The Small Back Room

Returning in a stunning 4K restoration, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s WWII thriller remains a classic of aching romance and high-wire suspense.

Bomb-disposal expert Sammy Rice (David Farrar) drowns himself in both alcohol and self-pity, owing in large part to his pain-causing prosthetic foot. His only source of solace is his relationship with Susan (Kathleen Byron) – who works in the same ministry – but even she is at her wit’s end with him. One day, Sammy is enlisted into a secret high-risk mission involving German landmines on the beaches of England. Will this finally make of him the heroic man he wishes he could be?

Hot off a legendary run that included A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948), Powell and Pressburger – subjects of the MIFF 2024 documentary Made in England – returned to the black-and-white drama of their early work for this 1949 film, which drew critical acclaim and earned a BAFTA nomination for Best British Film but failed to capture the public imagination.

Seen today, in its restored form courtesy of Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation, The Small Back Room stands shoulder-to-shoulder with The Archers’ greatest work, its swooning romance, expressionist cinematography and impossibly suspenseful climax as memorable as anything they put on screen. Take it from Powell himself: “I think this is my best film,” he once told filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier.

“A boundary-breaking wartime drama … The strength and confidence in Powell and Pressburger’s filmmaking is a pleasure – as is their distinctive love of adventure and romance.” – The Guardian