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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Reviews of the Carlton DVD

A DVD of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) was released by Carlton in May 2002. It is a Region 2 DVD (UK & Europe) and there is also a PAL VHS tape with similar contents.

As well as the film they include a 25 minute documentary with Jack Cardiff, Ian Christie & Stephen Fry talking about the film.

The DVD includes a stills gallery.

Look Livesey
Time Out, May 22, 2002
By: Geoff Andrew
With its glorious, immaculately graded Technicolor hues, the restored original of Powell and Pressburger's once controversial look at the virtues and vulnerabilities of traditional British militarism, 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp', is perfect material for DVD: here, Livesey's progression from young hothead to florid old duffer is manifest in his changing shades, just as Kerr's triple-role romantic interest remains forever fair in the eternal youth of memory. A truly British epic, then, whose poetry, content and context are discussed in a brief but decent documentary extra with the almost inevitable likes of Jack Cardiff, Kevin Macdonald, Ian Christie and (somewhat less inevitably) Stephen Fry. 'The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp' is released on DVD by Carlton Visual Entertainment, priced £15.99.

Video of the Week
The Observer, May 19, 2002
By: Philip French
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943, U, Carlton, VHS/ DVD, retail) Powell and Pressburger's sophisticated study of changing times and values is the outstanding movie of the Second World War and among the greatest ever made. Roger Livesey plays a dim, decent regular soldier (partly inspired by cartoonist David Low's eponymous military fogey) who recalls in flashback his career from the turn of the century to 1942 in terms of his relationship with a shrewd German friend and rival (Anton Walbrook in superb form). Deborah Kerr plays the three different women in Livesey's life. Astonishingly balanced and thoughtful for a wartime production, but Churchill tried to suppress it. The DVD is accompanied by a useful 25-minute documentary.

Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp
Loaded, July 2002
Carlton (VHS/DVD)
****
Brilliant 1943 epic which follows the exploits of Clive Candy (Roger Livesey), English military officer and very good egg. Guiding us through his career in flashback from the Boer War to the Blitz, it was savaged on release for being too kind to the Krauts. CC (Chas Chandler)

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