The Masters  
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]

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What did they do in PnP films?


The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Working as 2nd unit cameraman, Jack filmed things like the animal heads on the wall of Clive's study. It was just after he'd neatly completed a particularly tricky set-up (the shadows of those various horns an antlers made it very difficult) that young Jack was approached by the great Michael Powell who said "Very interesting. How would you like to work on my next film?"

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
The first time he'd worked as DoP of a film. He was comfortable enough with the Technicolor but had never worked in B&W so filming the washed out Technicolor of "the other place" was quite a challenge.

Black Narcissus (1947)
Jack worked closely with designer Alfred Junge to create the illusion of the Himalayan nunnery in the back lot of a British studio. Jack won the Oscar for Best Cinematography.

The Red Shoes (1948)
Another masterpiece from the master of the Technicolor camera. The American Academy didn't want to risk the same person, and a Brit at that, winning the Oscar in two successive years so Jack wasn't even nominated.


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