This film is currently unavailable
The Spy in Black
A masterful thriller with true flair, The Spy In Black has a much larger importance: it threw Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger together for the first time.
Director: Michael Powell
Overview
A masterful thriller with true flair, The Spy In Black has a much larger importance. It threw Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger together, and The Archers' first arrow hits dead centre. U-Boat captain Conrad Veidt arrives in The Orkney Islands to meet a fellow spy. News from a British traitor emboldens him, starting a game of chase on land and sea. Suspense and depth elevate this far beyond the 'quota quickie' of the time.
Powell's technical mastery creates real thrills, while Pressburger's script adds form and flavour, painting the German in light and shade (brave for a film released three weeks before the invasion of Poland). He is helped by Veidt, whose thin face and dagger eyes haunt. Both men had fled Nazi tyranny for Britain, giving their work here an undeniable extra frisson.
Related
Occupied City Occupied City
Documentary 2023 251 mins Director: Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen’s cinematic commemoration of the Holocaust offers a multidimensional experience full of gravity and sublimity.
The Small Back Room The Small Back Room
Thriller 1949 103 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
An embittered bomb disposal expert is driven to drink in Powell and Pressburger’s compelling insight into the mental anguish of the alcoholic.
Casablanca Casablanca
Romance 1942 103 mins Director: Michael Curtiz
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman star in the eternal story of love, loss and redemption; the ultimate testament to the brilliance of Golden Age Hollywood.
Summerland Summerland
Drama 2020 100 mins Director: Jessica Swale
Gemma Arterton stars in acclaimed theatre director Jessica Swale’s moving Second World War drama, as a woman rediscovering her ability to love.
Kanarie Kanarie
Drama 2018 124 mins Director: Christiaan Olwagen
A Boy George-obsessed smalltown boy joins the South African Defence Force army choir, in this quirky Apartheid-era musical drama.
Full Metal Jacket Full Metal Jacket
War 1987 117 mins Director: Stanley Kubrick
Recruits move from the brutal US Marine training bootcamp – into the nightmare of war.
Black Narcissus Black Narcissus
Drama 1947 101 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Tensions grow when a group of nuns open a convent in the Himalayas in Powell and Pressburger’s remarkable melodrama, starring Deborah Kerr.
A Canterbury Tale A Canterbury Tale
War 1944 125 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Powell and Pressburger's most personal film combines a Chaucer-inspired pilgrimage with a war-time celebration of English landscape and values to create a gem of British cinema.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
War 1943 164 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Powell and Pressburger’s masterpiece follows the rise and fall of a career soldier, from dashing and brave young officer in the Boer War to a pompous and old-fashioned Colonel by the time of World War Two.
I Know Where I'm Going! I Know Where I'm Going!
Drama 1945 90 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Powell and Pressburger’s heady romantic masterpiece has never looked or sounded finer than in this revelatory restoration from the BFI National Archive.
The Small Back Room The Small Back Room
Thriller 1949 103 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
An embittered bomb disposal expert is driven to drink in Powell and Pressburger’s compelling insight into the mental anguish of the alcoholic.
I Was a Spy I Was a Spy
War 1933 91 mins Director: Victor Saville
A nurse who doubles as a spy in German-occupied Belgium attracts the attentions of a German commandant.
Rome Express Rome Express
Thriller 1933 91 mins Director: Walter Forde
A star-studded international cast boards the Paris-Rome express for this lavish comedy-thriller from Gainsborough Pictures.
It Happened Here It Happened Here
Science Fiction 1966 101 mins Director: Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo
Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's legendary, independently produced speculative fiction, imagining the Nazi occupation of Britain.
Men Are Not Gods Men Are Not Gods
Comedy 1936 83 mins Director: Walter Reisch
A theatre critic's secretary is caught up in a love triangle involving the stars of a production of Othello.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
Rynox Rynox
Crime 1932 46 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s earliest existing film is a twisty thriller crafted with a bold visual style that is unmistakeably influenced by Fritz Lang.
Hotel Splendide Hotel Splendide
Comedy 1932 53 mins Director: Michael Powell
Music hall veteran Jerry Verno stars as a lowly clerk who gets more than he bargained for when he inherits a hotel, in Michael Powell's charming comedy.
The Night of the Party The Night of the Party
Crime 1934 61 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s fun stage adaptation about a murder at a society party, with characterful performances from its fine ensemble cast.
Crown v. Stevens Crown v. Stevens
Crime 1936 67 mins Director: Michael Powell
Patric Knowles stars as a naïve young man who becomes embroiled in the murderous, money-hungry scheming of his boss’s wife, in Michael Powell’s stylish proto-film noir.
Something Always Happens Something Always Happens
Comedy 1934 70 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s sprightly comedy about a freeloading charmer who romances the daughter of a wealthy petrol station owner.
Late Night with the Devil Late Night with the Devil
Horror 2023 93 mins Director: Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes
Like Ghostwatch reimagined as a cheesy 1970s chat show, this deviously clever found-footage horror has scares to spare.
Drifter Drifter
Drama 2023 79 mins Director: Hannes Hirsch
A scintillating portrait of a young man coming to terms with life, love, sex and relationships in contemporary Berlin.
Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings Boys on Film 24: Happy Endings
Anthology 2024 174 mins Director: Jason Bradbury, Jesse Ung, Diego Alvarez Parra, Itai Jamshy, Fabia Martin, Alejandro Sandoval Bertín, Sara Larrota, Benjamin Belloir, Jeremy McClain and Arthur Cahn
A compilation of new gay short films showcasing unashamedly positive stories of love, sex and romance to move, inspire and uplift.
Four Daughters Four Daughters
Drama-documentary 2023 103 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
The mother-daughter relationship is explored to cathartic effect in this complex and poignant hybrid documentary about a woman and her missing daughters.
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.