The Cinema Of Powell & Pressburger – Collection One (1939 – 1947) – Imprint Collection #456 – 461
Original price was: AUD$229.95.AUD$194.95Current price is: AUD$194.95.
| Number of Blu-ray Discs | 7 |
|---|---|
| Rating | PG |
| Release Date | 27-Aug-25 |
| Runtime (in minutes) | 11hr 38min approx. |
| Subtitles | English HOH |
| Product Code | IMP4988 |
Six films from the first eight years of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Any pre-order titles will be dispatched in the week leading up to its aforementioned release date. Special features and artwork are subject to change. See FAQs for more information.
The Cinema Of Powell & Pressburger – Collection One (1939 – 1947) – Imprint Collection #456 – 461
Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger forged a filmmaking partnership that has forever influenced the silver screen, crafting a catalogue of twenty-four films that are among the most renowned works cinema has to offer.
This first selection features six entries from the first eight years of their collaboration:
- The Spy In Black (1939)
- 49th Parallel (1941)
- The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
- A Canterbury Tale (1944) – Worldwide Blu-ray debut!
- A Matter Of Life and Death (1946)
- Black Narcissus (1947)
Limited Edition 7-Disc Hardbox. 1500 copies only.
______________________________________________
The Spy In Black (1939) – Imprint Collection #456
Powell and Pressburger’s very first film came to be thanks to the great Alexander Korda, who introduced the pair for this adaptation of the novel by Joseph Storer Clouston.
A German submarine is sent to the Orkney Isles in 1917 to sink the British fleet.
This suspenseful World War I thriller is packed with twists, sabotage, and skilful performances from Conrad Veidt (Casablanca), Valerie Hobson (Great Expectations), and Sebastian Shaw (Return of the Jedi).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a restored high-definition transfer
- NEW Audio Commentary by film critic Kim Newman and Jo Botting from the BFI National Archive (2025)
- NEW Celluloid Miracle – interview with Powell and Pressburger film scholar Ian Christie (2025)
- NEW A Dazzling Start – interview with author Charles Barr (2025)
- Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono
- Aspect Ratio 1.33:1
- Optional English HOH Subtitles
______________________________________________
49th Parallel (1941) – Imprint Collection #457
With an original story and screenplay by Pressburger and direction from Michael Powell, this riveting drama hurls the viewer inside the early days of WWII with “the mightiest manhunt that ever swept the screen!”
A German U-boat is sunk in Canada’s Hudson Bay. Hoping to evade capture, a small band of German soldiers led by commanding officer Lieutenant Hirth attempts to cross the border into the United States, which has not yet entered the war and is officially neutral.
Starring Leslie Howard (Gone With The Wind) and Laurence Olivier.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a restored high-definition transfer
- NEW Audio Commentary by film historians Jonathan Rigby and Kevin Lyons (2025)
- NEW Call to Arms – interview with Powell and Pressburger film scholar Ian Christie (2025)
- NEW Statecraft and Stagecraft – interview with author Jeremy Arnold (2025)
- Theatrical Trailer
- Audio: English 2.0 Mono
- Aspect Ratio 1.33:1
- Optional English HOH Subtitles
______________________________________________
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) – Imprint Collection #458
Special 2-Disc set!
Written and directed by Powell and Pressburger, this wartime Technicolor comedy is among the most loved films of all time.
General Candy, who’s overseeing an English squad in 1943, is a veteran leader who doesn’t have the respect of the men he’s training and is considered out-of-touch with what’s needed to win the war. But it wasn’t always this way. Flashing back to his early career in the Boer War and World War I, we see a dashing young officer whose life has been shaped by three different women, and by a lasting friendship with a German soldier.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
Disc One:
- 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K restoration by The Film Foundation and Janus Films, in association with the BFI National Archive, ITV Studios Global Entertainment Ltd., the Museum of Modern Art, and Romulus Films.
