Soho Bites 39: Nighthawks (1978)

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 (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 has a ton of bonus features.

Ron Peck named the film after Edward Hopper's 1942 painting. Both, he said were about, "essentially lonely people, trying to come together, maybe succeeding for a while"

Our other guest, author, Will Hampson, has been living with HIV for three years. His book, The Lost Boys of Soho, is an account the months following his diagnosis.

Follow The Lost Boys of Soho on Instagram

The director of Nighthawks, Ron Peck, died in Novemeber 2022. Here an obituary.

Some of the filming locations in Nighthawks.

Some 1978 press clippings about Nighthawks.

Interesting experimental by Ron Peck & Paul Hallam - "Soho"

Soho has it's very own sexual health clinic for LGBT people - 56 Dean Street.

The Terence Higgins Trust is one of the oldest HIV charities.

If you want to keep up to date the efforts to bring the Kino Cinema back from the dead, follow Kino Quickies.

The originator of Soho Bites, Dr Jingan Young, has a new book out all about.... guess what? Films set in Soho! Get your copy at Foyles.

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