The Small Back Room

An embittered bomb disposal expert is driven to drink in Powell and Pressburger’s compelling insight into the mental anguish of the alcoholic.

Following a series of Technicolor extravaganzas, Powell and Pressburger turned to a suitably low-key presentation for this Nigel Balchin adaptation, chiming with the darker post-war mood. David Farrar gives perhaps his best performance as the embittered bomb disposal expert driven to drink, while Christopher Challis’ black and white cinematography looks especially stunning in this new restoration – the shadowy, surrealist sequences giving a compelling insight into the mental anguish of the alcoholic.