Michael Powell (director)
Michael Latham Powell (
September 30,
1905-
February 19,
1990) was a British
film director, renowned for
his partnership with
Emeric Pressburger which produced a series of classic British films.
Powell was born in Bekesbourne,
Kent, and educated at
The King's School, Canterbury and then at
Dulwich College. He worked in a bank before becoming an actor and entering the film industry through working with
Rex Ingram in France. He developed his skills directing '
quota quickies', sometimes making up to 7 films a year. In 1939 he met
Emeric Pressburger whilst they worked together on
The Spy in Black. Working
together as co-producers, writers and directors in a partnership they dubbed "
The Archers", they made nineteen feature films, many of which received critical and commercial success, and their best films are still regarded as classics of 20th century British cinema.
Although proponents would argue that Powell ought to rank alongside Hitchcock and Lean as one of the greatest British film directors, his career suffered a severe reversal after the release of the confronting psychological
thriller film Peeping Tom in
1960 as a solo effort. The film was excoriated by British critics, who were offended by its Freudian overtones and challenged by its reflexive subtext, and Powell was ostracised by the film industry and found it almost impossible to work thereafter. His offence, it seemed, was to have made a horror movie that was genuinely horrific. However, his reputation was restored over the years, and by the time of his death he and Pressburger were recognised as one of the foremost film partnerships of all time - and cited as a key infuence by many noted film-makers such as
Martin Scorsese and
Francis Ford Coppola.
Powell's father, Thomas William Powell, was a
hop farmer; his mother was Mabel (Corbett) Powell. He was married to Frankie May Reidy from
July 1,
1943 until her death on
July 5,
1983. With her he had two sons: Kevin Michael Powell (b.
August 24,
1945) and Columba Jerome Reidy Powell (b.
1951). Subsequently, he was married to
Thelma Schoonmaker from
May 17,
1984 until his death of cancer.
For his films with Emeric Pressburger, see Powell and Pressburger and Powell and Pressburger filmsEarly work
Many of his early film are disparigingly referred to as '
quota quickies'. Not all of them were actually quota films, and of the ones that are they are often a much higher standard than most other quota films. Some of his early films are now missing, believed lost. But those that have survived often show some very sophisticated techniques and early versions of ideas that were used again, done better, in his later films.
* 1928:
Riviera Revels (co-director)
* 1930:
Caste (uncredited)
* 1931:
Two Crowded Hours * 1932:
His Lordship * 1932:
C.O.D. * 1932:
Hotel Splendide* 1932:
The Star Reporter * 1932:
Rynox* 1932:
The Rasp * 1932:
My Friend the King * 1933:
Born Lucky * 1934:
Something Always Happens* 1934:
Red Ensign (US title:
Strike!)
* 1934:
The Fire Raisers* 1935:
Some Day (aka
Young Nowheres)
* 1935:
The Price of a Song * 1935:
The Phantom Light* 1935:
The Night of the Party (US title:
The Murder Party)
* 1935:
The Love Test* 1935:
Lazybones* 1935:
The Girl in the Crowd * 1936:
The Man Behind the Mask (reissued as
Behind the Mask)
* 1936:
Crown Vs. Stevens (aka
Third Time Unlucky)
* 1936:
The Brown Wallet * 1936:
Her Last AffaireThose marked with a * are "Missing, believed lost"
Other films
From late 1930s onwards, most of Powell's films were in collaboration with Pressburger. His solo films were:
*
The Edge of the World (1937)
*
Smith (1939)
*
The Lion Has Wings (1939, RAF documentary footage with some fictional intercuts)
*
The Thief of Bagdad (1940, co-director)
*
An Airman's Letter to His Mother (1941, a 5-minute short)
*
The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1955, a short)
*
Luna de miel (1959, aka
Honeymoon)
*
Peeping Tom (1960)
*
The Queen's Guards (1961)
*
Herzog Blaubarts Burg (1964, aka
Bluebeard's Castle)
*
They're a Weird Mob (1966, Pressburger helped on script as
Richard Imrie)
*
Age of Consent (1969)
*
Return to the Edge of the World (1978, for British TV, framing of the original 1937 film)
Powell also directed episodes of the TV series
The Defenders,
Espionage and
The Nurses.