- NEW Audio Commentary by film historian/filmmaker Daniel Kremer (2025)
- Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono
- Aspect Ratio 1.37:1
- Optional English HOH Subtitles
Disc Two:
- The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp – 115 minute 1945 US version (standard definition)
- NEW A Breakthrough – Interview with Powell and Pressburger film scholar Ian Christie (2025)
- NEW An Evolving Propaganda – interview with author Charles Drazin (2025)
- Martin Scorsese Restoration Piece – featurette
- A Profile of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp – documentary
- Photo Gallery
______________________________________________
A Canterbury Tale (1944) – Imprint Collection #459
Worldwide first on Blu-ray!
Powell and Pressburger delve into the mystery genre in this take on Chaucer’s classic 14th century works, a tale of connection and redemption.
There is a bizarre crime taking place in a small town near Canterbury. An unknown assailant known as ‘the glue man’ is pouring glue on women’s heads at nighttime, and three modern day pilgrims are determined to investigate.
A haunting dream that defies expectation, A Canterbury Tale is a must-see journey for fans of classic cinema.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a restored high-definition transfer
- NEWAudio Commentary by script supervisor Paddy Arnold, 2nd assistant editor Jim Pople and author Paul Tritton (2025)
- NEW Pople’s Pilgrimage – interview with 2nd assistant editor Jim Pople (2025)
- NEW Listening to Britain – interview with Powell and Pressburger film scholar Ian Christie (2025)
- NEW Connecting with the Magic – interview with film critic Kim Newman (2025)
- NEW A Continual Revelation – interview with author Charles Barr (2025)
- American version excerpts starring Kim Hunter
- Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono
- Aspect Ratio 1.33:1
- Optional English HOH Subtitles
______________________________________________
A Matter Of Life and Death (1946) – Imprint Collection #460
A defining film from the 40s and of all cinema, Powell and Pressburger’s meditation on life after death is an essential, unmissable, beautiful story.
When a young RAF pilot miraculously survives bailing out of his aeroplane without a parachute, he falls in love with an American radio operator. But the officials in the other world realise their mistake and dispatch an angel to collect him.
Starring David Niven, Roger Livesey, Raymond Massey, Kim Hunter and Marius Goring.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 1080p high-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a restored transfer
- NEW Audio Commentary by film historian/author Stuart Galbraith IV (2025)
- NEW Memories Matter – interview with assistant editor Jim Pople (2025)
- NEW Heaven Delayed – interview with Powell and Pressburger film scholar Ian Christie (2025)
- NEW Unexpected Realism – interview with author Charles Drazin (2025)
- The Colour Merchant – short film featuring cinematographer Jack Cardiff (1998)
- Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono
- Aspect Ratio 1.37:1
- Optional English HOH Subtitles
______________________________________________
Black Narcissus (1947) – Imprint Collection #461
An acclaimed psychological drama written and directed by Powell and Pressburger, based on the novel by Rumer Godden, starring Deborah Kerr, David Farrar, Sabu Dastagir, and Flora Robson.
A group of Anglican nuns, led by Sister Clodagh, are sent to a mountain in the Himalayas. They work to establish a school and a hospital, but slowly their focus shifts. Sister Ruth falls for a government worker, Mr. Dean, and begins to question her vow of celibacy. As Sister Ruth obsesses over Mr. Dean, Sister Clodagh becomes immersed in her own memories of love.
This masterful Technicolor picture explores the danger and allure of fantasy, an “artistic accomplishment of no small proportions” (New York Times).
Special Features and Technical Specs:
- 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a restored high-definition transfer
- NEW Audio Commentary by author and critic Kat Ellinger (2025)
- Audio Commentary by co-director Michael Powell and filmmaker Martin Scorsese
- NEW The Strange & the Transgressive – interview with film critic/writer Hannah McGill (2025)
- NEW Alchemy and Reckoning – interview with Powell and Pressburger film scholar Ian Christie (2025)
- NEW Women at War – video essay by critic/film historian Pamela Hutchinson (2025)
- A Profile of ‘Black Narcissus’ – documentary
- Painting with Light – documentary on cinematographer Jack Cardiff
- Trailers From Hell: Neil Labute on ‘Black Narcissus’
- Theatrical Trailer
- Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Mono
- Aspect Ratio 1.37:1
- Optional English HOH Subtitles
