The Small Back Room [1949]

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Primary Contributor : David Farrar
Primary Contributor : Kathleen Byron

Product Details

Director : Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell
Actor : David Farrar, Kathleen Byron, Jack Hawkins, Milton Rosmer, Cyril Cusack
Format : Black & White, PAL
Binding : VHS Tape
EAN : 5024165813492
Number of Discs : 1
Product Group : Video
Release Date : 1999-07-12
Running Time : 102minutes
Studio : Warner Home Video

ASIN : B00004CRBM

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Editorial Reviews

Synopsis

A tense thriller revolving around backroom boffins at work in wartime London.

Customer Reviews

Blow-Up Without The Blow-Up (2008-06-09)

This story of a WW2 scientist, engaged on such problems as how to defuse a new type of boobytrapped German bomb, was based on a novel which I recall having to read in English literature classes circa 1971. The film, in black and white, is reasonably interesting so long as one accepts the premise that the WW2 British bureaucracy would want to try to defuse such devices rather than just blow them up in situ, at a time when bombs were falling by the ton (and, on Germany, by the hundreds of tons). The last bit of the film, on Dorset's "Jurassic Coast", Chesil Beach, is well done and keeps the interest. Worth seeing.

The Archers in decline, but still a film worth watching (2007-04-16)

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 come as soon as the Army calls him. Rice, it happens, has also lost his foot and wears a metal one. He suffers pain from it and is well into a self-pitying meltdown fueled by alcohol. Susan (Kathleen Byron), the woman who loves him, understands what he's going through but sooner or later will have enough of his self-involvement. "Sue, you'd have such a good life without me," he tells her in a nightclub. "I take things from you with both hands. I always have. I always will." Sammy Rice has to deal with his self-imposed isolation, his drinking and his unwillingness to face up to the fact that he has an artificial foot. Through all this, the group of scientists and managers Rice works with has come up with an anti-tank gun some feel is ready to sell to the government. He doesn't, but he's not willing to go against the consensus. Then, deep in an alcoholic haze, he gets the phone call. Two devices have been discovered. One is now being worked on by the Army captain who first asked him to help. It probably goes without saying that soon there is no Army captain and only one remaining device. Rice leaves for the English coast where the device is half buried in the sand. What he does with it will determine not only his life, but will affect his whole outlook on himself, his worth and his willingness to accept responsibility. Sound a little...well, uninvolving? The Small Back Room features some very good acting, excellent dialogue, one of Michael Powell's quirky internal surrealistic scenes (as Rice fights his compulsion to have a drink) and an extremely well-handled and tense final twenty-five minutes as Rice works to defuse the bomb. On the whole, though, it seems to me that Powell and Pressburger, after such a run of great movies they created in the Forties, used The Small Back Room as a way to step back and let out a long breath. The movie is by no means a let-down, but the sulky self-pity of Sammy Rice leaves little room for us to get willingly involved with him. This is a problem because the movie, despite an exciting premise with the new-type of German bomb and the excitement of the last third of the film, is essentially a character study in Rice's self-pity. Sammy Rice starts out gloomy and unhappy, and he stays that way throughout the movie until he walks across the sand to see if he can defuse the bomb. Powell and Pressburger's subversive humor (a dolt of a governmental minister, a glad-handing arms manager) is amusing but we still wind up with Rice feeling sorry for himself. I think it's fair to say that The Small Back Room marks the coming decline of Powell and Pressburger. The Tales of Hoffmann was still to be made, but with that exception every movie following The Small Back Room marked a decline in the kind of original, unusual cinematic storytelling that was the hallmark of The Archers. They had to deal with studio moneymen who gradually assumed control over the freedom that they had enjoyed with J. Arthur Rank and Alexander Korda. They, especially Powell, found it increasingly difficult to find subject matter that exited them. At one point four years elapsed before they took on a new project. The Archers last movie turned out to be something Powell swore he'd never make after all those Quota Quickies in the Thirties, a programmer. They drifted apart, still friends, and went their own ways. For those who admire Powell and Pressburger, The Small Back Room is well worth having. In addition to Farrar and Byron, both of whom were in Black Narcissus, there are a number of fine actors to enjoy, such as Jack Hawkins, Cyril Cusack, Sid James, Leslie Banks, Michael Gough, Robert Morley and Renee Asherson. There no extras; the DVD transfer is more than acceptable.

A Minor Classic (2004-08-19)

For those thinking about buying this movie: do. It is a terrific adaptation of Nigel Balchin's superb wartime thriller of the same name. Once again Powell and Pressburger manage to provide magnificent screenplay and cinematography (even if the dvd has yet to be a "restored" version) whilst keeping the essence of the original story. The critism of the wartime system for weapon devlopment is superb and shows graphically how "the old boy net" and interdepartmental rivalry was waged - often to the detriment of the service personnel who had to use their "pet" weapons. The voice of the experienced officer calling for weapons that could be used effectively in the field by the average soldier in a meeting where external drilling noise and the mutterings of the various members is a classic moment.David Farrah is superb and this film has the added bonus of Kathleen Byron, arguably the most attractive British actress of her generation. The casting of Jack Hawkins as a dynamic, cut throat and ghastly head of section is another piece of P&P magic.In short, a not to be missed British Film with some genuinely black and thrilling moments performed by a great cast.An excellent film.

A Neglected Classic From Powell and Pressburger (2004-05-28)

'The Small Back Room' came towards the end of the partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. They created one of the most creative and thought provoking cycle of movies ever seen in British Cinema. Films such as 'A Matter Of Life And Death', 'A Canterbury Tale', 'Black Narcissus' and 'I Know Where I'm Going' examined the nature of relationships in a new, bold and extremely cinematic way.They made imaginative use of studios, film stock and special effects. 'The Small Back Room' is by their standards quite a small scale picture. Once again they returned to performers from a previous film (in this case 'Black Narcissus') for their lead actors, David Farrer and Kathleen Byron.Farrer is largely forgotten today but I consider this to be his finest performance. He plays an alcoholic bomb disposal expert, trying to stop drinking, save his relationship and defuse a bomb. Afflicted by the shakes and nightmares of giant bottles looming over him, he fights his depression and despair while trying to prevent his life exploding literally in front of his eyes.As a film it has a lot in common with Billy Wilders 'The Lost Weekend'. Though in that film the lead character is trying to save his career and his relationship,the stakes in this one are much higher and the danger much more deadly.Another classic emerging from the back catalogue,it is to be hoped that with its release on DVD a new audience will discover it and rescue it from its neglected status.There are few extras but its selling at a very reasonable price and if you enjoy the work of Powell and Pressburger, Billy Wilder and the old fashioned stiff upper lipped second world war cinema world of 'Brief Encounter' then I think you'll find much to enjoy in 'The Small Back Room'.

Boffins in war-time London (2001-09-30)

'The Small Back Room' is one of those films which I come back to with pleasure at least once a year. It captures the feel and mood of war-time London so effectively. It is based on a Nigel Balchin novel, first published in 1943, about the work of back room 'boffins' in war-time London. It tells the story of an embittered bomb disposal expert, Sammy Rice, who is part of an important research team, and his challenge with a booby-trapped bomb, set against the background of a turbulent love affair and a conflict of loyalties within a Government Department. The war time atmosphere, with its blackout, dismal lighting, servicemen in uniform and crowded bars, is carefully depicted in one of Michael Powell's last films to be shot in black and white. The gripping story reaches its memorable climax in a tense, nail biting conclusion, played out on the long shingle beach at Chesil Bank in Dorset. It is a film to savour in front of a good fire with a glass of malt whisky. Here's to you Sammy Rice.

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