Michael Powell

Biography

Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was a renowned English film director, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. They worked together under the name of "The Archers" and produced a series of classic British films, notably The Thief of Bagdad (1940), 49th Parallel (1941), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (1946, also called Stairway to Heaven), Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948). His controversial 1960 film Peeping Tom, however, was so vilified that his career was seriously damaged.

Directed

1. Peeping Tom (1960) — Director
2. The Red Shoes (1948) — Director
3. Black Narcissus (1947) — Director
4. A Matter of Life and Death (1946) — Director
5. The Thief of Bagdad (1940) — Director
6. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) — Director
7. I Know Where I'm Going! (1945) — Director
8. A Canterbury Tale (1944) — Director
9. 49th Parallel (1941) — Director
10. The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) — Director
11. Age of Consent (1969) — Director
12. The Small Back Room (1949) — Director
13. The Battle of the River Plate (1956) — Director
14. The Spy in Black (1939) — Director
15. One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942) — Director
16. Ill Met by Moonlight (1957) — Director
17. The Edge of the World (1937) — Director
18. Gone to Earth (1950) — Director
19. They're a Weird Mob (1966) — Director
20. Contraband (1940) — Director
21. The Phantom Light (1935) — Director
22. Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955) — Director
23. The Lion Has Wings (1939) — Director
24. The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972) — Director
25. Bluebeard's Castle (1963) — Director
26. Crown v. Stevens (1936) — Director
27. The Defenders (1961) — Director
28. The Elusive Pimpernel (1950) — Director
29. Return to the Edge of the World (1978) — Director
30. The Volunteer (1944) — Director
31. Red Ensign (1934) — Director
32. The Fire Raisers (1934) — Director
33. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1955) — Director
34. Honeymoon (1959) — Director
35. Something Always Happens (1934) — Director
36. The Man Behind the Mask (1936) — Director
37. The Night of the Party (1934) — Director
38. The Queen's Guards (1961) — Director
39. An Airman's Letter to His Mother (1941) — Director
40. Lazybones (1935) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Peeping Tom (1960) — Mark's Father - A.N. Lewis (uncredited)
2. One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942) — Despatching Officer
3. The Edge of the World (1937) — Mr. Graham - the Yachtsman (uncredited)
4. Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff (2010) — Self (voice) (archive sound)
5. The Magician (1926) — Man with Balloon at Snake Charming (uncredited)
6. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (2024) — Self (archive footage)
7. Return to the Edge of the World (1978) — Self
8. The Volunteer (1944) — Self
9. Chaplin Today: A Woman of Paris (2003) — Self (archive sound)
10. Honeymoon (1959) — Guide Describing the Lovers of Teruel (voice) (uncredited)
11. Churchill and the Movie Mogul (2019) — Self (archive footage)
12. A Very British Psycho (1997) — Himself
13. The Golden Gong: The Story of Rank Films - British Cinema's Legendary Studio (1985) — Self
14. The Scorsese Machine (1990) — Self
15. Hotel Splendide (1932) — Bugging Device Engineer (uncredited)
16. Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 1: Spooky Islands (1927) — Cicero Baedeker Symp
17. The Compulsory Husband (1929) — Man
18. The Garden of Allah (1927) — A Tourist
19. Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 10: Fauny Business (1927) — Cicero Baedeker Symp
20. Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 2: A Nasty Jar (1927) — Cicero Baedeker Symp
21. Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 6 (1927) — Cicero Baedeker Symp
22. Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 11: Scents and Nonsense (1927) — Cicero Baedeker Symp
23. Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 9: Cold Feats (1927) — Cicero Baedeker Symp
24. Riviera Revels - Travelaugh No. 12 (1927) — Cicero Baedeker Symp
25. Fear (1986) — Himself
26. Tears (1986) — Himself
27. Laughter (1986) — Himself
28. Picture Business: Michael Powell at Dartmouth (1980)
29. Inside Rupert Pupkin (2014) — Self (archive footage)
30. A Pretty British Affair (1981) — Interviewee