IMDb RATING
7.1/10
3.2K
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As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination total
Robert Morley
- The Minister
- (as 'A Guest')
Bryan Forbes
- Peterson - Dying Gunner
- (as Brian Forbes)
- Directors
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhen Sammy and Susan are at the Hickory Tree nightclub, Susan spots Gillian, an old acquaintance, and asks Sammy to start talking, to avoid the meeting. Sammy starts, and then Susan joins in reciting the following lines: "I never nurs'd a dear gazelle / To glad me with its soft black eye / But when it came to know me well / And love me, it was sure to die." These lines are from the poem "Lalla Rookh" (in the section entitled "The Fire Worshipers") by the Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779-1852).
- GoofsThe ATS corporal mentions the Pavilion End at Wembley. There was no such end.
- Quotes
Susan: Wouldn't it be silly to break up something we both like doing, only because you think I don't like it.
Sammy Rice: Yes, you've got it all worked out in the way women always have. They don't worry about anything except being alive or dead.
- Crazy credits"It has been suggested that I should point out that the characters and incidents in this story are purely fictional. This I gladly do. They are." - N.B. N.B. is Nigel Balchin, the author of the original novel.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Late Show: Michael Powell (1992)
- SoundtracksIf You Were the Only Girl in the World
(uncredited)
Music by Nat Ayer
Performed by Ted Heath's Kenny Baker Swing Group
Featured review
I must have a drink. Ask me to have a drink woman.
The Small Back Room (AKA: Hour of Glory) is directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, with both adapting the screenplay from the Nigel Balchin novel. It stars David Farrar, Kathleen Byron, Jack Hawkins, Leslie Banks and Michael Gough. Music is by Brian Easdale and cinematography by Christopher Challis.
As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps across coastline England, Sammy Rice (Farrar) will be tasked with learning the secret to disarming the deadly devices. But first he must beat his private battle with alcohol, his form of self medication due to the loss of one of his feet.
The Archers produce what is in essence a tale of redemption, it's a superbly mounted drama dripping with realism and infused with atmospheric black and white photography. It somewhat divided critics back on release, but that tended to be customary where Powell was concerned, who himself wasn't sure about the validity of this particular piece. Yet it finds Pressburger and himself on sure footings, returning to more grounded human dramatics, their willingness to explore the murky fallibility of mankind is a thing of bold and effective cinematic beauty.
The by-play between Farrar and Byron is sexually charged, but heart achingly poignant as well. The pic is at its best when these pair share scenes, the back drops to their troubled courting veering from vibrant (hope) to dour (despair), the latter always staged at Sammy's gloomy flat and the scene of a brilliantly filmed expressionistic nightmare that he suffers. Elsewhere various military types either stand tall or sit behind desks speaking in correct literary tones, their collective problem being that the pesky Germans have come up with a vile bomb tactic that needs addressing ASAP.
Can Sammy come through for not only the war effort, but also for his sanity? Watch and see, it's great film making across the board. 8/10
As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps across coastline England, Sammy Rice (Farrar) will be tasked with learning the secret to disarming the deadly devices. But first he must beat his private battle with alcohol, his form of self medication due to the loss of one of his feet.
The Archers produce what is in essence a tale of redemption, it's a superbly mounted drama dripping with realism and infused with atmospheric black and white photography. It somewhat divided critics back on release, but that tended to be customary where Powell was concerned, who himself wasn't sure about the validity of this particular piece. Yet it finds Pressburger and himself on sure footings, returning to more grounded human dramatics, their willingness to explore the murky fallibility of mankind is a thing of bold and effective cinematic beauty.
The by-play between Farrar and Byron is sexually charged, but heart achingly poignant as well. The pic is at its best when these pair share scenes, the back drops to their troubled courting veering from vibrant (hope) to dour (despair), the latter always staged at Sammy's gloomy flat and the scene of a brilliantly filmed expressionistic nightmare that he suffers. Elsewhere various military types either stand tall or sit behind desks speaking in correct literary tones, their collective problem being that the pesky Germans have come up with a vile bomb tactic that needs addressing ASAP.
Can Sammy come through for not only the war effort, but also for his sanity? Watch and see, it's great film making across the board. 8/10
helpful•221
- hitchcockthelegend
- Jul 1, 2015
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Experten aus dem Hinterzimmer
- Filming locations
- Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, UK(Testing of the Reeve's Gun)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $25,091
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,561
- Jun 30, 2024
- Gross worldwide
- $25,091
- Runtime1 hour 46 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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