Michael Powell: Early Works BFI Blu-Ray (2 Disc Set)
In the 1930’s a government directive was issued to the British film industry that there had to be a specific number of films produced for home consumption. These were known as quota quickies. Michael Powell directed 23 low budget films over six years. Only 13 are known to exist. The BFI has now issued 5 of these films: Rynox (1931), Hotel Splendide (1932), The Night of the Party (1935), Her Last Affaire (1935) and Behind the Mask (1936).
Michael Powel learnt his craft on his quota allowance and the results are impressive. You immediately see how inventive the young filmmaker was. His working for directors Rex Ingram and Alfred Hitchcock shows. From the influence of Ingram’s silents we see Powell the vivacious film magician emerging and also a pacing of suspense that’s inspired by Hitchcock. And now and then we have a directorial personality that’s Powell in embryo. What’s apparent that even in the most realistic of 1930s storylines (The Night of the Party and Her Last Affaire) there’s a determined attempt to undermine a cinema of naturalism. A mischievous romantic sensibility runs through these B pictures making them glow in a manner that’s not obvious period charm but Powell’s passion to tell stories differently.
Rynox concerns F.X. Bendik, the wealthy head of the Rynox company, who’s received threats from a mysterious stranger named Boswell Marsh. Benedik is murdered by Marsh but the search for the killer results in more complicated intrigue.
Rynox’s opening scenes are menacingly funny. A large, bearded man, looking like an old fashioned theatrical villain, wearing a hat, cloak and waving a cane enters a theatre ticket booking agency to ferociously demand tickets for a play. The part is played with a subversive energy (later on the man boisterously enters a gun shop) which had me recalling the scene in Powell’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp when Blimp roars out from his steam bath.
Powell’s subtle use of mirrors, to reflect duplicity and doubt, is sophisticated enough to make me think of Losey’s The Servant. Whilst his lighting and employment of set design reveal the influence of Fritz Lang. And in the setting out of the arrangements for Bendik’s suicide (Not murder!) there’s a planning and care for detail as confident as Hitchcock.
More felicities are to be found in the comedy thriller Hotel Splendide which packs a lot of action and wit into a mere 53 mins.
Jerry Mason inherits the Hotel Splendide at Speymouth. He thinks it will be a grand establishment to manage but unfortunately turns out to be small, quiet place with only a few residents. Enter Gentleman Charlie, an ex con and jewel thief, who wants to dig up the garden where he’s buried a box of valuable pearls.
Hotel Splendide’s absurd goings on never tip the film into a laboured farce for it’s often amiably hilarious. Again Powell’s astute employment of mirrors (The opening where Mason the clerk plays at being a tough boss firing an employee whilst being watched by Mason’s bosses, and by us, in a mirror is very amusing). The scene where Mason leads a group of residents, in pursuit of Gentleman Charlie illustrates Powell’s light touch: unusual camera angles and Gounod’s music, much later the theme music for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, prove to be clever and inventive. And the cheeky placement of a black cat, shown to depict a rival villain named Pussy, had me smiling. All this could have been so stagey but it isn’t for a future master of cinema is learning the tricks of the trade in a lovely quirky entertainment.
The Night of the Party is a whodunit that’s very talkie; though the film delivers some sharp satirical points at royalty and the upper classes. When we do discover who committed the murder at the dinner party then the scene where the writer Chiddiatt (Ernest Thesiger) running amok in a courtroom proves to be violent, bizarre and very Michael Powell.
Her Last Affaire – a tale of betrayal, accidental death and of a hero / ‘culprit’ escaping from the hotel, where the wife of a politician dies, is amusing and engaging, though at times a little stiff in conception. Most memorable is the sequence where the maid Effie (A wonderful comic performance from Googie Withers) enters the room to discover the body. She doesn’t scream (the expected cliché) but checks the room, discovers an important letter, which has a bearing on the supposed crime of poisoning. Effie then returns, breakfast tray in hand, to the door and finally screams. That’s so well executed and reveals Powell’s already expert direction of actors.
Behind the Mask is a mystery film. A man attacks and changes places with another at a masked ball. He then steals a valuable gold plate – casting suspicion on the original man. Behind the Mask
is the 1944 abridged re-issue and runs for only 56 mins. I enjoyed the early ball scenes and the chase very much. But things eventually get a bit too melodramatic and implausible though the performances are really good.
All five films are accompanied by excellent extras. Most notably the documentary Visions, Dreams and Magic: The Unmade Films of Michael Powell – Powell was unable to get funding for his most cherished project an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest starring James Mason and Mia Farrow, alas. But best of all is
the silent extra Riviera Revels- Travelaugh No. 1 and No. 10 (1927, 26mins in total). This is an eccentric blend of travelogue and comedy. A group of tourists are exploring the sights of the Riviera
with a clumsy botanist (played by Michael Powell, doing a Keaton and Lloyd act) attempting to keep up. And alongside the antics of the group the films’ intertitles are often strikingly funny.
This BFI set doesn’t contain five lost masterpieces but intelligent, well crafted films that in spite of tight budgetary constraints are, for the most part, fresh and engaging. Can we have some more Powell quota quickies, please? How about a restoration of Red Ensign and The Love Test to follow? I hope a Powell Early Works vol 2 is in preparation.
