Michael Powell: Early Works

Throughout the 1930s, director Michael Powell (The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death, Peeping Tom) honed his craft on a succession of modestly budgeted feature films produced under the United Kingdom’s screen ‘quota’ system. Many of these titles remain lost but, those which survive, reveal a burgeoning talent that readily established Powell as one of British cinema’s leading lights. This new 2-disc collection brings together five of those early films directed by Powell, newly remastered by the BFI National Archive, including murder mysteries, sensational thrillers and a comedy caper. Discover the formative works of a filmmaking icon, available on Blu-ray for the first time.
The Films:
Rynox (1932, 47 mins)
Hotel Splendide (1932, 53 mins)
The Night of the Party (1934, 63 mins)
Her Last Affaire (1936, 68 mins)
Behind the Mask (aka The Man Behind the Mask) (1936, 55 mins)

Special Features

•Newly remastered from original camera materials and presented in High Definition
•Newly recorded audio commentaries by Marc David Jacobs (Rynox, Behind the Mask, Emeric Powell Home Movie), Lawrence Napper and Dom Delargy (Hotel Splendide), Jo Botting and Vic Pratt (Night of the Party), and Ian Christie (Her Last Affaire), Bryony Dixon (Riviera Revels)
•Riviera Revels: Travelaughs No. 1 and No. 2 (1927): Powell himself appears in these rare short comedy curiosities from the silent era
•Inside the Archive: The Early films of Michael Powell (2024): a new documentary exploring the BFI National Archive’s role in rediscovering and remastering the early films of Michael Powell.
•Vanishing in Thunder: The Unmade Films of Michael Powell (2023): documentary by Henry Barnes exploring some of Michael Powell’s unrealised films
•Emeric Pressburger Home Movie (1954): Powell and Pressburger are both seen on camera as they travel to Argentina for a 1954 Film Festival
•**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Booklet featuring contributions from James Bell, Marc David Jacobs, Lawrence Napper, Pamela Hutchinson, Ian Christie, Bryony Dixon, Claire Smith, Josephine Botting and Kieron Webb

Actors: Cecil Parker, Googie Withers, John Laurie, Leslie Banks

Audio Languages: English

Duration: 286 minutes

Number of Discs: 2

Subtitle Languages: English

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