Fri, May 8, 1981
Alexander Korda brought Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger together for the film The Spy in Black up to then Powell had been directing low budget films in Britain and Pressburger working as a scriptwriter in Europe. They stayed together for 20 years and 20 films first a series of inventive contributions to the war effort including 49th Parallel a A Canterbury Tale then a variety of imaginative attempts to produce post war films of international appeal and sophistication from a strong British base, which led to successes such as A Matter of Life and Death and The Red Shoes but foundered in the 1950's, After the partnership dissolved Powell directed Peeping Tom which when rediscovered by a a younger generation caused a renewed appreciation Powell and Pressburger, In 1943 they formed The Archers as an independent production company under which all their later productions were made.