Michael Powell
Director · 1905 – 1990 · Bekesbourne, Kent, England
Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. They worked together under the name of "The Archers" and produced a series of classic British films, notably The Thief of Bagdad (1940), 49th Parallel (1941), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (1946, also called Stairway to Heaven), Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948). His controversial 1960 film Peeping Tom, however, was so vilified that his career was seriously damaged.
Movies22
Movie7.4HorrorThrillerLoner Mark Lewis works at a film studio during the day and, at night, takes racy photographs of women. Also he's making a documentary on fear, which involves recording the reactions of victims as he murders them. He befriends Helen, the daughter of the family living in the apartment below his, and he tells her vaguely about the movie he is making.
Peeping Tom
1960 · 931 votes
Movie7.3DocumentaryWarWinston Churchill understood the power of films, but the true extent of his use of cinema as a propaganda tool is rarely explored. In 1934, one of Britain's most celebrated film producers, Alexander Korda, signed Churchill up as a screenwriter and historical advisor. It was the start of a unique collaboration. Churchill provided script notes for Korda's productions and penned an epic screenplay. When war broke out, their collaboration took on national importance. Korda was sent on a mission to Hollywood to help bring America into the war, with positive results. With access to previously undiscovered documents, this film documentary examines that mission and a friendship that underpinned a unique, creative partnership.
Churchill and the Movie Mogul
2019 · 3 votes
Movie6.6WarDramaDuring a raid on Germany, a British bomber crew is forced to bail out after their plane is damaged. They land in Holland, where they're aided by Dutch civilians.
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing
1942 · 45 votes
Movie6.6DocumentaryIn 2001 Jack Cardiff (1914-2009) became the first director of photography in the history of the Academy Awards to win an Honorary Oscar. But the first time he clasped the famous statuette in his hand was a half-century earlier when his Technicolor camerawork was awarded for Powell and Pressburger's Black Narcissus. Beyond John Huston's The African Queen and King Vidor's War and Peace, the films of the British-Hungarian creative duo (The Red Shoes and A Matter of Life and Death too) guaranteed immortality for the renowned cameraman whose career spanned seventy years.
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
2010 · 39 votes
Movie7.6DocumentaryMartin Scorsese presents this very personal and insightful new feature-length documentary about British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
2024 · 31 votes
- Movie8.0Documentary
After starting his career producing religious film shorts, J. Arthur Rank went on to become Britain's first and only movie mogul with his establishment of the legendary Pinewood Studios. Narrated by Michael Caine, THE GOLDEN GONG chronicles Pinewood's rise to success.
Movie7.1DramaRomanceA way of life is dying on a remote Scottish island, but some of the inhabitants resist evacuating to the mainland.
The Edge of the World
1937 · 44 votes
Movie10.0DramaRomanceFather Adrien had taken the vows of eternal silence, prayer and, of course, celibacy, when he entered the Trappist Monastry of Notre Dame d'Afrique in Algeria. One day, he chopped down a tree that blocked a part of the Monastery wall, but as it fell it knocked a young girl senseless. As Father Adrien bathes her face she regains consciousness and in a mischievous mood embraces him. The embrace was seen by another monk but the Monastic discipline imposed is as nothing compared to the torturing penances of mind and body which the contrite Father Adrien has imposed upon himself. In the end it is all too much for poor Father Adrien and he abandons his vows and escapes into the desert, resuming his secular name Androvsky. On the way to the oasis of Beni-Mora he encounters Domini Enfilden who has been brought up as a Catholic. Androvsky rescues Domini from a rioting crowd and she finds herself deeply attracted to him.
The Garden of Allah
1927 · 1 votes
Movie5.0WarDocumentaryAfter a masterful Shakespearean performance in a London theater, Ralph Richardson is sought for an autograph by Fred, his dresser. Later, Fred has joined the Fleet Air Arm (Fly Navy) and become a hero, rescuing a pilot from his burning plane. When Fred arrives at Buckingham Palace, it's Ralph's turn to ask for an autograph.
The Volunteer
1944 · 10 votes
Movie6.0Documentary"A Woman of Paris" (1923) was the first film Chaplin made for United Artists Film Corporation, which he founded with his friends Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D. W. Griffith. Chaplin had long considered making a dramatic feature. For the first time, he decided to direct. Actress and filmmaker Liv Ullmann analyses the film. She talks about the acting, the originality of the characterizations, as well as the "feminine" viewpoint Chaplin adopted for the first time in his films.
Chaplin Today: A Woman of Paris
2003 · 8 votes
Movie8.0DocumentaryAmazing documentary shows rarely seen side of a master director. 1990 was a very good year for Martin Scorsese. After making a diverse group of films in the 80s, he reunited with Robert DeNiro for "Goodfellas" and later that year shot a segment for "New York Stories", an anthology film of three shorts by Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Francis Ford Coppola. During the editing, the French documentary series "Cinéma, de notre temps" filmed a documentary on the director, and it's a fascinating glimpse into his life, personality, and working habits as he edits his short with long-time collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker.
The Scorsese Machine
1990 · 2 votes
Movie6.1DramaHorrorA young woman, Margaret Dauncey, is caught between the forces of a charlatan magician, Oliver Haddo, whom she is unable to resist, and the love of a handsome surgeon, Arthur Burdon, who has saved her from being a helpless cripple by performing a delicate operation on her spine.
The Magician
1926 · 31 votes
Movie6.5DocumentaryMichael Powell makes a moving return trip to the remote island of Foula, forty years after he shot his first major feature there - 'The Edge of the World (1937)'.
Return to the Edge of the World
1978 · 10 votes
Movie8.0DocumentaryA documentary film examining Michael Powell's 1960 film "Peeping Tom," the controversy surrounding its release, and the life of its screenwriter, Leo Marks.
A Very British Psycho
1997 · 2 votes
Movie8.0ComedyA recently engaged girl invites her parents to meet her fiance. They learn that he also loves another woman.
The Compulsory Husband
1929 · 1 votes
- Movie7.0Comedy
The tour comes to an end and the party returns to Cannes. The sheik's disguise is dropped and he disappears with all of Mme. Papilion's belongings. The party boards a train and leave Cannes.
Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 12
1927 · 1 votes
- Movie9.0Comedy
The tourists travel on to Grasse, the perfume factory, and the valley of the Wolves.
Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 11: Scents and Nonsense
1927 · 1 votes
- Movie9.0Comedy
The further adventures of the group of tourists on a trip around the French Riviera. From Cannes they travel to Juan les Pins, the Grimaldi Chateau in Monaco, Port-carre, Antibes and the pottery makers of Biot. A love interest developes between Ophelia Beetle and Apollo Naris, an Englishman, while the Arab Sheik, Abdrool Krimp is vamped by Mme. Papillon.
Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 2: A Nasty Jar
1927 · 1 votes
MovieDocumentaryIn June 1980, Michael Powell came to Dartmouth as an artist in residence, developing and producing a fifteen-minute pilot film with the students based on Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea trilogy.
Movie5.9MusicRomanceAustralian famer Kit Kelly and his new bride Anna are driving through Europe when they help a stranded motorist. They discover he is Antonio, a famous dancer. Upon learning that Anna was a ballerina before she married, Antonio attempts to persuade her to join his company.
- Movie10.0Comedy
The tarvelling party inluding Cicero Simps (Michael Powell) move to St. Paul de vence and la Colombe d'Or ans showcases a dreamcase in which he dreams he's a faun.
Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 10: Fauny Business
1927 · 1 votes
- Movie10.0Comedy
The tourist group are in Monte Carlo, where Mdm Papillion wins a fortune.
Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 6
1927 · 1 votes