Emeric Pressburger

Features rare archival material from the personal collections of Powell, Pressburger and Scorsese.Read More »

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger formed the greatest creative partnership in the history of British Cinema – The Archers.
Their films were often controversial: Churchill tried to suppress the release of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. Later, The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffman startled and enchanted cinema audiences with their use of colour, form and music. In the last ten years the magic, poetry and passion of their work has been acknowledged around the world and they are firmly in the pantheon of film masters.Read More »

In the fall of 1939, the German heavy cruiser (referred to as a pocket battleship) Graf Spee seems to have command of the Atlantic. In the first three months of World War II, she was responsible for sinking nine ships. The British sent three cruisers commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood to confront her. The battle took place on December 13, 1939 and the British came out on top. The Graf Spee headed for the neutral harbor of Montevideo, Uruguay. They were given only a short time to effect repairs and the British did their best to make them believe a British fleet of six or eight ships awaited them. Rather than chance the loss of his men, the German Captain ordered the Graf Spee scuttled.Read More »

Led by British officers, partisans on Crete plan to kidnap the island’s German commander and smuggle him to Cairo to embarrass the occupiers.Read More »

Quote:
A magnificent spectacle. A truly filmic version of a classic opera. Often mentioned as a favourite movie and constant inspiration for young Martin Scorsese.

With the audacity that Powell & Pressburger were famous for we are presented with a wonderful performance of a truly “composed” film. All the soundtrack was recorded by Sir Thomas Beecham and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and then the filming was all done on the open stage (it didn’t need a sound stage) at Shepperton.Read More »

Synopsis
After the lavish Technicolor spectacle of The Red Shoes, British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger retreated into the inward, shadowy recesses of this moody, crackling character study. Based on the acclaimed novel by Nigel Balchin, The Small Back Room details the professional and personal travails of troubled, alcoholic research scientist and military bomb-disposal expert Sammy Rice (David Farrar), who, while struggling with a complex relationship with secretary girlfriend Susan (Kathleen Byron), is hired by the government to advise on a dangerous new German weapon. Deftly mixing suspense and romance, The Small Back Room is an atmospheric, post–World War II gem.Read More »

Under the authoritarian rule of charismatic ballet impressario Boris Lermontov, his proteges realize the full promise of their talents, but at a price: utter devotion to their art and complete loyalty to Lermontov himself. Under his near-obsessive guidance, young ballerina Victoria Page is poised for superstardom, but earns Lermontov’s scorn when she falls in love with Julian Craster, composer of “The Red Shoes,” the ballet Lermontov is staging to showcase her talents. Vicky leaves the company and marries Craster, but still finds herself torn between Lermontov’s demands and those of her heart.Read More »

After opening a convent in the Himalayas, five nuns encounter conflict and tension – both with the natives and also within their own group – as they attempt to adapt to their remote, exotic surroundings.Read More »

Joan Webster is an ambitious and stubborn middle-class English woman determined to move forward since her childhood. She meets her father in a fancy restaurant to tell him that she will marry the wealthy middle-aged industrial Robert Bellinger in Kiloran island, in the Hebrides Islands, Scotland. She travels from Manchester to the island of Mull, where she stays trapped due to the windy weather. Whilst on the island, she meets Torquil McNeil and as the days go by they fall in love with each other.Read More »