The Powell & Pressburger Pages Dedicated to the work of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and all the other people, both actors and technicians who helped them make those wonderful films. A lot of the documents have been sent to me or have come from other web sites. The name of the web site is given where known. If I have unintentionally included an image or document that is copyrighted or that I shouldn't have done then please email me and I'll remove it. I make no money from this site, it's purely for the love of the films. [Any comments are by me (Steve Crook) and other members of the email list]

Reviews of Powell and Pressburger works

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Donations: Keep The Powell & Pressburger Pages alive and advertisement free:

The reviews have been divided into the following sections:

• The Masters - Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
• The Films - Listed by year then alphabetically
• The People - Actors, Actresses, crew
• Miscellaneous - Everything else

Some articles may deal with more than one person or film, where this happens we have tried to cross reference them.

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The Masters:

• Emeric Pressburger Master Storyteller
• Michael Powell the man himself

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The Films:
(Any reviews are liable to contain spoilers)

• Carmen (1926)
• The Magician (1926)
• Mare Nostrum (1926)
• Camels to Cannibal (1927)
• The Garden of Allah (1927)
• Morgane la sirène (1927)
• Riviera Revels (1927)
• Champagne (1928)
• The First Born (1928)
• A Knight in London (1928)
• Blackmail (1929)
• The Manxman (1929)
• Abschied (1930)
• Caste (1930)
• Der Weiße Teufel (1930) The White Devil
• The Compulsory Husband (1930)
• 77 Park Lane (1931)
• Emil und die detektive (1931)
• Ronny (1931)
• Two Crowded Hours (1931)
• Das Schöne Abenteuer (1932) The wonderful adventure
• C.O.D. (1932)
• Entre noche y dìa (1932) Between night and day
• Hotel Splendide (1932)
• His Lordship (1932)
• Born Lucky (1932)
• My Friend the King (1932)
• The Rasp (1932)
• Rynox (1932)
• The Star Reporter (1932)
• Perfect Understanding (1933)
• The Fire Raisers (1934)
• The Medium (1934)
• Red Ensign (1934)
• Something Always Happens (1934)
• Abdul the Damned (1935)
• The Girl in the Crowd (1935)
• Lazybones (1935)
• The Love Test (1935)
• The Night of the Party (1935)
• Oh, Daddy! (1935)
• The Phantom Light (1935)
• The Price of a Song (1935) aka Strike!
• Someday (1935)
• The Brown Wallet (1936)
• Crown v. Stevens (1936)
• Her Last Affaire (1936)
• The Man Behind the Mask (1936)
• The Edge of the World (1937)
• The Great Barrier (1937)
• The Challenge (1938)
• The Lion Has Wings (1939)
• The Spy in Black (1939) aka U-Boat 29
• Smith (1939)
• What Men Live by (1939)
• Contraband (1940) aka Blackout
• The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
• 49th Parallel (1941)
• An Airman's Letter to His Mother (1941)
• One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942)
• The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) aka Colonel Blimp
• The Silver Fleet (1943)
• Squadron Leader X (1943)
• The Volunteer (1943)
• A Canterbury Tale (1944)
• I Know Where I'm Going (1945)
• A Matter of Life and Death (1946) aka Stairway to Heaven
• Black Narcissus (1947)
• End of the River (1947)
• The Red Shoes (1948)
• The Small Back Room (1949) aka Hour of Glory
• Gone to Earth (1950)
  re-released (after some dodgy editing) as The Wild Heart (1952)
• The Elusive Pimpernel (1950)
• Aila, Pohjolan tytär (1951)
• The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)
• Twice Upon a Time (1953)
• Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955)
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1955)
• The Battle of the River Plate (1956) aka Pursuit of the Graf Spee
• Ill Met by Moonlight (1957) aka Night Ambush
• Miracle in Soho (1957)
• Luna de miel (1959) aka Honeymoon (1962)
• Peeping Tom (1960)
• The Queen's Guards (1961)
• Behold a Pale Horse (1964)
• Herzog Blaubarts Burg (1963) Bluebeard's Castle
• "Espionage" 1964 US TV Series
• "The Defenders" 1965 TV Series
• "The Nurses" 1965 US TV Series
• Operation Crossbow (1965)
• They're a Weird Mob (1966)
• Sebastian (1968)
• Age of Consent (1969)
• The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972)
• Que la fête commence... (1974) aka Let Joy Reign Supreme
• Return to the Edge of the World (1978)
• Pavlova - A Woman for all Time (1983)
• One Day in September (1999)

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Powell & Pressburger films score highly in list of Top British Films P&P films did very well in the recently published Time Out list of The 100 Best British Films The list was chosen by a panel of 150 film industry experts including film-makers, critics and other industry players. Powell & Pressburger got two films in the Top 10, another 3 in the Top 20, and another 1½ in the Top 30 (Peeping Tom at #29) That's the highest number of films for a single film-maker (or team) anywhere in the Top 100, and to get them all in the Top 30 is very good.

