United Kingdom
1949
107 minutes
Black and White
1.33:1
English
441
After the lavish Technicolor spectacle of The Red Shoes, British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger retreated into the inward, shadowy recesses of this moody, crackling character study. Based on the acclaimed novel by Nigel Balchin, The Small Back Room details the professional and personal travails of troubled, alcoholic research scientist and military bomb-disposal expert Sammy Rice (David Farrar), who, while struggling with a complex relationship with secretary girlfriend Susan (Kathleen Byron), is hired by the government to advise on a dangerous new German weapon. Deftly mixing suspense and romance, The Small Back Room is an atmospheric, post–World War II gem.
| Sammy | David Farrar |
| Susan | Kathleen Byron |
| Waring | Jack Hawkins |
| Stuart | Michael Gough |
| Taylor | Cyril Cusack |
| The minister | Robert Morley |
| Director | Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger |
| Written, produced, and directed by | Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger |
| Based on the novel by | Nigel Balchin |
| Supervising film editor | Reginald Mills |
| Production Design | Hein Heckroth |
| Art director | John Hoesli |
| Sound | Alan Allen |
| Camera | Freddie Francis |
| Editing | Clifford Turner |
| Music | Brian Easdale |
| Cinematography | Christopher Challis |
Our hats are off to the people at Very Short List, who made the explosive connection between this week’s big Oscar winner The Hurt Locker and the 1948 Powell and Pressburger classic The Small Back Room. A wildly tense portrait of a professional bomb disposer at the end of his tether . . .
The fantasy-enriched, near operatic Technicolor dramas for which director-writer-producer collaborators Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger are perhaps best known—such as . . .
Displaying 0 discussion topics.
