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…
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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…
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…
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 It was not originally made as a film and is actually…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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 ,…
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…