The People:

Note: I have only included the people that I have articles about.
There were many more people involved in the making of these films.

• Michael Powell the man himself
• Emeric Pressburger Master Storyteller

• Abraham Sofaer
• Alfred Junge
• Allan Gray
• Ann Ayars Antonia in ToH
• Anton Walbrook
• Bill Paton
• Bonar Colleano
• Brian Easdale
• Bruce Dargavel voice of Coppelius, Dapertutto & Dr Miracle in ToH
• Capt. Knight
• Chris Challis
• Conrad Veidt
• Cyril Cusack
• David Farrar
• David Low
• David Niven
• Deborah Kerr
• Dennis Price
• Dirk Bogarde
• Eddie Whaley Jr. Joseph Anthony in BN
• Emeric Pressburger Master Storyteller
• Eric Portman
• Erwin Hillier
• Esmond Knight
• Dame Flora Robson
• Freddie Young
• Frith Banbury
• Glynis Johns
• Godfrey Tearle
• Googie Withers
• Hein Heckroth
• Hugh Burden
• Ian Hunter
• Hugh Williams
• J. Arthur Rank
• Jack Cardiff
• James Mason
• Jean Simmons
• Jennifer Jones
• John Longden
• John Seaborne
• Judith Furse
• June Duprez
• Karlheinz Böhm
• Kathleen Byron
• Kim Hunter
• Lady Yule
• Laurence Olivier
• Laurence Payne
• Leo Marks
• Léonide Massine
• Leslie Banks
• Leslie Howard
• Ludmilla Tchérina
• Marius Goring
• Mary Morris
• Mary Webb
• Michael Goodliffe
• Michael Powell the man himself
• Mikis Theodorakis
• Miles Malleson
• Moira Shearer
• Myrtle Paton
• Norman Shelley Sir Robert in IKWIG
• Norris Smith The black motorcycle rider in Blimp
• Pamela Green
• Patrick Macnee
• Pete Murray
• Peter Ustinov
• Petula Clark
• Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Raymond Durgnat "A Mirror For England"
• Raymond Massey
• Reggie Mills
• Robert Helpmann
• Roger Livesey
• Roland Culver
• Sabu
• Scott Salwolke "The Films of Michael Powell & The Archers"
• Shirley Anne Field
• Thelma Schoonmaker
• Ursula Jeans
• Valerie Hobson
• W. Percy Day "Poppa" Day (also Peter Ellenshaw)
• Dame Wendy Hiller

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Miscellaneous:

• The Films Of Powell & Pressburger: A Retrospective 2013 blog by Oliver Lyttelton
• 1931 article about Michael Powell - the earliest article yet found
• In a Strange Land: the collaboration of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger by Charles Barr
• Written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
  Film Comment, March-April 1995 - articles on P&P, BoRP, ToH, ACT, IllMet
• Radio Times, December 1980 - Introducing a series of P&P films on BBC2 TV
• Michael Powell Interview by Tony Williams
  Films and Filming: Nov 1981
• British Film Music
• British movie theatres
• Sir Giles Loder, Bt (owner of Leonardslee)
• Technicolor Dreams: The Marvelous Age of I.B. Technicolor
• The Criterion Laserdiscs (about making TRS Laserdisc)
• The Lion Roars: Ken Russell on Film
• Three Neglected Films reappraised by Douglas McVay
  (ACT, BN & GTE)
• Introduction to The Archers
• The Archers - Powell and Pressburger
• The Amazing Archers
• BBC Archive
• HomeVision
• New Age
• Red Shoes American Cinematographer article
• Restored Classics
• Blockbuster CD-ROM
• Archers Deluxe by Chris Walters
• Britain projected by Paul Quinn
• Powell and Pressburger: The War Years
• Bertrand Tavernier on A Matter of Life and Death
• Review of first book on P&P in Spanish
• First Appearance on TV?
• Gilbert Adair on Michael Powell (with a few mentions of Emeric)
• England's Dreaming
• The Archers at work
• Peerless Powell By Nigel Andrews and Harlan Kennedy; Film Comment; May-Jun 1979
• Sharing peak times with Powell By Alastair Dunnett; The Scotsman; September 1, 1997
• Sheet Music from P&P films
• Awards and honours bestowed upon The Archers
• Talking Film: Powell and Pressburger Interviews with Micky, Emeric, David, Jack & Marius
• Behind the lens: How two icons of filmmaking fell in love Thelma & Micky

