| Powell & Pressburger We are based in South London near Croydon, UK, and if preferred this item can be picked up by appointment. Just e-mail here. I also welcome the old fashioned cheque and po as it is cheaper to process and all orders are sent off same day as cheque received. That would be unfair and though not without its flaws (the surreal sequence just doesn't work and the shadow of a boom mic can be spotted during the scene where the character of Sammy Rice trashes his sitting room which for perfectionists like Powell & Pressburger is pretty astonishing) it is still vintage Powell & Pressburger. © StudioCanal It's a crazy situation that a sole film studio doesn't own the rights to all their work. If it did then The Small Back Room would never have suffered from not appearing on our shelves. Colonel Blimp has always been available for example as has The Red Shoes. This was their first film after leaving Rank and the Rank films are now owned by Itv and readily available. Some 60 years after the release we are still suffering from that decision. They started shooting the film early in 1948. They shot the location scenes first, in Dorset, where they did the brilliant bomb-defusing sequence climax. It was a long and difficult sequence, most of it shot at about 5 am in early March with a biting east wind coming in off the sea. And the artificial foot the lead star, David Farrar, wore to play the part of Sammy Rice was so uncomfortable that he couldn't help limping anyway. The climax aside, Powell & Pressburger were obviously uninspired by the lengthy passages ofchat in which the backroom boffinsbicker about their latest inventions, but their masterful use of camera angles and cutting gives the finale anunbearable tension and almost makes up for the length of time it takes to get there. Other strong points in the movie is the beautifully enigmatic presence of Kathleen Byron though her character is somewhat underdeveloped and the sulliness of David Farrar. Lordy, he was one actor who the description of 'impenetrable' could be applied and was as cold as stone. Perhaps the weakest point of the film is the surreal sequence in which the complex Sammy seeks solace with a giant whisky bottle. Surrealistic scenes have always been notoriously difficult when placed in the confines of a 'straight' story and this one is no exception. It adds nothing to our understanding of Sammy. Watch out for an exquisite cameo from Renee Asherson. Sammy Rice [David Farrar] was the armies finest bomb disposal officer until he was injured in the war and left with a false foot. Now part of a specialist ‘back room’ team, he dismantles the booby-trapped devices being dropped by Nazi bombers. He falls in love with Susan [Kathleen Byron], a colleague, and the two begin a secret affair. However, embittered by life, he feels inferior; inferior as a lover, inferior as a man unable to wear uniform; inferior in his work for, although a brilliant scientist, he allows himself to be exploited by his power-hungry boss. Haunted by his past, he drowns his sorrows in whiskey. Sammy’s life is descending into disarray when the news comes; a bomb has exploded with catastrophic consequences, and another has been found. Faced with the biggest challenge of his career, Sammy must face his demons and take his own life in his hands to solve the mystery of the bomb’s lethal mechanism. © StudioCanal © StudioCanal © StudioCanal To reserve this item please e-mail by clicking here and include country ordering from. I will then get back to you within 24 hours with availability, price including postage and methods of payment (paypal, cheque, which is preferred, po etc.). |
