The films of Powell and Pressburger
I had been meaning to jot down some thoughts on this thread for
the past few days. In the meantime it disappeared from my
server, so I have to start a new thread ...
Powell and Pressburger definitely rank among the best of British
filmmakers. The fact that Bob Morris of all people can merely
"give David Lean the edge" tells us as much :) Anyway, IMO Alfred
Hitchcock is the most famous British director, David Lean is the
most celebrated, and Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger make
their presence felt in the top ranks as the most imaginative.
Ask anyone to name a British motion picture director and chances
are they'll say Hitchcock. Lean, on the other hand, is less well
known than his films (especially Lawrence, Zhivago and Kwai) but he
has received the most nominations, Oscars and other accolades.
Powell and Pressburger managed one Oscar between them (Pressburger
for writing the original story for 49th Parallel) despite creating
a collection of finely crafted, beautiful films remarkable for
their inventiveness and scope. I am thinking here of such things
as the premise behind A Matter of Life and Death and its execution
on the screen, the passage and stillness of time in The Life and
Death of Colonel Blimp and A Canterbury Tale, the images themselves
in The Tales of Hoffmann and The Red Shoes, and so forth.
Bob Morris
wrote that "The Red
Shoes, while a great film, is not Lawrence of Arabia." If we have
to compare a Powell and Pressburger film against Lawrence, then I
think the better comparison might be between Blimp and Lawrence.
For one thing, this reveals at once that The Archers and Lean were
making different kinds of pictures. The Lawrence property had been
offered to Powell but The Archers never took it up; Lean of course
did such a magnificent job with it.
Patrick Kearney
wrote that he "was not too
impressed by the 'restoration' of the b&w sections [of A Matter of
Life and Death]. The grading seemed slipshod to me, with variations
in contrast that I found distracting. The sound was also uneven.
The colour sequences, however, were wonderful." A Matter of Life
and Death was filmed in a combination of Technicolor and
Dye-Monochrome. The Dye-Monochrome segments had a different look
than black and white (more pastel and "pearly") even in first
release. I didn't notice the marked problems in contrast during
these segments that you noted. Was it that the contrast varied
from scene to scene or that it varied across the screen image at
any given time? I must admit here though that I once saw AMOLAD
projected from a worn 16mm IBTech print (each splice was
accompanied by a loud boom) which might cloud my judgement somewhat
on the restored version. By the way, does anyone know off hand
whether Dye-Monochrome was used on any other film?
Were The Archers insiders or outsiders? I agree with
Gene Stavis
on this one. Powell and Pressburger were
operating from within the industry for a good part of their
careers. They were independents on the inside with a knack for
producing finished films that went against the expectations of the
executives and distributors.
Alan Head
asked about Kathleen Byron's
relationship with Michael Powell, the popularity of Powell and
Pressburger across the pond, and some other neat stuff. If you
enjoyed Ian Christie's Arrows of Desire, I would really recommend
Powell's two volumes of autobiography (A Life in Movies and
Million-Dollar Movie). He mentions that Kathleen Byron once
pulled a loaded gun on him ....
[Powell claimed that she was naked at the time.
Kathleen strenuously denies this, saying "If I'd wanted to shoot him
I certainly wouldn't have taken my clothes off first."]
The Archers have a dedicated
albeit dispersed viewership in North America -- "cult following" is
probably the right term; as much was reflected by the audiences for
the Champagne Piper-Hiedsieck Classic Film Collection that made the
rounds here recently. Most popular in Toronto were The Red Shoes,
AMOLAD, Blimp and Peeping Tom. Martin Scorsese's work to
"popularize" Powell and Pressburger has helped a great deal.
Helen Elsom
wrote "IMO The Thief of Bagdad
is an honorary P&P film. I have a very soft spot for their first
ever effort, The Spy in Black". Just watched The Spy in Black
again last month with a friend who had never seen it. You're right
it is easy to have a soft spot for this one -- witty, tense and
clever. I second your motion for The Thief of Bagdad.
As for getting hold of the films, now is probably a better time
than ever before. It is necessary to do some hopping though
between PAL and NTSC, video and laserdisc. I'll try to list some
of what's available below but I also wanted to say that the
National Film Theatre (London) screens many of Powell and
Pressburger's foremost films on a regular basis (something of a
perpetual release); and they are shown, though much more
sporadically, at the regional cinemas. They are also broadcast on
television every now and then.
Here's a rough list of what's on the market. Where I can remember,
I've tried to list a distributor in parentheses. I'd be interested
to hear in particular of any Australian releases of Powell's made
in Australia films (last time I was Melbourne-way there were no
signs; any news?)
-
(a) NTSC Laserdisc
- Black Narcissus (Criterion)
The Challenge (HBO Video)
49th Parallel (Criterion)
I Know Where I'm Going! (Criterion)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Criterion)
Peeping Tom (Criterion)
The Red Shoes (Criterion; also an out-of-print Paramount)
The Spy in Black (Image; out-of-print)
The Tales of Hoffmann (Criterion)
The Thief of Bagdad (Pioneer)
See the Voyager Company's web site for details about the
Criterion releases. All the Criterions have running commentary
and several have extensive supplemental sections. The Red
Shoes is one of the very best examples of a Technicolor
transfer to laser (The Macdonald/Eddy Sweethearts also comes to
mind as do RAH's restorations). See Voyager's web site which
also includes an essay on The Archers.
-
(b) PAL VHS
- The Battle of the River Plate (Cinema Club)
A Canterbury Tale (Connoisseur)
The Edge of the World (Connoisseur)
I Know Where I'm Going! (Connoisseur)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Pickwick)
... one of our aircraft is missing (?)
A Matter of Life and Death (Pickwick)
Red Ensign (Connoisseur)
The Silver Fleet (Connoisseur)
-
(c) NTSC VHS
- Black Narcissus (Studio Masters)
A Canterbury Tale (Home Vision)
Contraband [also as Blackout] (?)
The Edge of the World (some dupes off 16mm)
The Elusive Pimpernel (Home Vision)
49th Parallel (Studio Masters)
I Know Where I'm Going! (Home Vision)
Ill Met By Moonlight [also as Night Ambush] (?)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (VidAmerica;
this release is severely edited/truncated)
The Red Shoes (Paramount; out of print)
Stairway to Heaven [also as AMOLAD] (some dupes off 16mm)
The Small Back Room (some dupes off 16mm)
The Tales of Hoffmann (Home Vision)
The Wild Heart (?; out-of-print Selznick cut of Gone to Earth)
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Kindest Regards,
Stephen
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