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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Michael Powell
Birth	Sep 30, 1905 - Bekesbourne, Kent, England
Death	Feb 19, 1990 - Avening, Gloucestershire, England
Occupation	Director, Producer, Screenwriter
Years Active
Countries	UK
Genres	Drama , Comedy , Crime , Action , Adventure , Mystery , Fantasy , Spy Film , War Drama , Ballet/Dance , Heaven-Can-Wait Fantasies , Comedy Drama , Romantic Fantasy , Crime Thriller , Detective Film , Melodrama , Psychological Thriller , Biography [Feature] , Docudrama , Religious Drama , Combat Films , Film-Opera , Police , Musical Fantasy , Period Drama , Adventure Drama , Romantic Adventure
See Also	All-Music Guide Entry Add New Link

A one time studio gofer, stills photographer, and comic actor, Michael Powell became one of the most celebrated and controversial directors ever to come out of England. Born in Canterbury, Powell became enamored of films while still a teenager and, after a start in the mid 1920s and a stint as stills photographer and co-scenarist with Alfred Hitchcock in the early sound era, Powell broke into directing in low-budget British thrillers and comedies. In 1937, after directing and writing his first notable movie, The Edge of the World, he moved to London Films where he began his two-decade association with Emeric Pressburger, a gifted young author and screenwriter. Their partnership began shortly after they left London Films (where they collaborated on The Spy In Black, and Powell co-directed The Thief of Bagdad), with the wartime thrillers Contraband and 49th Parallel -- the latter attracted much attention around the world (including an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and an Academy Award for best original story), and resulted in the creation of The Archers, an independent production company through which they went on jointly to write, produce, and direct The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Canterbury Tale, I Know Where I'm Going, and Stairway To Heaven during World War II. These films, with their idiosynchratic humor and point of view alienated many British critics but delighted audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. After the war, Powell and Pressburger made a series of movies that emblazoned their names around the world: Black Narcissus, a story of nuns who are nearly destroyed by their own passions while trying to found a convent in the Himalayas; The Red Shoes, a phenomenally successful film about the life and death of a ballet dancer, whose multi-year run in America and multi-million dollar success made possible such pictures as An American In Paris; and The Tales of Hoffmann, an opera/ballet amalgam of unprecedented stylistic flare and daring. The early 1950s saw a decline in their fortunes, and the partnership dissolved in 1956. Powell continued to make movies of a fiercely personal nature until 1960, when the critical reaction to Peeping Tom -- now considered a classic, about a man who mixes voyeurism, cinema, and murder -- ended his career in England. He worked for American and European television during the 1960s and 1970s, and late in that decade was rediscovered with the help of Francis Coppola and Martin Scorsese, each of whom regarded Powell as one of the most important influences on his own work. Museum retrosepctives, restorations, and reopenings of his classic films followed, along with a multi-volume autobiography that he completed prior to his death. -- Bruce Eder

Production team: Emeric Pressburger (Screenwriter) , C.C. Stevens (Sound/Sound Designer) , George R. Busby (Producer) , Jerome Jackson (Producer) , Sydney Streeter (Production Manager) , Christopher G. Challis (Cinematographer) , Hein Heckroth (Production Designer) , Brian Easdale (Composer (Music Score) ) , Reginald Mills (Editor) , Arthur Lawson (Art Director) , Alfred Junge (Art Director) Actors: Esmond Knight , Robert Helpmann , Cyril Cusack , Henry Caine , John Longden , Hay Petrie , David Farrar , Anthony Quayle , John Laurie , Patrick Macnee , Leonid Massine

