Soho Bites 33: The Sandwich Man (1966)

Special Sandwich Special.

We’ve done some episodes in the past with some disparate and unusual themes. We did a Spain themed episode, a sport one, a God special and even a wrestling / boxing episode, but we think we’ve surpassed ourselves this time as the theme linking the two items in episode 33 is sandwiches.

Sandwich boards, that is, and the men who wear them.

There was a time when Sandwich men and women and other forms of portable adverts were a common sight in the west end but In August 2008, Westminster council implemented a ban on such advertising, consigning this minor social menace to history.

The ban came too late though, to have any effect on the sandwich men we’re talking about in this episode.

Our first sandwich man is NOT a fictional character - Stanley Green, otherwise known as Protein Man. Stanley campaigned against the consumption of excessive protein for about 25 years and became a familiar sight to people in the west end during that time. We meet Honorary Research Fellow at the Museum of London, Dr Cathy Ross, to hear about Stanley, his writings and his life.

Learn about Stanley’s unusual views in his Protein Wisdom leaflet.

Read an ARTICLE by Cathy Ross about Stanley.

For more info: Stanley’s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

And here’s a four page extract of Stanley’s unpublished novel, Behind the Veil: More than Just a Tale. I have corrected some of the spelling and some of the more confusing errors, but have tried to leave Stanley’s idiosyncratic punctuation and writing style in tact.

Our second sandwich man IS a fictional character - Horace Quilby is played by Michael Bentine in the 1966 comedy, The Sandwich Man.

The film is noteworthy mostly for its extraordinary cast and for its numerous London locations which you can see HERE courtesy of Reelstreets.

To talk about The Sandwich Man we were joined by the novelist, Christopher Fowler.

You can follow Chris on Twitter and check out his blog.

Film makers often cheat when it comes to locations - eg a person turns a corner and re-appears three streets away. In The Sandwich Man, Horace Quilby is supposed to be walking around the west end, but according to THIS MAP of his route, constructed using the locations listed on ReelStreets, he covers an unfeasible number of miles in one day.

We have another podcast coming out! Starting in March, a series of screenings and Q&As will take place at the Kino Cinema in Bermondsey which will be magically turned into a podcast a few days after each one. Follow the podcast at KinoQuickies.com, follow us on Twitter and we'd love to have you come to a screening. All you have to do is buy a ticket.

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

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