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]

  Steve's Logo



Letter spotted by Columba Powell

An interesting letter


Dec 7th 1950
To: James Sandoe

... I haven't seen Sunset Boulevard, but I'm sure it's good in spite of The New Yorker. You should by all means catch The Bicycle Thieves, and if possible, an English picture called I Know Where I'm Going, shot largely on the west coast of Scotland - the coast that faces the Hebrides. I've never seen a picture which smelled of the wind and rain in quite this way nor one which so beautifully exploited the kind of scenery people actually live with, rather than the kind which is commercialized as a show place. The shots of Corryvreckan alone are enough to make your hair stand on end (Corryvreckan, in case you don't know, is a whirlpool which, in certain conditions of the tide, is formed between two of the islands of the Hebrides.) But you'd better forget about the Hitchcock film, because I have seen the final script made up from what I wrote, but a good deal changed & castrated. It is, in fact, so bad that I am debating whether to refuse screen credit.

Raymond Chandler

From his letters

In the end, Chandler took joint screen credit for the film, Strangers on a Train, with Czenzi Ormonde.


Back to index