Emeric Pressburger was a Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for his series of film collaborations with Michael Powell, in a collaboration partnership known as the Archers, and produced a series of films, including 49th Parallel (1941), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). He has been played on screen by Alec Westwood in the award-winning short film Òran na h-Eala (2022) which explores Moira Shearer's life changing decision to appear in The Red Shoes.
The British film-making partnership of Michael Powell (1905–1990) and Emeric Pressburger (1902–1988)—together often known as The Archers, the name of their production company—made a series of influential films in the 1940s and 1950s. Their collaborations—24 films between 1939 and 1972—were mainly derived from original stories by Pressburger with the script written by both Pressburger and Powell. Powell did most of the directing while Pressburger did most of the work of the producer and also assisted with the editing, especially the way the music was used. Unusually, the pair shared a writer-director-producer credit for most of their films. The best-known of these are The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944), I Know Where I'm Going! (1945), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951).
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing is a 1942 British black-and-white war film, mainly set in the German-occupied Netherlands. It was the fourth collaboration between the British writer-director-producer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and the first film they made under the banner of The Archers.
Ian Hunter was a Cape Colony-born British actor of stage, film and television.
Miss Pilgrim's Progress is a 1949 black-and-white British comedy film by producer Nat Cohen and director Val Guest.
Detective Lloyd (1932) is a 12-chapter Universal movie serial. A co-production between the American company Universal and the British company General Films, it was filmed entirely in Britain with British and Commonwealth actors. It was the only sound serial ever produced in the UK. Although a print was shown on British and Swedish TV as recently as the 1970s, the film is now considered lost.
The Girl in the Crowd is a 1935 British comedy film directed by Michael Powell starring Barry Clifton, Patricia Hilliard, and Googie Withers.
Two Crowded Hours is a 1931 British comedy drama film directed by Michael Powell and starring John Longden, Jane Welsh, and Jerry Verno. It was made as a Quota quickie and is the first film where Powell is credited as the director. No known copies of the film have survived to the present day, and Two Crowded Hours has been declared to be "Missing, Believed Lost" by the British Film Institute.
Hotel Splendide is a 1932 British comedy drama film directed by Michael Powell. It was made as a Quota quickie.
His Lordship is a 1932 British musical comedy film directed by Michael Powell. It was made as a Quota quickie.
The Price of a Song is a 1935 British crime film, directed by Michael Powell. It is one of 23 quota quickies Powell directed between 1931 and 1936. It features a largely forgotten cast – only Felix Aylmer, here in a minor role, would go on to a significant film career.
Rynox is a 1932 British crime film directed by Michael Powell and starring Stewart Rome and John Longden. Rynox was adapted from a 1930 novel by popular thriller writer of the day Philip MacDonald.
The Star Reporter is a 1932 British crime drama, directed by Michael Powell and starring Harold French and Garry Marsh. The screenplay was adapted from a story by popular thriller writer Philip MacDonald.
My Friend the King is a 1932 British comedy film, directed by Michael Powell and starring Jerry Verno. The film was a follow-up to Two Crowded Hours, Powell's unexpectedly popular directorial debut of the previous year, with comedian Verno reprising his role as a chirpy Cockney taxi driver who gets mixed up in shady doings. This film however was less well-received, with Powell recalling it as "a complete failure", also noting that he worked on six films during 1932 and that "they couldn't all be good...and they weren't".
The Silver Spoon is a 1933 British comedy crime film directed by George King and starring Ian Hunter, Garry Marsh and Cecil Parker. The screenplay concerns a homeless who man admits to a murder he did not commit in order to protect a woman. The Silver Spoon is classed by the British Film Institute as a lost film.
Salute the Toff is a 1952 British crime film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring John Bentley and Carol Marsh. The film was based on the 1941 novel of the same name by John Creasey, the sixth in the series featuring upper-class sleuth Richard Rollinson, also known as "The Toff". This film and another Toff adaptation, Hammer the Toff, were shot back-to-back at Nettlefold Studios in the summer of 1951. They were released to cinemas in January and May 1952 respectively.
The Dark Stairway is a 1938 British crime film, directed by Arthur B. Woods and starring Hugh Williams, Chili Bouchier and Garry Marsh.
You Lucky People! is a 1955 British comedy film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Tommy Trinder, Mary Parker and Dora Bryan. Originally titled Get Fell In, the film was renamed to match Trinder's familiar catchphrase. It was shot in a rival French process to CinemaScope, called 'CameraScope', with the attendant publicity describing "the first feature to be made with an anamorphic lens in black and white! It's a camerascoop!". It was shot at Beaconsfield Studios near London with sets designed by the art director Ray Simm.
Stranglehold is a 1931 British drama film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Isobel Elsom, Garry Marsh and Derrick De Marney. It was made by Warner Brothers at Teddington Studios as a quota quickie. It is now a lost film.
Fires of Fate is a 1932 British adventure film directed by Norman Walker and starring Lester Matthews, Kathleen O'Regan and Dorothy Bartlam. It was adapted from the 1909 play Fires of Fate by Arthur Conan Doyle which was in turn based on his 1898 novel The Tragedy of the Korosko.
