Michael Powell (director)

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Michael Powell

Michael Powell, film-maker
Birth name Michael Latham Powell
Born September 30, 1905
Bekesbourne, Kent
Died February 19, 1990 aged 84
Avening, Gloucestershire
Academy Awards
Nominated Best Picture
1948 The Red Shoes
1943 49th Parallel
Nominated Best writing
1942 One of Our Aircraft is Missing

Michael Latham Powell (September 30, 1905 – February 19, 1990) was a British film director, renowned for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger which produced a series of classic British films.

Powell was born in Bekesbourne, Kent, and educated at The King's School, Canterbury and then at Dulwich College. He worked in a bank before becoming an actor and entering the film industry through working with Rex Ingram in France. He developed his skills directing 'quota quickies', sometimes making up to seven films a year. In 1939, he met Emeric Pressburger while they worked together on The Spy in Black.

Working together as co-producers, writers and directors in a partnership they dubbed "The Archers", they made nineteen feature films, many of which received critical and commercial success. Their best films are still regarded as classics of 20th century British cinema.

Although admirers would argue that Powell ought to rank alongside fellow British directors Alfred Hitchcock and David Lean, his career suffered a severe reversal after the release of the controversial psychological thriller film Peeping Tom, made in 1960 as a solo effort. The film was excoriated by British critics, who were offended by its sexual and violent images; Powell was ostracized by the film industry and found it almost impossible to work thereafter. However, his reputation was restored over the years, and by the time of his death, he and Pressburger were recognised as one of the foremost film partnerships of all time - and cited as a key influence by many noted filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola.

Contents

[edit] Family/Marriages

Powell's father, Thomas William Powell, was a hop farmer; his mother was Mabel (Corbett) Powell.

Michael Powell was married to Frankie May Reidy from July 1, 1943 until her death on July 5, 1983; they had two sons: Kevin Michael Powell (b. August 24, 1945) and Columba Jerome Reidy Powell (b. 1951).

Subsequently, he was married to Thelma Schoonmaker from May 17, 1984 until his own death from cancer.

[edit] Filmography

For his films with Emeric Pressburger, see Powell and Pressburger and Powell and Pressburger films

[edit] Early work

Many of his early films are disparagingly referred to as 'quota quickies'. Not all of them were, and the ones that were are often of a much higher standard than most other quota films. Some of his early films are now missing and are believed lost. But those that have survived often show some very sophisticated techniques and early versions of ideas that were reused, done better, in his later films.

  • 1928: Riviera Revels (co-director)
  • 1930: Caste (uncredited) *
  • 1931: Two Crowded Hours *
  • 1932: His Lordship *
  • 1932: C.O.D. *
  • 1932: Hotel Splendide
  • 1932: The Star Reporter *
  • 1932: Rynox
  • 1932: The Rasp *
  • 1932: My Friend the King *
  • 1933: Born Lucky *
  • 1934: Something Always Happens
  • 1934: Red Ensign (US title: Strike!)
  • 1934: The Fire Raisers
  • 1935: Some Day (aka Young Nowheres) *
  • 1935: The Price of a Song *
  • 1935: The Phantom Light
  • 1935: The Night of the Party (US title: The Murder Party)
  • 1935: The Love Test
  • 1935: Lazybones
  • 1935: The Girl in the Crowd *
  • 1936: The Man Behind the Mask (reissued as Behind the Mask)
  • 1936: Crown Vs. Stevens (aka Third Time Unlucky)
  • 1936: The Brown Wallet *
  • 1936: Her Last Affaire

Those marked with a * are "Missing, believed lost"

[edit] Other films

From late 1930s onwards, most of Powell's films were in collaboration with Pressburger; his solo films were:

Powell also directed episodes of the TV series The Defenders, Espionage and The Nurses.

[edit] Non-directorial

Powell was also involved in the following films in a non-directorial role:

  • Sebastian (1968) - Producer
  • Anna Pavlova (1983) - Associate Producer

[edit] Other works

[edit] Books

[edit] Theatre

  • 1944: Directed Jan de Hartog's Skipper Next To God at the Theatre Royal, Windsor
  • 1944: Directed Ernest Hemingway's The Fifth Column at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow
  • 1951: Directed James Forsyth's Heloise at the Golders Green Theatre, London

[edit] Awards, nominations and honours

  • 1981: Made fellow of BAFTA

[edit] Legacy

[edit] References

  • Powell, Pressburger and Others by Ian Christie, London: British Film Institute, 1978.
  • Arrows of Desire: The Films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger by Ian Christie. London: Waterstone, 1985. ISBN 0-947752-13-7, ISBN 0-571-16271-1
  • Michael Powell y Emeric Pressburger by Llorenç Esteve. Spain, Catedra, 2002.
  • Michael Powell: Interviews edited by David Lazar. University Press of Mississippi, 2003. ISBN 1-57806-498-8
  • Powell and Pressburger: A Cinema of Magic Spaces by Andrew Moor. I.B. Tauris, 2005. ISBN 1-85043-947-8
  • The Cinema of Michael Powell: International Perspectives on an English Filmmaker edited by Ian Christie and Andrew Moor. BFI, 2005. ISBN 1-84457-093-2, ISBN 1-84457-094-0 (pbk)

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:


The films of Michael Powell
With and without Emeric Pressburger
Those made with Emeric Pressburger are shown in bold
1930s Two Crowded Hours | My Friend the King | The Rasp | Rynox | The Star Reporter | Hotel Splendide | C.O.D. | His Lordship | Born Lucky | The Fire Raisers | Red Ensign | Something Always Happens | The Girl in the Crowd | Lazybones | The Love Test | The Night of the Party | The Phantom Light | The Price of a Song | Some Day | Her Last Affaire | The Brown Wallet | Crown vs. Stevens | The Man Behind the Mask | The Edge of the World | Smith | The Spy in Black | The Lion Has Wings
1940s The Thief of Bagdad | Contraband | An Airman's Letter to His Mother | Forty-Ninth Parallel | One of Our Aircraft is Missing | The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp | The Volunteer | A Canterbury Tale | I Know Where I'm Going! | A Matter of Life and Death | Black Narcissus | The Red Shoes | The Small Back Room
1950s The Elusive Pimpernel | Gone to Earth | The Tales of Hoffmann | The Sorcerer's Apprentice | Oh... Rosalinda!! | The Battle of the River Plate | Ill Met by Moonlight | Luna de Miel
1960s Peeping Tom | The Queen's Guards | Herzog Blaubarts Burg | Espionage: Never Turn Your Back on a Friend | Espionage: The Frantick Rebel | Espionage: A Free Agent | The Defenders: The Sworn Twelve | The Nurses: A39846 | They're a Weird Mob | Age of Consent
1970s The Boy Who Turned Yellow | Return to the Edge of the World


Persondata
NAME Powell, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Powell, Michael Latham (birth name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Film Director
DATE OF BIRTH September 30, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Bekesbourne, Kent
DATE OF DEATH February 19, 1990
PLACE OF DEATH Avening, Gloucestershire
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