melanie Williams from the University of East Anglia to talk about the writer of The Shakedown, Leigh Vance who wrote several Soho films and was married to the first ever Bond girl. That’s Gayson. Eunice Gayson. Click HERE for one of Leigh Vance’s later films in its entirety – Crossplot (1969) – which Melanie Williams has a theory about…. If you want to buy The Shakedown on DVD, the cheapest option we’ve found is to buy this box set from our friends at Renown Films Although mostly shot in studios, there are a few outdoor locations in The Shakedown. Find out where they were shot, courtesy of our friends at ReelStreets. Richard Luck’s books on film and music are available HERE and the archive of his articles for the New World can be found HERE. Check out Melanie’s profile at the UEA website for information about her research and publications The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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
Nov 25, 2020 · 47 min
Soho Bites 19: Smashing Time (1967)
Carnaby St, Carnaby St... Welcome, cool cats, to the Swingin’ 60’s special episode. For our film chat, Dom spoke to Barry Fantoni about Smashing Time, the 1967 satire / farce about Brenda and Yvonne, two girls from oop north seeking fame and fortune in that there swingin’ London. *** UPDATE*** Since the recording, Barry Fantoni sadly passed away. I hope he made it to 5pm on that particular day because that was the time at which he sat on his balcony and enjoyed a G&T. RIP Baz. But according to our first guest, Jago Hazzard, they’re possibly three years too late. Jago joins Dom in a bleakly locked down Carnaby Street to find out how, when and why it briefly became the centre of the universe. You can watch the Smashing Time on YouTube Jago is a London historian who has an extremely popular YouTube channel with many thousands of subscribers. Become one of them HERE And you can follow him on Instagram Have a look at some of the Smashing Times locations, courtesy of our friends at ReelStreets I don’t think Barry Fantoni would mind me saying he’s been around the block a few times, especially when it has resulted in such a hugely diverse career. To get a taste of just one decade of that career, you could do worse than read his recent memoir about the 1960s, A Whole Scene Going On The writer of Smashing Time is George Melly. Barry wrote a book with him in 1980. Check out some of Barry’s artwork Read this very nice interview with him from Jewish Chronicle Did I mention he’s EJ Thribb (age 17½)? And watch the first episode of his 1966 TV show, A Whole Scene Going from 5th Jan, 1966. Actual proof that Soho Bites is fourth most bohemian podcast on the planet. Those disturbing details about the life of Arthur Mullard The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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
Nov 2, 2020 · 48 min
Soho Bites 18: Peeping Tom (1960)
Famously, Peeping Tom (1960) pretty much ended the career of its director, Michael Powell, thanks to the universally horrendous reviews it received on its release. Also famously, the film’s reputation was rehabilitated by, among others, Martin Scorsese who counts it amongst his favourite films of all time. In this episode, Dom is joined by film producer, Colin Vaines, to talk about this controversial masterpiece. Peeping Tom trailer And a small selection of lobby cards The Powell & Pressburger Pages is an excellent resource for all your P&P needs. Watch Peeping Tom now on the BFI Player. In the last episode, we talked to David McGillivray about the smutty smutster, Harrison Marks. This time, we’re talking to Stephen Fenerty about Pamela Green – not because she was Harrison Marks’s muse (which she was) but because she has a cameo in Peeping Tom. Harrison Marks’s, Naked as Nature Intended (1961) starring Pamela Green is said to be the first British “nudie” film and it has turned up on YouTube. See it below – it’s very mild stuff but in the opinion of the enormous Soho Bites Editorial Standards team, it is unsuitable for viewing at work. *UPDATE* Naked as Nature Intended has been removed from YouTube for violating its Community Guidelines but…. … you can see one of Pamela’s 8mm silent “loop” films, Xcitement!, on the BFI Player HERE. This is also ever-so-slightly NSFW. Follow our guests on Twitter: Stephen Fenerty and Colin Vaines As promised in the show, you can hear the unedited version of the conversation with Colin Vaines, including extra banging from Lewis Hamilton’s restaurant, HERE The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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 16, 2020 · 46 min
Soho Bites 17: Cover Girl Killer (1959)
It’s all about mucky magazines in this episode, although the publication at the centre of our featured film is very mild stuff compared to others that would come after. In Cover Girl Killer from 1959, a madman played by Harry H Corbett is bumping off the models who appear on the cover of the fictional, “Wow!” magazine. Theatre director, Luke Dixon joins us to talk about the film and the conversation takes place in the very spot in which at least one of the murders occurs. This is the second Harry H Corbett Soho film we’ve talked about on Soho Bites, the first was Rattle of a Simple Man in episode 5. There’s one more to go…. Cover Girl Killer trailer To kick off the show, Dom travelled out to Ealing to meet David McGillivray. Awarded the unofficial title,”The Truffaut of Smut” by Matthew Sweet, David literally wrote the book about the history of British sex films, Doing Rude Things, so Dom picked his brains about an early and prolific Soho smut-peddler, Harrison Marks. A couple of pictures of Harrison Marks - one where he's promoting Naked as Nature Intended in 1961 via the medium of one of his humorous faces and another towards the end of his life at home in Tottenham Listen to Luke Dixon’s recent appearance on Mural Morsels talking about Fanny Kelly and follow him on Instagram. Follow David McGillivray on Twitter and buy Doing Rude Things. Watch David and Julian Clary at the launch of his autobiography, Little Did You Know. Buy it HERE The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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 27, 2020 · 46 min
