The Small Back Room dir by Powell + Pressburger Introduced by Derek Collett

Tuesday 18th October

The Small Back Room (1949, written, directed and produced by ¬Ýteam of ¬ÝPowell and Pressburger. Less well-known than their big hits¬ÝA Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcussus¬Ýand¬ÝThe Red Shoes¬Ý¬Ýit’s a wonderful and nail-biting ¬Ýnoir thriller in a downbeat setting.¬Ý

The Small Back Room was based on the best-selling novel by Nigel Balchin, one of the most popular authors of the 1940s. This screening will be introduced by Derek Collett, author of His Own Executioner, a highly-praised biography of Balchin published last year.

Wartime boffins in a race against time to defuse a new type of bomb. Our hero Sammy Rice (brilliantly played by David Farrer) is a former bomb disposal expert, now an alcoholic with a tin leg and what we today would call ‘issues’. His girlfriend Susan (Kathleen Byron) is loyal but anxious – and the local pub landlord (Sid James) has a stake in their relationship

This nerve-shredding and frequently surreal thriller was shot in London, with a nerve-shredding climax on Cheshil Beach in Dorset. As you might expect from Powell and Pressburger, this is no ordinary drama. Sid James is at the bar.

Evening Currated by David Collard