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Name Ron Peck
Born 15 May, 1948. South London Background Even in his bookish. middle-class youth the now-sexagenarian Peck was determined to become a filmmaker. 'It was three strands that made cinema very vital and alive for me.‘ he says. citing as major inspiration the often socially-conscious oeuvre of Elia Kazan. Nicholas Ray and Ida Lupino (particularly The Bigamist). the street-wise New York of Paul Morrissey's films and Antonioni. He subsequently formed Four Corner Films with fellow film school graduates. Three years in the making. and co- authored with assistant director Paul Hallam, Nighthawks was the feature length debut in what Peck describes as ‘my all-too-thin filmography.‘ As the UK's first major gay movie it remains a seminal work.
On Nighthawks “It does seem a long time ago. finally. There were many years when I thought I’d never get past it. I think it still feels truthful, which was the essential purpose. and that‘s partly because the actors improvised using their own language. What interests me is how much identification non-gay audiences seem to find in it. as if the situation of the schoolteacher transcended a gay context.‘
On load Ken Robertson ‘He did a fantastic job for us. and was excellent playing Chaplin in a stage show he did immediately after Nighthawks. But Ken didn‘t have the chances he should have had as an actor. I don't know why.‘ (Geeks take note: according to imdbcom Robertson was a cast as Hrchek Kal Fas in the original black and white footage of the cantina scenes of Star Wars.)
What’s Peck up to now? ‘l‘ve shot a film called Cross Channel. a speCulative mystery about two East London brothers who take a ferry from England to France. Like Nighthawks it was largely improvised with non-professionals. I‘m currently editing.‘
Interesting fact Nighthawks camera operator Joanna Davis was in her seventh month of pregnancy during the shoot. ‘l've always loved the image of a large pregnant woman with an Arriflex strapped above the bump.‘ she says. 'being pushed in a wheelchair around the set of a gay club by a six—toot straight bloke.‘
(Donald Hutera)
I Nighthawks/Strip Jack Naked (BF/), out now on DVD and BIu-ray. See review next issue.
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