Soho Bites Podcast

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)

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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

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 [email protected]

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

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 [email protected]

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

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 [email protected]

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

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 [email protected]

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

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 [email protected]

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

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 [email protected]

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