The films of Powell and Pressburger turn up in the most unexpected places.
They can sometimes be seen or referenced in other works, like the dancer
in A Chorus Line who says that she started dancing after she saw
The Red Shoes.
The films themselves sometimes reference earlier works and are often
referenced by the films of their admirers (such as Martin Scorsese).
In this context a "reference" doesn't always just mean that something
is copied, it's often much more subtle than that. It's when the idea or the
feeling behind something is the same as in the earlier piece.
Then there are the occasions where a segment of one film is used in
another (usually in a documentary). When this happens we say that the
earlier film is "featured in" the later one.
And of course there are some spoofs, usually lovingly done, where a
film is gently mocked in a later work.
Finally, some of their earlier films were made in different language
versions (often with the same actors) for the different countries
in Europe. Films were often made in German, French and English with
some films also being made in Spanish (and one in Hungarian).
These are indicated as "alt. language version of"
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The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
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remake of
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The Thief of Bagdad (1924)
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remade as
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Il Ladro di Bagdad (1960)
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The Thief of Bagdad (1978) (TV)
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referenced in
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The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974)
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One from the Heart (1982)
Mentions "The All-Seeing Eye" as an homage
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Aladdin (1992)
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Next Friday (2000)
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Se, jie (2007)
Wang Jiazhi is looking at posters outside a film house in 1941 Shanghai. One of them is for ToB - Thanks Barbara
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featured in
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"In a Land of Plenty" (2001)
The children are taken to the cinema (where Kathleen Byron is the manager) to see ToB
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The Making of 'Aladdin': A Whole New World (1992) (TV)
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The Power of Nightmares (2004) (TV)
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spoofed in
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The Pink of Bagdad (1978)
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A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
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referenced in
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Heaven (1987)
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"The Simpsons" (1989)
"Bart Gets Hit by a Car"
(Season 2, episode 10)
Bart on Stairway to Heaven
"Homer's Triple Bypass"
(Season 4, episode 11)
also "Homer Simpson In - Kidney Trouble"
(Season 10, episode 8)
View through closing eye
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Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
Statues on the stairway (including statues of P&P) when Bill & Ted go to heaven with Death.
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Breaking the Waves (1996)
Looking through the glass panelled door into the operating theatre
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A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
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Pleasantville (1998)
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X-Men (2000)
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"Angels in America" (2003)
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featured in
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Heaven (1987)
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A Personal History of British Cinema by Stephen Frears (1994) (TV)
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The Making of an Englishman (1995) (TV)
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A Matter of Michael & Emeric (1997) (TV)
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Robinson in Space (1997)
Used the AMOLAD music by Allan Gray
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A Profile of 'The Red Shoes' (2000)
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A Profile of 'Black Narcissus' (2000)
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A Profile of 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' (2001)
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spoofed in
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Pulp "Help the Aged" video (1997)
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"Big Train" (1998)
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Black Narcissus (1947)
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referenced in
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The Age of Innocence (1993)
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Kundun (1997)
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Saving Private Ryan (1998)
At the end of the film when it begins to rain, the shot of the leaf as the rain picks up intensity is mirrored in Saving Private Ryan right before the soldiers enter the first French town after D-Day. Kathleen Byron also stars as Mrs. Ryan
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Pride and Prejudice (2005)
About half an hour through the director's commentary Joe Wright states his admiration for the shot in Black Narcissus where Kathleen Byron's red dress bursts into frame. Wright has a red uniform rise into shot.
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The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
The convent is on top of a hill in
the Himalayas and looks similar to the House Of Women. There is even
a scene of a bell being rung against a backdrop of hazy mountains.
