The Small Back Room

The Small Back Room
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger
Written by	Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger
Based on	The Small Back Room by Nigel Balchin
Produced by	Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger
Starring	David Farrar Kathleen Byron Jack Hawkins Leslie Banks Cyril Cusack
Cinematography	Christopher Challis
Edited by	Clifford Turner
Music by	Brian Easdale
Distributed by	British Lion Films
Release date	21 February 1949 (1949-02-21) (United Kingdom)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£232,972[1]
Box office	£129,732 (UK)[2]

The Small Back Room (U.S. title: Hour of Glory) is a 1949 film by the British producer-writer-director team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger starring David Farrar and Kathleen Byron and featuring Jack Hawkins and Cyril Cusack.^[3] It was based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Nigel Balchin.

The theme is the unsung heroes of the last war, the 'backroom boys', gradually coming into their own.^[4]

Sammy Rice is a British scientist in a "back room" team evaluating new weapons in London during the Second World War. Their work is constantly frustrated by bureaucrats and poor management. He is drowning in self-pity: he feels unworthy of his girlfriend Susan because he is disabled, and he is in constant pain due to his prosthetic leg. He drinks too much whisky to ease his depression and pain. Susan, who is a secretary in the department, puts up with his temper and self-destructive behaviour until their Minister is forced to resign. Susan knows that if non-scientists take over, the section will become useless and Rice will be even more difficult to live with. She urges him to take action. When she realises Rice refuses to do anything to stand up for himself, she leaves him.

Earlier, Rice had been asked by Captain Stuart to help investigate mysterious booby-trapped devices (mines) being dropped by Nazi bombers. They received some useful information from a critically wounded soldier. While Rice is getting drunk in his flat after Susan's departure, Stuart calls him: two further devices have been found at Chesil Beach. They look like common thermos flasks. While Rice makes his way to the location, Stuart dies attempting to defuse the first device. Stuart gave a running commentary during the process by radio, recorded by an ATS corporal. Rice listens to the transcript before attempting to defuse the second device. He discovers that the mine has in fact two booby traps, not one, and manages to defuse them both.

When Rice returns to London, his reputation and his own self-esteem restored by his success, he is offered an officer commission as head of the Army's new scientific research unit. He accepts. Susan returns to him and they go back to his flat to find she has repaired and reinstated everything he damaged while drunk.

The Small Back Room marked the return of Powell and Pressburger to Alexander Korda after a profitable but contentious time at the Rank Organisation that culminated with The Red Shoes (1948). The film was shot at a number of studios: Denham Film Studios in Buckinghamshire; Worton Hall Studios in Isleworth, Middlesex; and Shepperton Studios in Shepperton, Surrey. Location shooting took place at Chesil Bank and St Catherine's Chapel, Abbotsbury in Dorset; Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain; on the Victoria Embankment in London; and at Abbotsbury station.^{[citation needed]}

In his autobiography, A Life in Movies, Michael Powell acknowledged the influence of German expressionist films such as Nosferatu (1922) in leading him towards making films such as The Red Shoes, Tales of Hoffmann (1951) and The Small Back Room.^[5]

As of 30 June 1949 the film earned £129,700 (equivalent to £4.96 million or US$6.17 million in 2023)^[6] in the UK of which £84,073 went to the producer.^[1]

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "It is ably produced, and the direction, with one or two lapses, is extremely efficient. The lapse which it is most hard to forgive is that into surrealistic camerawork illustrating Rice's internal struggle with himself when, with his morale at its lowest ebb, he thirsts to open a bottle of whisky. Apart from this, it is an excellent entertainment and there are some very neat cameos of the minor frustrations of the back-room boys' travails. David Farrar turns in a convincing performance as Sammy Rice and has one believing in the reality of his game foot. Kathleen Byron is a moving and long-suffering – perhaps rather too long-suffering – Susan, and there are some good portrayals by Leslie Banks, Jack Hawkins and Cyril Cusack."^[7]

Variety said that although the film lacked "the production tricks usually associated with" Powell and Pressburger it was nevertheless "a craftsmanlike job". It praised the performance of David Farrar as "his best role", and lauded the careful casting of the "lesser roles."^[4]

Leslie Halliwell said: "Rather gloomy suspense thriller with ineffective personal aspects but well-made location sequences and a fascinating background of boffins at work in post-war London."^[8]

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959 David Quinlan rated the film as "good", writing: "Moving study of human nature, with tense climax."^[9]

The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "After the sumptuous theatrics of Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948), Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger returned to the muted naturalism of their earlier collaborations for this adaptation of Nigel Balchin's novel about scientists feeling the strain in wartime. The pair were obviously uninspired by the lengthy passages of chat in which the backroom boffins bicker about their latest inventions, but their masterful use of camera angles and cutting gives the finale an unbearable tension."^[10]

The Small Back Room was nominated for a 1950 BAFTA Award as "Best British Film".^[11]

The Region 2 DVD was released in May 2004 by Studio Canal / Warner Home Video. In Region 1, The Criterion Collection released the film in August 2008. The release included an essay, an interview with cinematographer Christopher Challis, an audio commentary and excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography.

• The Small Back Room at IMDb
• The Small Back Room at the TCM Movie Database
• The Small Back Room at AllMovie
• The Small Back Room at the BFI's Screenonline. Full synopsis and film stills (and clips viewable from UK libraries).
• The Small Back Room reviews and articles at the Powell & Pressburger Pages
• The Small Back Room: Whisky Galore! an essay by Nick James at the Criterion Collection