THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP

36° TORINO FILM FESTIVAL
POWELL & PRESSBURGER

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP
by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Country: UK
Year: 1943
Duration: 163'


The first Archers movie and their first masterpiece in Technicolor: a British and a Prussian officer challenge each other to a duel in Berlin in 1902; they become friends and fall in love with the same woman during their convalescence; they fight in WWI as enemies; and come across each other once again, as old men, during the Second World War. Encapsulated in a flashback, the grand, compassionate fresco of an era and two different outlooks, a favorite of Scorsese and Tavernier, starring Anton Walbrook, Roger Livesey, and Deborah Kerr, who embodies the three women in the lives of Clive and Theo.

Biography

film director

Michael Powell

Michael Powell (Bekesbourne, UK, 1905 - Avening, UK, 1990) started his collaboration with Emerich Pressburger (Miskolc, Hungary, 1902 - Saxstead, UK, 1988) in 1939. In 1943 they formed their own production company, Archers Film Productions. They made nineteen films together, such as The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Black Narcissus (1947), Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). The Archers Film Productions came to an end in 1957 and the pair separated to pursue their individual careers (Powell in 1960 directed Peeping Tom) but they remained devoted friends for the rest of their lives. 

FILMOGRAFIA


Michael Powell:
Two Crowded Hours (mm, 1931), My Friend the King (mm, 1931), Rynox (mm, 1931), The Rasp (mm, 1931), The Star Reporter (mm, 1931), Hotel Splendide (mm, 1932), C.O.D. (1932), His Lordship (1932), Born Lucky (1932), The Fire Raisers (1933), The Night of the Party (1933), Red Ensign (Vessillo rosso, 1934), Something Always (1934), The Girl in the Crowd (mm, 1934), Lazybones (1935), The Love Test (1935), The Phantom Light (1935), The Price of a Song (1935), Someday (1935), Her Last Affaire (1936), The Brown Wallet (1936), Crown V. Stevens (1936), The Man Behind the Mask (1936), The Edge of the World (Ai confini del mondo, 1937), The Spy in Black (La spia in nero, 1939), The Lion Has Wings (Leoni dell’aria, doc., 1939), Contraband (Contrabbando, 1940), The Thief of Bagdad (coregia/codirector Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan, Il ladro di Bagdad, 1940), An Airman’s Letter to His Mother (cm, 1941), 49th Parallel (Gli invasori/49° parallelo, 1941), One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (Volo senza ritorno, 1942), The Sorcerer’s Apprendice (cm, 1955), Honeymoon (1959), Peeping Tom (L’occhio che uccide, 1960), The Queen’s Guards (Le guardie della Regina, 1961), Never Turn Back On a Friend (mm, tv, 1963), A Free Agent (mm, tv, 1964), The Bluebeard’s Castle (1964), The Sworn Twelve (mm, tv, 1965), A 398 46 (mm, tv, 1965), They’re a Weird Mob (Sono strana gente, 1966), Age of Consent (L’età del consenso, 1968), The Boy Who Turned Yellow (Il ragazzo che diventò giallo, 1972), Return to the Edge of the World (tv, 1978).


Michael Powell, Emerich Pressburger:
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Duello a Berlino, 1943), The Volunteer (Il volontario, 1943), A Canterbury Tale (Un racconto di Canterbury, 1944), I Know Where I’m Going (So dove vado, 1945), Black Narcissus (Narciso nero, 1947), The Red Shoes (Scarpette rosse, 1948), The Small Back Room (1949), Gone to Earth (La volpe, 1950), The Elusive Pimpernel (L’inafferrabile Primula Rossa, 1950), The Tales of Hoffmann (I racconti di Hoffmann, 1951), Oh... Rosalinda!! (id., 1955), The Battle of the River Plate (La battaglia di Rio della Plata, 1956), Ill Met by Moonlight (Colpo di mano a Creta, 1956). 

Emerich Pressburger

Michael Powell (Bekesbourne, UK, 1905 - Avening, UK, 1990) started his collaboration with Emerich Pressburger (Miskolc, Hungary, 1902 - Saxstead, UK, 1988) in 1939. In 1943 they formed their own production company, Archers Film Productions. They made nineteen films together, such as The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Black Narcissus (1947), Red Shoes (1948) and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). The Archers Film Productions came to an end in 1957 and the pair separated to pursue their individual careers (Powell in 1960 directed Peeping Tom) but they remained devoted friends for the rest of their lives. 

FILMOGRAFIA

Emeric Pressburg:
Twice Upon a Time (C’era una volta…, 1953)


Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger:
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Duello a Berlino, 1943), The Volunteer (Il volontario, 1943), A Canterbury Tale (Un racconto di Canterbury, 1944), I Know Where I’m Going (Io so dove vado, 1945), A Matter of Life and Death (Scala al Paradiso, 1946), Black Narcissus (Narciso Nero, 1947), The Red Shoes (Scarpette rosse, 1948), The Small Back Room (I ragazzi del retrobottega, 1949), Gone to Earth (La volpe, 1950), The Elusive Pimpernel (L’inafferrabile Primula Rossa, 1950), The Tales of Hoffmann (I racconti di Hoffmann, 1951), Oh… Rosalinda!! (id., 1955), The Battle of the River Plate (La battaglia di Rio de la Plata, 1956), Ill Met by Moonlight (Colpo di mano a Creta, 1957).



Cast

& Credits

regia, sceneggiatura, produttori/directors, screenplay, producers
Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
fotografia/cinematography
Georges Périnal
montaggio/film editing
John Seabourne
scenografia/production design
Alfred Junge
musica/music
Allan Gray
interpreti e personaggi/cast and characters
Roger Livesey (Clive Candy), Anton Walbrook (Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff), Deborah Kerr (Edith Hunter, Barbara Wynne, Angela «Johnny» Cannon), Roland Culver (Col. Betteridge), James McKechnie (Spud Wilson), Albert Lieven (von Ritter)
produzione/production
The Archers, Independent Producers
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