Alan Price©2024
Michael Powell: Early Works BFI Blu-Ray (2 Disc Set)
In the 1930’s a government directive was issued to the British film industry that there had to be a specific number of films produced for home consumption. These were known as quota quickies. Michael Powell directed 23 low budget films over six years. Only 13 are known to exist. The BFI has now issued 5 of these films: Rynox (1931), Hotel Splendide (1932), The Night of the Party (1935), Her Last Affaire (1935) and Behind the Mask (1936).
Michael Powel learnt his craft on his quota allowance and the results are impressive. You immediately see how inventive the young filmmaker was. His working for directors Rex Ingram and Alfred Hitchcock shows. From the influence of Ingram’s silents we see Powell the vivacious film magician emerging and also a pacing of suspense that’s inspired by Hitchcock. And now and then we have a directorial personality that’s Powell in embryo. What’s apparent that even in the most realistic of 1930s storylines (The Night of the Party and Her Last Affaire) there’s a determined attempt to undermine a cinema of naturalism. A mischievous romantic sensibility runs through these B pictures making them glow in a manner that’s not obvious period charm but Powell’s passion to tell stories differently.
Rynox concerns F.X. Bendik, the wealthy head of the Rynox company, who’s received threats from a mysterious stranger named Boswell Marsh. Benedik is murdered by Marsh but the search for the killer results in more complicated intrigue.
Rynox’s opening scenes are menacingly funny. A large, bearded man, looking like an old fashioned theatrical villain, wearing a hat, cloak and waving a cane enters a theatre ticket booking agency to ferociously demand tickets for a play. The part is played with a subversive energy (later on the man boisterously enters a gun shop) which had me recalling the scene in Powell’s The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp when Blimp roars out from his steam bath.
Powell’s subtle use of mirrors, to reflect duplicity and doubt, is sophisticated enough to make me think of Losey’s The Servant. Whilst his lighting and employment of set design reveal the influence of Fritz Lang. And in the setting out of the arrangements for Bendik’s suicide (Not murder!) there’s a planning and care for detail as confident as Hitchcock.
More felicities are to be found in the comedy thriller Hotel Splendide which packs a lot of action and wit into a mere 53 mins.
Jerry Mason inherits the Hotel Splendide at Speymouth. He thinks it will be a grand establishment to manage but unfortunately turns out to be small, quiet place with only a few residents. Enter Gentleman Charlie, an ex con and jewel thief, who wants to dig up the garden where he’s buried a box of valuable pearls.
Hotel Splendide’s absurd goings on never tip the film into a laboured farce for it’s often amiably hilarious. Again Powell’s astute employment of mirrors (The opening where Mason the clerk plays at being a tough boss firing an employee whilst being watched by Mason’s bosses, and by us, in a mirror is very amusing). The scene where Mason leads a group of residents, in pursuit of Gentleman Charlie illustrates Powell’s light touch: unusual camera angles and Gounod’s music, much later the theme music for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, prove to be clever and inventive. And the cheeky placement of a black cat, shown to depict a rival villain named Pussy, had me smiling. All this could have been so stagey but it isn’t for a future master of cinema is learning the tricks of the trade in a lovely quirky entertainment.
The Night of the Party is a whodunit that’s very talkie; though the film delivers some sharp satirical points at royalty and the upper classes. When we do discover who committed the murder at the dinner party then the scene where the writer Chiddiatt (Ernest Thesiger) running amok in a courtroom proves to be violent, bizarre and very Michael Powell.
Her Last Affaire – a tale of betrayal, accidental death and of a hero / ‘culprit’ escaping from the hotel, where the wife of a politician dies, is amusing and engaging, though at times a little stiff in conception. Most memorable is the sequence where the maid Effie (A wonderful comic performance from Googie Withers) enters the room to discover the body. She doesn’t scream (the expected cliché) but checks the room, discovers an important letter, which has a bearing on the supposed crime of poisoning. Effie then returns, breakfast tray in hand, to the door and finally screams. That’s so well executed and reveals Powell’s already expert direction of actors.
Behind the Mask is a mystery film. A man attacks and changes places with another at a masked ball. He then steals a valuable gold plate – casting suspicion on the original man. Behind the Mask
is the 1944 abridged re-issue and runs for only 56 mins. I enjoyed the early ball scenes and the chase very much. But things eventually get a bit too melodramatic and implausible though the performances are really good.
All five films are accompanied by excellent extras. Most notably the documentary Visions, Dreams and Magic: The Unmade Films of Michael Powell – Powell was unable to get funding for his most cherished project an adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest starring James Mason and Mia Farrow, alas. But best of all is
the silent extra Riviera Revels- Travelaugh No. 1 and No. 10 (1927, 26mins in total). This is an eccentric blend of travelogue and comedy. A group of tourists are exploring the sights of the Riviera
with a clumsy botanist (played by Michael Powell, doing a Keaton and Lloyd act) attempting to keep up. And alongside the antics of the group the films’ intertitles are often strikingly funny.
This BFI set doesn’t contain five lost masterpieces but intelligent, well crafted films that in spite of tight budgetary constraints are, for the most part, fresh and engaging. Can we have some more Powell quota quickies, please? How about a restoration of Red Ensign and The Love Test to follow? I hope a Powell Early Works vol 2 is in preparation.
Alan Price©2024
By Alan Price • film, year 2024 • Tags: Alan Price, film