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featured in
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Damned If You Don't (1987)
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A Personal History of British Cinema by Stephen Frears (1994) (TV)
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A Matter of Michael & Emeric (1997) (TV)
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A Profile of 'The Red Shoes' (2000)
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A Profile of 'Black Narcissus' (2000)
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A Profile of 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' (2001)
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spoofed in
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Legally Blonde (2001)
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The Red Shoes (1948)
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referenced in
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M (1951)
Poster for The Red Shoes seen in background outside a cinema
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An American in Paris (1951)
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Suspiria (1977)
Character Eddie Wayne quotes Lementov from TRS
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Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997)
The line "There will be no performance of the Red Shoes tonight" is spoken by Buzz (Jason Alexander)
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Time After Time (1979)
Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen) is talking to (unbeknownst to her) H. G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell) who has travelled back in time to 1979 and she asks if he's ever seen her favorite film which is The Red Shoes.
Thanks to Toni Carey for that one
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Raging Bull (1980)
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After Hours (1985)
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A Chorus Line (1985)
The dancer who says she started dancing because or TRS
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The Line, the Cross & the Curve (1993)
Kate Bush's version of the film, full of references
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The Age of Innocence (1993)
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Casino (1995)
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The Birdcage (1996)
The line "Miss Victoria Page will NOT dance tonight"
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The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
Both films open with a book being opened. Wes Anderson has stated this as a reference.
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A Dirty Shame (2004)
Caprice Stickles watches TRS, claiming her dancing is art
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featured in
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The Screen Writer (1950)
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That's Dancing! (1985)
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Unzipped (1995)
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The Making of an Englishman (1995) (TV)
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A Matter of Michael & Emeric (1997) (TV)
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A Profile of 'The Red Shoes' (2000)
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A Profile of 'Black Narcissus' (2000)
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Searching for Debra Winger (2002)
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"Spooks" (2002) (ep 3.5 "Love and Death")
Ruth is watching TRS on TV in her flat
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Le Divorce (2003)
TRS is seen on a TV
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spoofed in
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The Wearing of the Grin (1951)
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BBC TV series
"Dad's Army" (1968)
- ep: "The Lion Has Phones (1969) [3.3]"
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The local cinema is showing One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942)
and they mention Eric Portman and Googie Withers. There is a
poster for it on display. There is also a poster for next week's film,
The Edge of the World (1937) and of course the episode title
is almost certainly a reference to The Lion Has Wings (1939).
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BBC TV series
"Dad's Army" (1968)
- ep: "The Big Parade (1970) [4.1]"
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Nicky
reports:
Chanced upon an episode of Dad's Army ('The One with the Sheep') and
was amused to see that it began with the Pikes, Wilson, Mainwaring
and Jones at the cinema watching Spy in Black ('I don't believe in
Germans being in films; why couldn't they get a British actor?')
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BBC TV series
"Dad's Army" (1968)
- ep: "Put That Light Out (1970) [4.7]"
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Nicky
reports:
Has anyone come across another film/tv/literary reference to a QQ? Anyway, in the episode Put That Light Out which is mostly set in a light-house (I think you can work out the plot for yourselves!), Pike refers to 'The Phantom Light with Gordon Harker'
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BBC TV series
"Dad's Army" (1968)
- ep: "Time on My Hands (1972) [5.13]"
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Nicky
reports:
Picked up a batch of cheapie tapes recently and have another reference for
the site. In the episode Time on My Hands (The one with the German airman on
the church tower), Pike knows how to release a parachute because he's seen
it done in OOOAIM ! However we don't actually see a demonstration,
unsurprisingly.
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BBC TV series
"Dad's Army" (1968)
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Other episodes have included mentions of, or references to, P&P
films. We are sure that David Croft and/or Jimmy Perry must be fans.
Of course the cast includes John Laurie who appeared in 6 films
for Michael Powell (2 for P&P).
e.g. Episode Operation Kilt: The Home Guard is defending against an
exercise by the regular Army (Highland Regiment). The regulars try to trick
them by starting their attack 1 hour earlier than agreed.
c.f. Colonel Blimp
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Fox cartoon series
"The Simpsons" (1989)
- ep: "Bart Gets Hit by a Car (1991) [2.10]"
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Adriana reports:
There is another episode of the Simpson's where Bart is killed and rides an
escalator to heaven with the earth and oceans beneath. The voice of the late
beloved Phil Hartman says, "Please hold on to the handrail. Please do not spit
over the side." Of course, Bart spits into the ocean, and the escalator turns
into a slide and dumps him in hell. I always thought that was a AMOLAD
reference.
