''The Small Back Room'', released in the United States as ''Hour of Glory'', is a 1949 film by the British producer-writer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger starring David Farrar and Kathleen Byron and featuring

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...

and

Cyril Cusack Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his in ...

. It was based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Nigel Balchin. The theme is the unsung heroes of the last war, the 'backroom boys', gradually coming into their own. Staff (January 26, 1949
"Film Reviews: The Small Back Room"
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' p.22

Plot

Sammy Rice ( David Farrar) is a British scientist working with a specialist " back room" team in London as a bomb disposal expert during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Rice is embittered because he feels military scientific research is being incompetently managed. He is also enduring unremitting pain from his artificial foot. The painkillers he has been prescribed are ineffective, and his use of alcohol as an analgesic has led to his alcoholism. His girlfriend Susan ( Kathleen Byron) puts up with his self-pitying, self-destructive behaviour as long as she can, but finally breaks up with him, telling him that he lacks the ambition to better himself. Rice is brought in by Captain Stuart ( Michael Gough) to help solve the problem of small

booby-trapped A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...

explosive devices (mines) being dropped by

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

bombers, which have killed four people, including three children. They receive some useful information from a critically wounded young soldier (

Bryan Forbes Bryan Forbes CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2013 and ...

in his debut). Two further mines are found at

Chesil Beach Chesil Beach (also known as Chesil Bank) in Dorset, England is one of three major shingle beach structures in Britain.A. P. Carr and M. W. L. Blackley, "Investigations Bearing on the Age and Development of Chesil Beach, Dorset, and the Associat ...

: they look like common thermos flasks. Stuart is first on the scene but has difficulty getting Rice on the telephone in his flat because Rice is alone following his break-up with Susan, angry, drunk and destructive. Rice quickly sobers up and travels to Chesil Beach, only to find that Stuart tried to defuse one of the mines and has been blown up. Rice sets to work on the second mine after listening to the notes Stuart dictated to an ATS corporal (

Renée Asherson Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was an English actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpoo ...

) during his attempt earlier in the day. He discovers that the mine has in fact two booby traps, not one, and manages to defuse them both. When Rice returns to London, his self-esteem somewhat restored by his success, he is offered an officer commission as head of the Army's new scientific research unit. He accepts. Susan returns to him and they go back to his flat to find she has repaired and reinstated everything he damaged while drunk.

Cast

* David Farrar as Sammy Rice * Kathleen Byron as Susan *

as R.B. Waring * Leslie Banks as Colonel A.K. Holland * Michael Gough as Captain Dick Stuart *

as Corporal Taylor *

Milton Rosmer Milton Rosmer (4 November 1881 – 7 December 1971) was a British actor, film director and screenwriter. He made his screen debut in '' The Mystery of a Hansom Cab'' (1915) and continued to act in theatre, film and television until 1956. I ...

as Professor Mair * Emrys Jones as Joe *

Walter Fitzgerald Walter Fitzgerald Bond (18 May 1896 – 20 December 1976) was an English character actor. Early life Born in Stoke, Plymouth, Fitzgerald was a former stockbroker before he began his theatrical training at RADA. He joined the British Army dur ...

as Brine *

as A.T.S. corporal * Henry Caine as Sergeant Major Rose *

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mi ...

as "Knucksie" Moran, barkeeper and ex-boxer *

Sam Kydd Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British-Irish actor. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in '' Crane'' and its sequel ''Orlando''. He als ...

as Private Crowhurst * Michael Goodliffe as Till *

Geoffrey Keen Geoffrey Keen (21 August 1916 – 3 November 2005) was an English actor who appeared in supporting roles in many films. He is well known for playing British Defence Minister Sir Frederick Gray in the ''James Bond'' films. Biography Early lif ...

as Pinker * June Elvin as Gillian *

David Hutcheson David Hutcheson (14 June 1905 – 18 February 1976) was a British character actor. He made his film debut in ''Fast and Loose'' in 1930 and played his only lead role in 1934's '' Romance in Rhythm''. He went on to specialise in hooray henrys, sil ...

