Last updated 08:59, Saturday, 29 November 2008

LESLIE ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson was supposedly Britain’s first black superstar.

Hutch (Obi Ugoala) in High Society's Favourite Gigolo

As the most successful cabaret artist of the 1920s, he was said to be the inspiration for Cole Porter’s Just A Gigolo and was, by all accounts, a bit of a lad.

Handsome, witty and known throughout naughty high society for the kind of attributes most likely to impress the ladies, he was a popular kind of chap.

According to this Channel 4 film, High Society’s Favourite Gigolo, his attributes impressed both ladies and gents across the ethnic divide, at a time when such behaviour (interracial relationships) scandalised the polite society indulging in it themselves – but secretly.

Fascinating stuff this, if only for the exploration of hypocrisy, promiscuity and Hutch’s links with the Royal Family.

His friendship with Countess Edwina Mountbatten in particular, made some pretty steamy headlines and allegedly led to some humiliating hospital visits.