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Celebrating the greatest cities in film. A new project on exploring the personal, political, social and cultural importance of cities in film. Launched in October 2019 by Jingan Young.
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A surpisingly large number of films have been set in Soho - that one square mile which has, for decades, been the beating heart of bohemian, cosmopolitan London. In each episode of Soho Bites, we talk to a special guest about a different Soho film and accompany it with a shorter, thematically linked item which may or may not be film related. Written, produced & presented by Dominic Delargy Based on an original idea by Dr Jingan Young https://twitter.com/BitesSoho https://sohobitespodcast.com ...
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Soho Bites 47: Monsieur Ripois (1954)
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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 title…
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Soho Bites 46: Don't Open 'til Christmas (1984)
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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 murderin…
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Soho Bites 45: Friday the Thirteenth (1933)
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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 …
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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 Uni…
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Soho Bites 43: The Good Companions (1933)
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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 ups…
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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 …
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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 i…
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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 jaz…
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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 (d…
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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 …
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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 no…
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Dora Bryan competition winners & Kino Quickies preview
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This is not really an episode I'm afraid - time just ran away from me. However, I've recorded this mini-episode because there is some very important business to finish up which is to announce two things.... The winners of last month's Dora Bryan competition Kino Quickies season 2 Two lucky lucky listeners were destined to win a copy of the new 4K D…
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Soho Bites 36: The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973)
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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. ***UP…
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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 thin…
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Soho Bites 34: It Happened in Soho (1948)
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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, Ric…
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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…
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Soho Bites 32: Turn the Key Softly (1953)
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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 o…
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Soho Bites 31: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
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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 Jonanathan Foster. He works at the Prince Charles Cinema, just off Leicester Square and is …
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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Soho Bites 27: Saturday Night Revue (1937)
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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 th…
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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 pla…
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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 sho…
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Soho Bites 24: Something in the City (1950)
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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 Miche…
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