as Norval *

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

as the government minister (credited as "A Guest") *

Roddy Hughes Rhodri Henry Hughes (19 June 1891 – 22 February 1970) was a Welsh theatre, film and television actor, who appeared in over 80 films between 1932 and 1961. Selected filmography * ''Mr. Bill the Conqueror'' (1932) * '' Reunion'' (1932) * '' Say ...

as Welsh doctor *

as Peterson, the dying gunner (credited as Brian Forbes) * Roderick Lovell as Captain Pearson * James Dale as Brigadier *

Elwyn Brook-Jones Elwyn Brook-Jones (11 December 1911 – 4 September 1962) was a British theatre, film and television actor. Life Brook-Jones was born in Kuching, Sarawak, on the island of Borneo. After a private education, he attended Jesus College, Oxford. Hi ...

as Gladwin *

Anthony Bushell Anthony Arnatt Bushell (19 May 1904 – 2 April 1997) was an English film actor and director who appeared in more than 50 films between 1929 and 1961. He played Colonel Breen in the BBC serial ''Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59), and al ...

as Colonel Strang ( Royal Engineers OC) *

Julian Somers John Julian Somers (12 November 1903 – 11 November 1976), known as Julian Somers, was a prolific English stage and screen actor. Career By 1934, Somers was appearing in rep at Croydon. In 1937, he was on stage in Jeffrey Dell's play ''Night Al ...

as Dr Bryan * James Carney as Sergeant Groves * Ted Heath's Kenny Baker Swing Group as Hickory Tree Band * Kenny Baker as Trumpeter * Frederic Lewis as Fred Lewis (credited as Frederick Lewis) * Patrick Macnee as a committee member (uncredited)

Production

''The Small Back Room'' marked the return of Powell and Pressburger to

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)the Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

that culminated with '' The Red Shoes''. The film was shot at a number of studios:

Denham Film Studios Denham Film Studios was a British film production studio operating from 1936 to 1952, founded by Alexander Korda. Notable films made at Denham include ''Brief Encounter'' and David Lean's ''Great Expectations''. From the 1950s to the 1970s th ...

in Buckinghamshire; Worton Hall Studios in Isleworth,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

; and

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused ...

Shepperton Shepperton is an urban village in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, approximately south west of central London. Shepperton is equidistant between the towns of Chertsey and Sunbury-on-Thames. The village is mentioned in a document of 959 AD ...

, Surrey. Location shooting took place at Chesil Bank and

St Catherine's Chapel, Abbotsbury St Catherine's Chapel is a small chapel situated on a hill above the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. It is dedicated to Saint Catherine. It is now in the guardianship of English Heritage, and became a Grade I listed building in 1956. ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

; Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain; on the

Victoria Embankment Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfare ...

in London; and at Abbotsbury station. In his autobiography, ''A Life in Movies'', Michael Powell acknowledged the influence of

German expressionist German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

films such as ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' (German: ''Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens'') is a 1922 silent German Expressionist horror film directed by F. W. Murnau and starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who preys on the wife ...

'' in leading him towards making films such as ''The Red Shoes'', ''

Tales of Hoffmann ''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died in ...

'' and ''The Small Back Room''.

Critical reception

The review for ''

'' said that although the film lacked "the production tricks usually associated with owell and Pressburger it was nevertheless "a craftsmanlike job". It praised the performance of David Farrar as "his best role", and lauded the careful casting of the "lesser roles." ''The Small Back Room'' was nominated for a 1950

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

as "Best British Film".

DVD

The

Region 2 DVD DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to ...

was released in May 2004 by Studio Canal /

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

. In Region 1,

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...

released the film in August 2008. The release included an essay, an interview with cinematographer Christopher Challis, an audio commentary and excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography.

References

External links

* * * * . Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries).
''The Small Back Room''
reviews and articles at th
Powell & Pressburger Pages''The Small Back Room: Whisky Galore!''
an essay by

Nick James Nick or Nicholas James may refer to: * Nick James (cricketer) (born 1986), English cricketer * Nick James (critic), British film critic * Nicholas James (actor), American actor also credited as Nick James * Nick James (American football) (born 1993 ...

at the Criterion Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Small Back Room, The 1949 films 1949 romantic drama films British romantic drama films British black-and-white films 1940s war drama films British World War II films Films based on British novels Films set in London Films set on beaches Films by Powell and Pressburger British war drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s British films