Soho Bites 16: Soho Conspiracy (1950)
The greatest bad film ever? This is our Fancey episode and no, that’s not a typo. Edwin J Fancey (or EJ) was a Soho based film producer and distributor who made a fortune by churning out cheaply made films and by not always operating within those pesky confines of the law. Fancey would have been forgotten, were it not for the efforts of Talking Pictures TV (who sometimes screen his films and even released a box set of his back catalogue) and those of Dr Adrian Smith from Sussex University who has researched and written about Fancey. He joins us in the first half of the show to talk about this forgotten Soho character. In the second half of the show, Dom is joined, in a socially distant manner of course, by all three presenters of the Talking Pictures TV podcast – Mel Byron, Scott Phipps and Daniel Reiffersheid – to discuss one of EJ Fancey’s films, Soho Conspiracy from 1950. It concerns the efforts of some people to raise some money…. to do a thing and… to have a… another thing, but the… some Italian people get excited…. er…. people in a restaurant….I have no idea what this terrible film is about. Not quite a trailer, more of a montage of random moments from Soho Conspiracy During the course of researching Soho Conspiracy, we discovered it was based on an Italian film called Mad About Opera. Not only based upon it though. It turns out that large portions of Mad About Opera are lifted wholesale and inserted into Soho Conspiracy. See the original, in it entirety, HERE (with English subtitles and a Russian voice over!) The “hilarious”, “Italian” waiters in Soho Conspiracy were played by tap dancing fraternal double-act, Syd & Max Harrison. You can watch them doing the day job that they arguably should have stuck to. Adrian Smith has a blog and regularly reviews films on Letterboxd. And today is as good a day as any to read his PhD thesis. The other projects of the Talking Pictures TV podcast team are many and varied: Mel Byron is a stand up comedian and Leadership Trainer. Find information about her on her website. Scott Phipps has, frankly, too many podcasts for one person. As well as TPTV he is part of The Reel Britannia podcast, Stinking Pause, and Rainbow Valley . Daniel Reifferscheid has two podcasts – brush up your Portugese for Prestes A Ver and if movie music is your thing, check out You Know the Score. The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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 21, 2020 · 44 min
Soho Bites 15: Tonight & Every Night (1945)
Windmill part 3 This is the third and final episode in a mini-series about films set at the Windmill Theatre. Adam Roche from the Secret History of Hollywood and Attaboy Clarence podcasts joins us to talk about Tonight and Every Night – a glitzy, Technicolor Rita Hayworth vehicle set at the Windmill. We have now done EVERY film made about the Windmill and that’s enough for any podcast. Listen to the episode to hear the official Soho Bites order of preference. We would have called it a chart but four doesn’t seem to be enough to constitute a chart. In this scene from the film, Rita Hayworth sings You Excite Me Marc Platt as Tommy, auditions for Mrs Tolliver at the The Music Box Theatre (ie Mrs Henderson at the Windmill Theatre) including a very strange dance to a speech by Adolph Hitler. The episode contains the last instalment of our conversation with Jill Millard Shapiro who was a Windmill girl in the late 50s & 60s. She talks about Keith Lester, choreographer at the Windmill and about the theatre’s final days. Former Windmill girl, Jill Millard Shapiro at the end of a very long, socially distancing microphone cable (it was at the height of the pandemic!) Pictures of Jill then and now. Jill’s book, Remembering Revudeville will set you back a few quid, but it’s fantastic record of the Windmill Theatre. Amazing video of girls auditioning for the first Revudeville company in 1932 The founder of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter 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 1, 2020 · 46 min
Soho Bites 14: Murder at the Windmill (1949)
Windmill part 2 As far as we know (and please do let us know if we have got this wrong) there have been four films made about the Windmill Theatre. Murder at the Windmill was the second of these and is the film under discussion in this, the second instalment of our three-part mini-series about “The Mill”. Dr Ellen Wright of De Montford University joined us to talk about this low budget comedy / musical / thriller from 1949. The other three Windmill films are Secrets of Windmill Girl (1966) which we talked about in episode four, Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) which was the subject of our last episode and Tonight & Every Night (1945) which is the film we’re talking about in the next episode. We will then have done ALL the Windmill films. Enough already! Murder at the Windmill is available to view on Archive.org, listed by it’s US name, Mystery at the Burlesque In this episode we have the second instalment of our conversation with Jill Millard Shapiro who was a Windmill girl in the late 50s & early 60s. She tells us about her time there, how she got her big break, some of the household names who kickstarted their careers on Great Windmill Street and about her Soho film-star boyfriend/not boyfriend. Former Windmill girl, Jill Millard Shapiro at the end of a very long, socially distancing microphone cable (it was at the height of the pandemic!) Pictures of Jill then and now. Dr Ellen Wright and her attractive assistant in an episode of the their cheese themed vlog – “Fun with Fromage” Like cheese? Like watching people talk about cheese? Subscribe to Fun with Fromage A 1949 article about Murder at the Windmill Jill’s book, Remembering Revudeville will set you back a few quid, but it’s fantastic record of the Windmill Theatre. The founder of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has launched a new research project. Find out all about it on the Cities in Cinema website and follow the project on Twitter. 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