The best Powell and Pressburger films
The top 3 according to 322 votes from people: The Red Shoes (1948) · The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943) · I Know Where I'm Going! (1945). (Updated Jan 20, 2021.)
The Archers, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, ranked from Flickchart, Letterboxd and Taste of Cinema. Only their joint films: Peeping Tom, which Powell made alone, is left out.
Top 15
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1
The Red Shoes (1948)
Moira Shearer and the ballet; Oscars for art direction and music.
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2
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
Forty years in the life of a British officer.
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3
I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)
Wendy Hiller stranded on a Scottish island.
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4
Black Narcissus (1947)
Nuns in the Himalayas; Oscars for colour cinematography and art direction.
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5
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
David Niven pleads for his life before a heavenly court.
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6
One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)
A bomber crew escaping occupied Holland.
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7
The Battle of the River Plate (1956)
The hunt for the Graf Spee.
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8
The Small Back Room (1949)
David Farrar as a bomb-disposal expert.
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9
49th Parallel (1941)
U-boat crew stranded in Canada; Oscar for Pressburger's story.
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10
A Canterbury Tale (1944)
Three pilgrims in wartime Kent.
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11
Contraband (1940)
Conrad Veidt in blacked-out London.
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12
Gone to Earth (1950)
Jennifer Jones in the Shropshire hills.
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13
The Spy in Black (1939)
Their first collaboration, with Conrad Veidt.
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14
The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)
Offenbach's opera as a Technicolor ballet film.
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15
Ill Met by Moonlight (1957)
Dirk Bogarde kidnaps a German general in Crete; their last joint film.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (8)
The Tales of Hoffmann is underrated, saw it restored and it's a feast.
Colonel Blimp is the real masterpiece, I'd swap the top two.
Fair that Peeping Tom is left out, but it's a shame because it's brilliant.
Black Narcissus fourth feels low, Kathleen Byron at the end is unforgettable.
I Know Where I'm Going! is so lovely and nobody talks about it.
A Matter of Life and Death should be number one, the staircase alone!
The Red Shoes first, no question. Those colours are something else.
A Canterbury Tale is strange and beautiful, glad it's here.