Michael Powell Movies

A Canterbury Tale (1944) - Powell and Pressberger. Story: Two soldiers (one English, one American) and a girl come together in a small English Village and solve a crime. Pros: Great last 30 minutes and P&P photography of the English Countryside and Canterbury. Cons: Too slight a story to justify its two hour length, bland leading men and intrusive wartime propaganda points. Any number of beautifully composed scenes but it doesn't come together and form an engaging story. Rating **1/2

123. Peeping Tom (1960) Powell. Story of a photographer as serial killer. This movie forced Michael Powell into retirement and its easy to see why. The subject is unpleasant and neither the script nor the direction supply the thrills or excitement needed. The acting is no more than adequate. Other flaws include: Our anti-hero "Mark" is boring, the plot is standard, the supporting players are forgettable and the pace slow. Some have absurdly compared this to "Psycho." First, Norman (Anthony Perkins) is much are more interesting than "Mark". Second, "Psycho" is full of twists and turns while "Peeping Tom" simply plods from A to B. Thirdly, the killer in Psycho is a minor character whose viewed from the outside. In Peeping Tom, the movie creepily makes the killer the main character and often adapts his viewpoint. For Powell completists only.Rating *

85. I Know where I’m Going. (1945) Powell. Comedy and Romance in the South Hebrides. A strong-willed London girl (Wendy Hiller) arrives in the Islands to marry her rich fiance but meets a RN officer on leave (Roger Livery) instead. PRO:Beautifully photographed, very good supporting players, a quick 90 minutes, and the story is enjoyable if predictable CON: Hiller and Livery are good actors and have excellent chemistry - but they're not Grant & Bergman. A little more charisma would have been nice. Summary: I enjoyed this movie more the 2nd time round. The first time, my expectations were too high, I thought it would be as good as "Life and Death of Col Blimp." IKWIG isn't in the same league - but its a nice little romance. Rating ***