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 Greenwoo ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 fam ..read more

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 sever ..read more

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 ..read more

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 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 ..read more

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. Our other guest is a two time finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musici ..read more

Thirty nine episodes in and we finally do a gay themed episode of the show! Nighthawks (1978) was directed by Ron Peck and 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 hasa ton of bonus features. Our other guest, author, Will Hampson, has been living with HIV for three ..read more

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 ..read more