	1984	Anna Pavlova      aka A Woman for All Time [1983]      aka Pavlova: A Woman for All Time [1983]      aka Pavlova [1983]      aka The Divine Anna [1983]	Editor
	1978	Return to the Edge of the World	Producer / Actor [Starring] / Director
	1973	Isn't It Shocking? [TV]	Actor
	1972	The Boy Who Turned Yellow [doc]	Director
	1972	Boxcar Bertha	Actor
	1969	Bluebeard's Castle      aka Herzog Blaubarts Burg [1978]	Director
	1969	Age of Consent	Producer / Director
	1968	Sebastian      aka Mr. Sebastian	Producer
	1966	They're a Weird Mob	Producer / Director
	1960	Peeping Tom      aka Face of Fear      aka The Fotographer of Panic	Director / Actor / Producer
	1959	Luna de Miel      aka Honeymoon (U.S. title)	Director / Screenwriter / Producer
	1957	Pursuit of the Graf Spee      aka The Battle of the River Plate [1956]	Director / Producer / Screenwriter
	1957	Ill Met by Moonlight      aka Intelligence Service [1956]      aka Night Ambush (U.S. title)	Producer / Director / Screenwriter
	1956	Oh ... Rosalinda!      aka Fledermaus '55 [1955]	Producer / Screenwriter / Director
	1955	The Queen's Guards	Producer / Director
	1955	The Sorcerer's Apprentice	Director
	1952	The Wild Heart      aka Gone To Earth [1950]	Screenwriter / Director
	1951	The Tales of Hoffmann      aka Tales of Hoffmann (U.S. title)	Producer / Screenwriter / Director
	1950	The Elusive Pimpernel      aka The Fighting Pimpernel	Producer / Director / Screenwriter / Actor
	1950	Gone to Earth      aka Gypsy Blood      aka The Wild Heart	Director / Producer / Screenwriter
	1949	The Small Back Room      aka Hour of Glory	Actor / Director / Producer / Screenwriter
	1948	The Red Shoes	Director / Producer / Screenwriter
	1947	The End of the River	Producer
	1947	Black Narcissus	Director / Producer / Screenwriter
	1946	A Matter of Life and Death      aka Stairway to Heaven (U.S. title)	Producer / Director / Screenwriter
	1945	I Know Where I'm Going	Screenwriter / Producer / Director
	1944	A Canterbury Tale	Screenwriter / Director / Producer
	1944	Volunteer	Actor / Producer / Director / Screenwriter
	1943	The Silver Fleet	Producer
	1943	The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp      aka Colonel Blimp	Director / Producer / Screenwriter
	1941	49th Parallel      aka 49th Parallel	Director / Producer
	1941	Airman's Letter to his Mother	Cinematographer / Director
	1941	One of Our Aircraft Is Missing	Producer / Screenwriter / Director / Actor
	1940	The Lion Has Wings	Director
	1940	Contraband      aka Blackout	Director / Screenwriter
	1940	The Thief of Bagdad	Actor / Director
	1939	The Spy in Black      aka U-Boat 29	Director
	1937	The Edge of the World	Director / Actor / Screenwriter
	1936	The Man Behind the Mask	Director
	1936	The Brown Wallet	Director
	1936	Crown Vs Stevens	Director
	1935	The Price of a Song	Director / Producer
	1935	Some Day	Director
	1935	Her Last Affaire	Director
	1935	Lazybones	Director
	1935	The Phantom Light	Director
	1935	The Love Test	Director
	1934	Red Ensign      aka Strike!	Director
	1934	The Night of the Party	Director
	1934	The Girl in the Crowd	Director
	1934	Something Always Happens	Director
	1933	The Fire Raisers	Director / Screenwriter
	1933	Perfect Understanding	Screenwriter
	1932	Rasp	Director
	1932	Rynox	Screenwriter / Director
	1932	C.O.D.	Director
	1932	His Lordship	Director
	1932	Hotel Splendide	Actor / Director
	1932	Born Lucky	Director
	1932	Star Reporter	Cinematographer / Director
	1931	77 Park Lane	Screenwriter
	1931	Two Crowded Hours	Director
	1931	My Friend the King	Director
	1930	Caste	Screenwriter
	1930	The Compulsory Husband	Actor
	1929	Blackmail	Screenwriter
	1927	The Garden of Allah	Asst. Director
	1926	Mare Nostrum	Asst. Director
	1926	Magician	Asst. Director

Films Presented	The Edge of the World	1937	Venice Film Festival
Best Original Screenplay (nom)	One of Our Aircraft Is Missing	1942	Academy
Best Direction	49th Parallel	1942	New-York Film Critics Circle Award
Best Direction	The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp	1945	New-York Film Critics Circle Award
Best Film	The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp	1945	New-York Film Critics Circle Award
Best Direction	A Matter of Life and Death	1946	New-York Film Critics Circle Award
Best Film	A Matter of Life and Death	1946	New-York Film Critics Circle Award
Films Presented	The Thief of Bagdad	1946	Venice Film Festival
Best British Film	The Red Shoes	1948	British Academy Awards
Competing Film	The Red Shoes	1948	Venice Film Festival
Competing Film	The Elusive Pimpernel	1949	Venice Film Festival
Competing Film	The Wild Heart	1950	Venice Film Festival
Competing Film	The Tales of Hoffmann	1951	Berlin International Film Festival
Musical	The Tales of Hoffmann	1951	Berlin International Film Festival
Competing Film	The Tales of Hoffmann	1951	Cannes Film Festival
Special Prize for Originality of Lyrical Adaptation (win)	The Tales of Hoffmann	1951	Cannes Film Festival
Best British Film	Pursuit Of The Graf Spree	1956	British Academy Awards
Competing Film	Luna de Miel	1959	Cannes Film Festival
Fellowship Award (win)		1980	British Academy Awards

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