• Unfinished soup in P&P films.
• "No cliff goes unjumped"
• Transport section:
  Trains and Boats and Planes * in P&P films
  * With apologies to Hal David & Burt Bacharach
• The Naughty Bits - various risqué (for the time) scenes and references.
• Matte painting
• Arena: A Pretty British Affair 1981 BBC documentary

• Praising Powell and Pressburger
  A series of audio essays about P&P and their major films
  • 1. The Red Shoes by Deborah Bull
  • 2. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp by Prof. Ian Christie
  • 3. A Matter of Life and Death by the Rev Richard Coles
  • 4. Black Narcissus by film critic Peter Bradshaw
  • 5. I Know Where I'm Going by A.L Kennedy

• BFI ScreenOnline
  • Link to -> Michael Powell
  • Link to -> Emeric Pressburger
  • Link to -> Early Michael Powell
  • Link to -> Powell and Pressburger
  • Link to -> Powell and Pressburger: The War Years
  • Link to -> Powell and Landscape
  • Link to -> Classic Powell and Pressburger
  • Link to -> Late Powell and Pressburger

• Link to -> French P&P site by list member Thierry Bonnaud
• Link to -> British Movie site by list member Steve Debank
• Link to -> The British Pictures site by list member David Absalom
• Link to -> Powell & Pressburger page by list member Nick Page
• Link to -> The Red Shoes Fashion Finds Article by the "friend of the list" Gina Cooper
• Link to -> The Ladies of Gainborough (Info on lots of actresses)

• Link to -> Powell and Pressburger: Pilgrims' Progress (BFI)
• Link to -> Jack Cardiff (BFI)
• Link to -> "On Target" Looking back at the films of Powell and Pressburger
• Link to -> Archers' DVDs hit the mark (SF Examiner examines the DVDs)
• Link to -> Great directors - Powell & Pressburger (Senses of Cinema)
• Link to -> SpeakEasy - More than meets the eye
• Link to -> Spies in Black and White
  The Action/Suspense Movies of Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
• Link to -> The Archers Quartet by Michael Nelson
• Link to -> Interview with Bertrand Tavernier
  Guardian/NFT interview, Nov 2002. Mainly about Bertrand's film Laissez-Passer (Safe Conduct) but with many references to Michael Powell.
• Link to -> Article about P&P from Zagreb Filmski Centar
• Link to -> Powell and Pressburger, Color and Light by Robert A. Harris
• Link to -> Best British Directors: Michael Powell
• Link to -> Korda's Denham Studios
  2 part article
• Link to -> An enduring vision of a life worth dying for by Christopher Howse
• Link to -> DVD Outsider reviews by Camus of the Granada boxed set
• Link to -> Powell & Pressburger: English To the Core article about P&P by Jonathan Rosenbaum
• Link to -> Blog about The Archers and their films
• Link to -> The Music of Words: Storytelling in Two (½) Powell & Pressburger Films By Imogen Sara Smith; Bright Lights Film Journal
• Link to -> A River Runs Through It: Michael Powell By Richard Combs; FilmComment, the Film Society, Lincoln Center
• Link to -> The Music of Words: Storytelling in Two Powell & Pressburger Films (actually 3 Roger Livesey films) by Sara Smith

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Sources for the contemporary reviews include:

Monthly Film Bulletin (MFB)

Monthly Film Bulletin was a monthly mag for cineastes, containing reviews of all films, no articles or photos. Eventually evolved into what are now the review pages of Sight and Sound.

Kinematograph Weekly

A trade mag, aimed at cinema managers and filmmakers, hence the emphasis on being a Quota booking, and exploitation angles. Full of fab adverts, and hints on how to make your own tuppeny ice cream bricks from milk, cornflour and gelatin. Yum!

The Bioscope

A trade weekly, ran from 1908-1932. The comments like 'offering for uncritical audiences' or 'for good class houses' tell you everything you need to know about Britain in the early 30's.

Picturegoer

A fortnightly fan magazine. Articles about the films and the stars. Reviews of the latest releases.
In earlier editions, it seems to have been a weekly publication.

Picture Show

A weekly fan magazine. 2^d every Friday.

Film Pictorial

A weekly fan magazine. 2^d every Thursday.

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Main PaPAS page