The Small Back Room. 1948. Written and directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

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The Small Back Room. 1949. UK. Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. Courtesy Rialto Pictures/Studiocanal

The Small Back Room. 1948. UK. Written and directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. With Michael Gough, Henry Caine, Milton Rosmer. 4K DCP courtesy Rialto Pictures. Restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with Studiocanal. Funding provided by The Film Foundation and Studiocanal. Special thanks to Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker for their consultation. 106 min.

“Following a series of Technicolor extravaganzas, Powell and Pressburger turned to a suitably low-key presentation for this Nigel Balchin adaptation, chiming with the darker postwar mood. David Farrar gives perhaps his best performance as the embittered bomb disposal expert driven to drink, while Christopher Challis’ black-and-white cinematography looks especially stunning in this new restoration—the shadowy, surrealist sequences giving a compelling insight into the mental anguish of the alcoholic” (BFI).

This film accompanies Cinema Unbound: The Creative Worlds of Powell and Pressburger.

Past events

Sat, Jul 20, 2024, 4:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1
Sun, Jun 30, 2024, 4:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1

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