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Fox cartoon series
"The Simpsons" (1989)
- ep: "Homer's Triple Bypass (1992) [4.11]"
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Steve reports:
I was watching The Simpsons last night on channel 4.
They showed "Homer's Triple Bypass" and as the
anaesthetic takes effect when Homer has his bypass surgery they show the
view through Homer's closing eyelids. (c.f. AMOLAD)
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Fox cartoon series
"The Simpsons" (1989)
- ep: "Homer Simpson In - Kidney Trouble (1998) [10.8]"
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Alan reports:
The Simpsons on BBC2 tonight (featuring Homer trying to save his
father with a kidney transplant) featured an AMOLAD homage - Homer
comes around from the operation and we see this via a blinking eyelid
sequence. Episode also featured various classic movie stars (Peter
Lorre as his Casablanca character, someone who appeared to be Miss
Haversham, and some non-descript British Army officer with a tiger
obsession)
This was actually reported before the one about episode "Homer's Triple Bypass" but I've put them in the order of the episodes.
The characters on the boat are on a "lost souls" trip. Shame they weren't going up an escalator.
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BBC family saga
"In a Land of Plenty" (2001)
(Kathleen Byron appeared in some episodes)
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Episode 1 has the children of
the family being taken to the local cinema [Where Kathleen Byron is the cinema manager] for a treat. The treat was a
showing of Thief of Bagdad (1940) and a couple of shots actually
made it on screen (Carlton International were credited at the end for
allowing the shots to be shown).
What looked like the original poster was also prominently displayed in
the cinema.
This was reported by PaPAS Group member
Terry who added
"I'm pleased to say that the kids were transformed from a howling mob
into a hushed and appreciative audience.
Such is the power of TOB ..."
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ITV drama series
"Foyle's War" (2002)
- ep: "War Games"
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Paula reports:
Episode "War Games" (Season 2, episode 3)
The Home Guard have taken over some local property to engage in (surprise) war games, and the young commander of one of the units pulls a maneuver right out of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. He doesn't play by the rules (his men are not in proper uniform) and thus easily captures the Blimpish elderly Home Guard commander, to the very proper elderly gent's shock and dismay.
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Person
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Film or TV series
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Nature of reference
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Michael Powell
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New York, New York (1977)
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When Robert de Niro tries to book into a hotel, he uses the name of
Michael Powell. Michael Powell had long been an influence on director
Martin Scorsese.
See also
other references in Scorsese's films
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Daddy Nostalgie (1990)
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As the final song is heard "These Foolish Things" on the line
"a cigarette that bears a lipstick's traces" the screen slowly
fades to black and the words "À Michael Powell"
scolls up the screen.
(Michael Powell had worked with Tavernier and had
just recently died of cancer)
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I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)
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Finnish comedy/drama directed by Aki Kaurismäki, the film is
"Dedicated to the memory of Michael Powell".
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Orlando (1992)
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Sally Potter included a dedication to Michael Powell in her film
Orlando (1992). In an article she said she knew Powell and mentioned how
much he had encouraged her to become a film maker.
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Powell & Pressburger
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Boxcar Bertha (1972)
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Two characters are listed on the credits as
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Grahame Pratt
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Emeric Pressburger
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'Chicken' Holleman
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M. Powell
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but nobody has spotted the actors or characters in the film or
even if Grahame Pratt and 'Chicken' Holleman
exist or if Marty just put the names on the credits (as we suspect).
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Bloodfist VIII: Trained To Kill (1996)
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Two characters are credited as
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Warren Burton
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Michael Powell
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Donnie Hair
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Emeric Pressburger
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but nobody in the group has volunteered to sit through this gore-fest
to see what they get up to :)
See TV Guide for a review of the film and Roger Corman interview.
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"Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" (1996)
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In the episode "Sabrina, Nipping at Your Nose" (ep. #4.12, first
broadcast 17th December 1999) there are two elves called
"Powell" and "Pressburger".
Nobody knows why :)
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