Soho Bites 12: Das Phantom von Soho (1964)

04/30/20 • 42 min

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The lockdown continues, so our first interview for this episode – our German themed episode – took place over Skype. We met up (virtually) with Tony Shrimplin from the Museum of Soho. We discussed Soho’s most famous German resident and the only one (as far as I know) to have had an “ism” named after him.

Karl Marx’s blue plaque at 28 Dean St, Soho

The film chat took place before anybody had ever even heard of Covid-19 and we met up with Daniel Reifferscheid of the Talking Pictures TV Podcast in a pub! Do you remember those? We discussed the German Krimi film from 1964, Das Phanton von Soho which is a corker. Even if you don’t speak German you can probably guess what that title means! It’s set in Soho but we’re pretty sure not a single frame was shot outside of Germany....

Das Phantom Von Soho trailer - Can you identify whereabouts in Soho this was filmed?

As well as making the Talking Picture TV Podcast, Daniel Reifferscheid produces (at least) two more film related podcasts – Prestes a Ver and You Know The Score. At least one of them is Portuguese. See if you can figure out which one.

Das Phantom von Soho is from a genre known as Krimifilms. There’s a list of other examples of the genre on IMDB.

And if you can’t get enough of that groovy, sleazy kriminalfilm-musik, check out this playlist.

And the genre of Krimi films is built around the work of Edgar Wallace who led a very colourful life. You can read about him in this interesting article from the Guardian.

The founder 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.

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

Karl Marx’s blue plaque at 28 Dean St, Soho

Das Phantom Von Soho trailer - Can you identify whereabouts in Soho this was filmed?

Das Phantom von Soho is from a genre known as Krimifilms. There’s a list of other examples of the genre on IMDB.

And if you can’t get enough of that groovy, sleazy kriminalfilm-musik, check out this playlist.

And the genre of Krimi films is built around the work of Edgar Wallace who led a very colourful life. You can read about him in this interesting article from the Guardian.

The founder 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.

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

Previous Episode

Soho Bites 11: Where Has Poor Mickey Gone? (1964)

March 16th 2020 was just one of many extremely weird days in recent times. For us at Soho Bites, it was supposed to be the date of a long arranged interview with jazz singer, David Tughan before a gig he was playing at Ronnie Scotts. Earlier that afternoon, Boris Johnson advised clubs, bars and other public places to close. Although the interview and the gig did take place (sort of ), it wasn’t quite the evening we expected...

David Tughan performing at Ronnie Scotts.... on a different occasion.

The virus has affected all of us – some more than others – and it has caused havoc with our recording / release schedule. The second half of the show was originally planned for a later episode but, in the end, it worked out just fine. Dr Adrian Smith, lecturer in film at Sussex University, made a socially distanced return visit to the pod, down the line from his home, to talk about the almost forgotten, Where Has Poor Mickey Gone? from 1964. In a first for Soho Bites, we were also joined by one of the stars of the film.

*UPDATE* Since recording the episode, John Challis has passed away. He was fantastic in Where Has Poor Mickey Gone? and was a lovely guest to have on the show. RIP Boycie.

Where Has Poor Mickey Gone? starts with Ottilie Patterson singing the theme tune. To my shame, I’d never heard of her before but now I’m her biggest fan. Discover her yourself on Spotify.

David Tughan’s website is here and his YouTube Channel is here. You can also find him on Twitter and Facebook.

The other musicians performing with David were Renato D’Aiello, Nigel Price, Mirko Scarcia and Alfonso Al Vitale.

Ronnie Scott’s has published an interesting document about the history of the club which you can find here.

You can follow Dr Adrian Smith on Twitter here, read his blog here and check out his film reviews on Letterboxd here.

Watch Where Has Poor Mickey Gone? on the BFI Player here or buy the DVD from UK Rarities here.

You can follow John Challis’s Twitter account, which is now managed by his widow,

Next Episode

Soho Bites 13: Mrs Henderson Presents (2005)

Episode 13: Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) & Jill Millard Shapiro

This is the first of three episodes dedicated to films about the Windmill Theatre. For this first one, Dom met up with actor and Sohoite, Mike Warburton to discuss Mrs Henderson Presents. The film is directed by Stephen Frears and stars Dame Judi Dench in the title role along side Bob Hoskins as Vivian van Damm – the legendary producer at this legendary venue. An important piece of historical story-telling or nostalgic flim-flam? Or both?

Mrs Henderson Presents trailer

The Windmill’s most famous asset was its Windmill Girls, who danced, sang and occasionally posed motionless in the nude. To start the programme, we have the first part of a three-part interview with Jill Millard Shapiro, who was a Windmill Girl for four years.

Former Windmill girl, Jill Millard Shapiro at the end of a very long, socially distancing microphone cable.

Jill talks about the early days of the Windmill and how it ran from day-to-day, mounting six shows a day, six days a week, 52 weeks a year. And no, it was not striptease.

Fascinating short pathe film featuring some Windmill girls. Jill is the one wearing pink on the left.

Jill’s book, Remembering Revudeville will set you back a few quid, but it’s fantastic record of the Windmill Theatre.

Follow Mike Warburton on Twitter.

The founder 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.

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