Subscription
Powell and Pressburger
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger – alias The Archers – worked like tailors, sizing the cloth of their insanely inspiring films so they would cling.
Successive generations try them on and find they still fit, shaped to the British national character but filled with a heart and spectacle which makes them truly, vividly global.
The Battle of the River Plate The Battle of the River Plate
War 1956 119 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Powell and Pressburger’s biggest commercial success was this rousing retelling of the pursuit of a German battleship by the British Navy during World War II.
Black & Narcissus Black & Narcissus
Drama 1947 101 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Tensions grow when a group of nuns open a convent in the Himalayas in Powell & Pressburger’s remarkable melodrama, starring Deborah Kerr.
A Canterbury Tale A Canterbury Tale
War 1944 125 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Powell and Pressburger's most personal film combines a Chaucer-inspired pilgrimage with a war-time celebration of English landscape and values to create a gem of British cinema.
The Red Shoes The Red Shoes
Drama 1948 135 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Moira Shearer’s ballerina is torn between love and her career in Powell and Pressburger’s hugely influential melodrama.
Ill Met by Moonlight Ill Met by Moonlight
War 1957 100 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s film of the daring WII raid to capture a German commander, with Dirk Bogarde and Marius Goring.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
War 1943 164 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Powell and Pressburger’s masterpiece follows the rise and fall of a career soldier, from dashing and brave young officer in the Boer War to a pompous and old-fashioned Colonel by the time of World War Two.
A Matter of Life and Death A Matter of Life and Death
Fantasy 1946 104 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s timeless romantic fantasy, with David Niven as an airman trapped between life and death.
Peeping Tom Peeping Tom
Drama 1960 101 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s dark, disturbing, once controversial tale of a shy camera technician who films women as he kills them is now rightly deemed a classic.
The Phantom Light The Phantom Light
Comedy 1935 72 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s gothic mystery of a haunted lighthouse where insanity thrives.
The Spy in Black The Spy in Black
War 1939 79 mins Director: Michael Powell
A masterful thriller with true flair, The Spy In Black has a much larger importance: it threw Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger together for the first time.
The Boy Who Turned Yellow The Boy Who Turned Yellow
Children's 1972 54 mins Director: Michael Powell
A London schoolboy’s surprise transformation marks the final collaboration of great British director Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.