Books
* 1938:
200,000 feet on Foula - the story of the making of
The Edge of the World* 1956:
The Last Voyage of the Graf Spee - includes a lot of information that they couldn't fit in the film
The Battle of the River Plate. ISBN 0727402560
* 1975:
A Waiting Game - A novel of Ireland. ISBN 0718113683
* 1978:
The Red Shoes. ISBN 0804426872 (pbk), ISBN 0312140347, ISBN 0312156375 (pbk)
* 1986:
A Life In Movies - autobiography (Part I). ISBN 043459945X, ISBN 0413165108 (pbk), ISBN 0394559355, ISBN 0749311770, ISBN 057120431 (pbk)
* 1990:
The Edge of the World - updated reprint of
200,000 feet on Foula. ISBN 0571153062
* 1992:
Million Dollar Movie - autobiography (Part II). ISBN 0434599476, ISBN 0679434437
* 1994:
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp- Includes memos from Churchill and notes showing how the script developed. ISBN 0571143555
Theatre
* 1944: Directed January de Hartog's
Skipper Next To God at the Theatre Royal, Windsor
* 1944: Directed Ernest Hemingway's
The Fifth Column at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow
* 1951: Directed James Forsyth's
Heloise at the Golders Green Theatre, London
* 1943:
Oscar nominated for
49th Parallel as Best Picture
* 1943:
Oscar nominated for
One of Our Aircraft is Missing for Best Writing, Original Screenplay. Shared with
Emeric Pressburger* 1949:
Oscar nominated for
The Red Shoes as Best Picture. Shared with
Emeric Pressburger* 1978: Awarded
Hon DLitt,
University of East Anglia* 1978: Awarded
Hon DLitt,
University of Kent* 1981: Made fellow of
BAFTA* 1983: Made fellow of the
British Film Institute (BFI)
* 1987: Awarded Hon Doctorate,
Royal College of Art* Cited as a major influence on many film-makers such as
Martin Scorsese,
Francis Ford Coppola,
George A. Romero* The
Michael Powell Award for the Best New British Feature was instigated in 1993 at the
Edinburgh International Film Festival and is sponsored by the
UK Film Council and is "named in homage to one of Britain's most original filmmakers". [
1]
*
Powell, Pressburger and Others by Ian Christie, London:
British Film Institute, 1978.
*
Arrows of Desire: The Films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger by Ian Christie. London: Waterstone, 1985. ISBN 0947752137, ISBN 0571162711
*
Michael Powell y Emeric Pressburger by Llorenç Esteve. Spain, Catedra, 2002.
*
Michael Powell: Interviews edited by David Lazar. University Press of Mississippi, 2003. ISBN 1578064988
*
Powell and Pressburger: A Cinema of Magic Spaces by Andrew Moor. I.B. Tauris, 2005. ISBN 1850439478
*
The Cinema of Michael Powell: International Perspectives on an English Filmmaker edited by Ian Christie and Andrew Moor.
BFI, 2005. ISBN 1844570932, ISBN 1844570940 (pbk)
*
Michael Powell at the
Powell & Pressburger Pages.
*
*
Essay, Filmography, Bibliography, Links at Senses of Cinema*
BFI Filmography*
NFT interviews (audio clips)
* Articles at
BFI Screenonline on
**
early work**
sense of landscape**
work with Pressburger**
classic Powell & Pressburger**
the war years**
later years{{Persondata
NAME=Powell, Michael | ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Powell, Michael Latham (birth name) | SHORT DESCRIPTION=Film Director | DATE OF BIRTH=September 30, 1905 | PLACE OF BIRTH=Bekesbourne, Kent, England, UK | DATE OF DEATH=February 19, 1990 | PLACE OF DEATH=Avening, Gloucestershire, England, UK
|
