Powell-and-Pressburger

In 1943, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger formed their own production company, The Archers. Together the two men wrote, produced, and directed an extraordinary series of films of great beauty and vivid expressiveness. Some of the most notable Powell-and-Pressburger achievements of this period include The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), a satiric view of the British military; A Canterbury Tale (1944); and the mystical love story I Know Where I’m Going! (1945). These films were lyrical and often romantic, but also, according to Powell, “a crusade against materialism.” Other Powell-and-Pressburger classics include A Matter of Life and Death (1946), an epic wartime fantasy; Black Narcissus (1947), one of the most gorgeous films ever shot in color; The Red Shoes (1948), their most prestigious effort, still cited as one of the greatest films ever made about the performing arts; The Small Back Room (1949), a return to their classic romantic style with a thrilling narrative; and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951), an anthology of fantastic and romantic adventures.

After Powell and Pressburger amicably dissolved their partnership in 1957, Powell directed his most notorious work, the controversial Peeping Tom (1960). Critical attacks on Peeping Tom were so vicious and extreme that they virtually terminated Powell’s career. This unique, unsettling film has since been revived and praised by Martin Scorsese, among others, as one of the great movies about the psychology of filmmaking and film viewing.