| |  | DVD : The Small Back Room |  | | | | | | | | | |
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0715515031226
Label: Criterion Collection
Manufacturer: Criterion Collection
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Criterion Collection
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 19, 2008
Running Time: 107 minutes
Sales Rank: 43222
Studio: Criterion Collection
Theatrical Release Date: 1949
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
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. Frank and intimate, deftly mixing suspense and romance, The Small Back Room is an atmospheric, post World War II gem.
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer,
Audio commentary featuring film scholar Charles Barr,
New video interview with cinematographer Chris Challis,
Excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography.
PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Nick James.
Amazon.com:
In their career, the Archers--Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger--made films both epic and intimate. The Small Back Room falls into the latter category. The interiors in this black-and-white picture, after a trio in Technicolor, are close and dimly lit, but rustic exteriors (including Stonehenge) and a surrealistic set piece add welcome flair. In 1943, Londoner Sammy Rice (David Farrar, quite good), a master at defusing incendiary devices, works for the Ministry of Defense. Whiskey helps to relieve the discomfort of a leg injury caused, presumably, by a mission gone wrong. As he tells girlfriend Susan (Kathleen Byron, softer than in Black Narcissus), who serves as secretary for the back-room boys, 'It leaves me not caring whether it hurts or not.' In order to decode Germany’s new booby-trapped bomb, the military enlists his expertise, but Rice's drinking problem makes him a liability. Noir, suspense, and documentary-style realism converge to create a sympathetic portrait of one man's struggle with shame and inadequacy, providing a link between Brief Encounter and The Lost Weekend. As critic Raymond Durgnat suggests, it isn’t 'a 'story one follows', but a sensibility in which one bathes.' This shadowy room may not be the best place to begin with the Archers, but it's a fine place with which to end. The Criterion Collection edition adds erudite commentary from author Charles Barr, an essay from Sight & Sound editor Nick James, an interview with cinematographer Chris Challis, and dictation excerpts from Powell's memoir, Million Dollar Movie. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Customer Reviews Average Rating: 
Rating: - Another great Powell and Pressburger film
This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.
The Small Back Room is a film directed by the well known team, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
The film is about a British bomb defuser and scientist during World War II. He is hired by the British government to help diffuse German bombs that have been showing up on the beaches. He is having trouble with his girlfriend due to his drinking problem and it is affecting his work. This is all I want to ... Read More
Rating: - Powell and Pressburger, returning to their roots.
It was a surprise for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger to follow up the Technicolor extravaganzas of "Black Narcissus" and "The Red Shoes" with a throwback to their earlier work--the black-and-white, tightly focused World War II drama "The Small Back Room." Perhaps the film served as sort of a palate cleanser before they moved on to "The Tales of Hoffmann," a film so rococo that it made "The Red Shoes" look modest. However, "The Small Back Room" is still a riveting, superbly made, character-driven ... Read More
Rating:  - The Archers in decline, but still a film worth watching
Sammy Rice (David Farrar) is a first-rate scientist and something of an expert in defusing bombs. The year is 1943 and the Germans have starting dropping a new kind of terror weapon on Britain. It's something small, evidently attractive to children, and explodes either when it's picked up or just touched. No one is sure because the three children and one adult who did touch the things were killed. Rice is asked to investigate by the Army. He says he has to have an unexploded device to work on; that he'll ... Read More
Rating: - Offbeat gem
Far from being an indicator of the decline of the creative genius of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, The Small Back Room harkens back to the pair's earlier black-and-white period and is an offbeat gem.David Farrar shines as Sammy Rice, a bitter yet sensitive man unsure if he has enough character to accept the things he must and the strength to change what he can in his life.Kathleen Byron (who appeared with Farrar in P&P's Black Narcissus in 1947) plays Susan, a shrewd, strong woman nevertheless ... Read More
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