The Small Back Room in 4K
The Small Back Room in 4K
The Archers return to the “basics” for their 1949 feature The Small Back Room, immediately following the extravagance of their film The Red Shoes (1948). Based on Nigel Balchin’s 1943 novel of the same name, the film depicts the complex inner world of Sammy (David Farrar), a British military bomb-disposal expert, who struggles with depression, alcoholism, and self-pity. Despite the realist cinematic approach, The Archers gift Sammy with fantastical hope for redemption and love.
DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger. WITH: David Farrar, Kathleen Byron, Jack Hawkins, Leslie Banks. 1949. 106 min. UK. B&W. English. 4K DCP. 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. 4K scanning by Silver Salt Restoration Limited, London; picture restoration by Cineric, Inc., New York; audio restoration by BFI National Archive.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.
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