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IMDbPro

Nighthawks

  • 1978
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 53m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
801
YOUR RATING
Nighthawks (1978)
Drama

A homosexual man is forced to hide his sexuality by day while living his secret life by night.A homosexual man is forced to hide his sexuality by day while living his secret life by night.A homosexual man is forced to hide his sexuality by day while living his secret life by night.

  • Director
    • Ron Peck
  • Writers
    • Ron Peck
    • Paul Hallam
  • Stars
    • Ken Robertson
    • Tony Westrope
    • Rachel Nicholas James
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    801
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ron Peck
    • Writers
      • Ron Peck
      • Paul Hallam
    • Stars
      • Ken Robertson
      • Tony Westrope
      • Rachel Nicholas James
    • 9User reviews
    • 11Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Photos19

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    Top cast50

    Edit
    Ken Robertson
    • Jim
    Tony Westrope
    • Mike
    Rachel Nicholas James
    • Judy
    Maureen Dolan
    • Pat
    Stuart Turton
    • Neal
    • (as Stuart Craig Turton)
    Clive Peters
    • Peter
    Robert Merrick
    • John
    Frank Dilbert
    • American
    Peter Radmall
    • Artist
    Ernest Brightmore
    • Headmaster
    John Angel
      Norman Bateson
      Phillip Beckett
      Derek Chandler
      John Cooper
      Hayden Corlett
        Alan Charles Ellaway
        Alex Hamilton
        • Director
          • Ron Peck
        • Writers
          • Ron Peck
          • Paul Hallam
        • All cast & crew
        • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

        User reviews9

        6.2801
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        Featured reviews

        5CinemaSerf

        Nighthawks

        The problem with this look at late 70's British gay lifestyle, is that it is a little too realistic to carry off with any sort of interest. Like most stories about people on the hunt for romance/sex etc., it is incredibly introspective. Ken Robertson is a really quite dull, full of himself "Jim" - a teacher by day who looks for love in gay pubs/clubs at night. He picks up an array of folks, sometimes he has sex, sometimes not.... same old, same old... (regardless of your sexuality). If it weren't for the fact that it was set just before the dawn of Mrs. Thatcher's Clause 28 Britain, which at the time of course, this Ron Peck story would not have been able to anticipate - it would constitute little more than a melodrama with some very dodgy music and lacklustre tales of one night stands... As a semi-anthropological study of a gay man in London it is vaguely interesting, but any claims it may make to take a deeper look at the sociological themes of the time, or of attitudes are just bridges too far. It does have quite a telling Q&A style discourse at the end that illustrates the stereotypical attitudes of teenage kids that could have been made much more of, had the film itself not focused so much on the rather dreary existence of the subject.
        10robertknight2003

        a film for now as much as forty years ago

        This extraordinary film was made in 1978 - almost forty years ago. The Sexual Offences Act in Britain had come into effect in 1967 decriminalizing sexual acts between two men in private at the age of 21.

        Clearly, seven years on from then, a huge liberation had occurred, but homosexuality was still hampered by amazing ignorance and intolerance in general British society. There was still the fear of being branded 'queer' or 'bent', and becoming bereft of a livelihood and an income, and viewed as repugnant by family and those around where you lived.

        This film cannot be valued enough. It's breathtaking in its lack of polemic. It's just about gay men getting on with their lives in their particular period. What's so interesting is that their sad search for love then is no different to the search now.
        5bkoganbing

        London by night

        Nighthawks is an interesting study of gay life in London and at the time it was made it was those heady 70s, post liberation and pre-AIDS. This kind of film was not made again so soon either here or across the pond where Nighthawks originated.

        This is a study of Kenneth Robertson who is a young geography teacher at one of London's inner city schools by day and by night he's living the life of a gay man whose only venue is the bar scene. We see him picking up a lot of men, but it's only a series of one night stands. Neither Robertson or Diane Keaton is destined to find Mr. Goodbar to spend a life with.

        The climax of the film is when his students find out about him and confront him in class. He answers a lot of their questions, their most ignorant questions since these are kids who have not exactly been exposed to positive gay role models. Since then a lot of positive LGBT characters have been on the big screen, the small screen, and a ton of well known people in all walks of life have left the closet behind. And not for a hedonistic existence that Robertson enjoys.

        Many films like Nighthawks fall into a category like this. Stonewall has come, liberation has come, we'll get our rights, but let the good times roll. That's the attitude that dates Nighthawks now.

        Still it makes an interesting view of the times.
        kris-watson-752-699942

        Wrong credit for kris Watson.

        I know this is the wrong credit for kris Watson Cos I am Kris Watson and I can 100% tell you I wasn't in it.
        9fubar-2

        Painfully realistic

        This could almost be a documentary, it's depiction of the gay male lifestyle is so realistic. A brilliant film unlike any others in the genre. No fantasies here, just honesty (though obviously made before AIDS was an all-too common fear).

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        Related interests

        Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
        Drama

        Storyline

        Edit

        Did you know

        Edit
        • Trivia
          Widely considered the first "commercial" or "commercially released" gay feature film ever made in the U.K., where the story was directly about gay relationships and themes, but which was not about crime (blackmail or murder), or purely stereotypical.
        • Crazy credits
          This film was made possible by a number of individuals and organisations.
        • Connections
          Featured in Strip Jack Naked (1991)
        • Soundtracks
          So Long
          Lyrics by Stuart Turton (as Stuart Craig Turton)

          Sung by Pinky Steede

          Recording engineer Gwyn Mathias

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        FAQ14

        • How long is Nighthawks?Powered by Alexa

        Details

        Edit
        • Release date
          • November 1978 (United States)
        • Countries of origin
          • United Kingdom
          • West Germany
        • Language
          • English
        • Also known as
          • Cités de la nuit
        • Filming locations
          • London, England, UK
        • Production companies
          • Nashburgh
          • Four Corner Films
          • Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)
        • See more company credits at IMDbPro

        Tech specs

        Edit
        • Runtime
          • 1h 53m(113 min)
        • Sound mix
          • Mono
        • Aspect ratio
          • 1.37 : 1

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