Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger films

[Rita Hayworth]

Wendy Hiller is awe inspiring in this film. Was she ever anything less?

Oh, Goodie ... and I will be watching it this weekend ... thanks for Konway providing me information so I can watch it. I love Wendy Hiller ...

[Konway]

No Problem, kingme.

Red River, I agree. Wendy Hiller is great in it. I also liked Roger Livesey's performance too.

[Rita Hayworth]

SPOILERS

Here is my review for I know where I'm Going (1945). But it contains spoilers.

At Imdb forum, I remember reading about some people not liking I know where I'm Going (1945). But I think its a great film, because of several reasons. Its a film that we need to explore much into. Wendy Hiller's character Joan is a likeable character. Through her journey, she meets MacNeil of Kiloran (Roger Livesey). Joan Webster (Wendy Hiller) only knew about materialistic life. Through her journey with MacNeil (Roger Livesey), she became aware of spiritual life. A life that values love, kindness, forgiveness, and other valuable things. Macneil knows about materialistic life and spiritual life. But he wants a spiritual life, because he can find perpetual satisfaction in it. He wants to give this to Joan Webster. The purpose of Joan's journey was to marry Sir Robert Bellinger. Although Joan cares about MacNeil of Kiloran, still Joan is terribly afraid that she might fall "deeply" in love with MacNeil. This fear drove her to make a dangerous decision of traveling to Kiloran. Fear can drive a man or a woman to make decisions that is harmful and evil to others. The famous scene in Hitchcock's Saboteur (1942) where Blind Man asks Pat (Priscilla Lane) - "Are you frightened, Pat? Is that what makes you so cruel?" Anyway, back to I know where I'm Going. During their dangerous journey to Kiloran, Joan (Wendy) realized that there are far more stronger things in life than materialistic things like money and power. In her dangerous journey, she also loses her clothes for her wedding.

She began to realize about the value of spiritual things when she returned back to the shore. Although she wants to go to Kiloran, she knew she is falling more and more in love with MacNeil. She couldn't help it. It reached to the point where she asks MacNeil to kiss her before they both leave their own ways. After they leave both ways, MacNeil enters the castle. This is because he has spiritually nothing to lose. The woman he loved is gone. When he reads the curse, the curse ended up becoming a blessing to him. The curse brought them back together in such a way they can "never" separate each other like they did before. So spiritually, MacNeil and Joan are bonded till they die. What the lovers lost centuries ago in the castle has been regained through the relationship of MacNeil and Joan. 10 out of 10.

Fabulous Movie ... I just finished watching it on my Computer and its what Konway has written here. It is a great film and I love the tenderness, the romance, and most importantly it's has meaning of love that you don't see very often in movies in those days.

My girlfriend would love this kind of a movie and I will use her Plasma TV to watch it from my Computer ... she has the knack of doing that. So, she and I will watch it again next weekend at her place.

[Konway]

Kingme,
I am glad you enjoyed the film. I also love how they shot storm scenes in this film. It is absolutely brilliant. I totally agree with you about the meaning of love that has been expressed through this film.

[Rita Hayworth]

Kingme,
I am glad you enjoyed the film. I also love how they shot storm scenes in this film. It is absolutely brilliant. I totally agree with you about the meaning of love that has been expressed through this film.

The shot storm scenes ... was incredible; thanks for mentioning that in your preceding post ... Konway!

[Konway]

I also think that it was great idea to shoot "I know where I'm going" in Black and White. I also like the fact there is a phone booth right next to a water fall. Another nice touch in the film is 60 years of happied married life of the old man and old woman. It increases the impact of the film's message .

[Konway]

I always felt that Jack Cardiff is praised for his contributions far more than Emeric Pressburger's contributions in Powell & Pressburger films. But Michael Powell points out that he couldn't have made those films without Pressburger. Jack Cardiff's cinematography is good. But I think Pressburger's contributions to the development of the script and his involvement with making of the film is far more important.

For Example, The Red Shoes. The Red Shoes does have an interesting cinematography by Jack Cardiff. But I wasn't into the Red Shoes, because I felt that the script was weak compared to other films made by Powell and Pressburger.

I have to agree with what Hitchcock said - "To make a great film you need three things - the script, the script, and the script."

[MissGoddess]

hi konway,
i haven't been posting much lately but I do read all your interesting posts and comments. I imagine they are referred to as "Powell and Pressburger" for good reason, and that Cardiff was the visual conduit through which they realized their projects. I don't know if Cardiff was the DP on A Canterbury Tale or I Know Where I'm Going!, but I like those (visually and story-wise) as much as the glorious technicolor films like Black Narcissus.

[RedRiver]

As much as I admire all aspects of filmmaking, I'm inclined to agree with Mr. Hitchcock. Erle Stanley Gardner said something similar about mysteries. "A plot, a plot and a plot!"

[Konway]

Hello MissG,
Thank you so much for reading my comments, MissG. Erwin Hillier did the cinematography for both A Canterbury Tale and I Know Where I'm Going. Although they are referred to as "Powell & Pressburger", still I felt that Pressburger is less mentioned in the making of the films compared to Jack Cardiff. But I can be wrong with my viewpoint.

MissG, I will also post soon about Topaz in Hitchcock thread. I skipped an important information while I was writing about Topaz long time ago on TCM board.

Red River, I agree with you.

[moira finnie]

I like what you wrote about Emeric Pressburger. I often have the feeling that Pressburger, whose friends characterized him as one of the most assimilated Englishmen they knew, imbued the outsider characters who appear throughout the P & P films with an enormous poignancy and insight, especially when they had German-born Conrad Veidt and Anton Walbrook to play them. Since Pressburger was a Hungarian-born Jew who has always sounded like a fascinating, complex man who chose to be British, his affection for them never blinded him to their quirks and problems.

Despite the unique niche both Walbrook and Veidt played in their movies, most of the P & P movies feature vulnerable, somewhat alienated people taken out of their natural environment and forced to re-examine their lives, such as the the Wendy Hiller character in I Know Where I'm Going, Niall MacGinnis in The 49th Parallel, David Farrar in The Small Back Room, Deborah Kerr in Black Narcissus, and even Col. Blimp himself played by Roger Livesey. I wonder if those people would have existed on screen without Pressburger to conjure them up?

[Konway]

Moirafinnie, I agree with you about Pressburger's involvement in the casting.

I also want to point out that Powell and Pressburger films would not have been structurally strong without the involvement of Pressburger. I think Pressburger focused a lot on small details that is essential to the development of the story. For Example, Pressburger disagreed with the idea that Sister Ruth was insane in Black Narcissus. He made Sister Ruth more of a normal character who becomes troubled due to her illness. This is one of the reasons why I sympathize with a character like Sister Ruth.

[ChiO]

And for me, two of my three favorite Powell movies -- PEEPING TOM and EDGE OF THE WORLD -- were made without Pressburger.

And, true to my auteurist proclivity, the Powell, Powell and Pressburger, and The Archers movies are really Powell movies. He provided the vision and the visualization (not to diminish the quality of the scripts).

And, Powell's career spiraled downward as to general public acceptance after the break-up, but Pressburger's is, for all practical purposes, non-existant.

[Konway]

One thing is we don't know how much Pressburger is involved in the storyboard of the Powell-Pressburger films. Powell was certainly a great director. But he also says that he couldn't have made those films without the involvement of Pressburger. Powell's Peeping Tom is an interesting film. But I wish Powell was more involved with the development of the structure of Peeping Tom.