In this first part of his autobiography, which won the 1987 British Film Institute Book Award, Michael Powell traces the development of film and his own emergence as a film-maker from the days of the great silent epics to the 1980s, when he acted as mentor and adviser to the new generation of American directors such as Scorsese, Spielberg and Coppola.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Life Worth Reading About,
By
This review is from: A Life in Movies (Paperback)
This is a good read written by and about the life of one of the truly great movie directors. Along with Emeric Pressberger, Michael Powell created The Archers, whose movie productions were and are breathtaking in their daring cinematography and scoring. If you're not familiar with Powell's movies, you're in for a treat. I urge you to design your own Michael Powell film festival: Be sure to include The Thief of Baghdad, Stairway to Heaven (A Matter of Life and Death in Britain), The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and my personal favorite, I Know Where I'm Going. These are stunning works of art. Consider that they were filmed in cash-strapped postwar England, and you come away all the more amazed. Powell lost his career when he filmed Peeping Tom, a Hitchcockian thriller that upset critics with its psychosexual theme; his reputation was only rehabilitated by the intercession of such luminaries as Michael Scorsese during the 1980s. Powell lived a brash, full and vigorous life spiced with affairs with the likes of Deborah Kerr and the fascinating Pamela Brown. He dared the new, often endured hardship and even danger to catch what he wanted on film. He envisioned original and groundbreaking ideas, and then assembled teams that made them happen: A Himalayan garden in Kent for Black Narcissus, awesome outer space animation and the world's largest staircase for Stairway to Heaven, shooting I Know Where I'm Going without the leading man ever being on location. This book has been out of print for some time in hardcover. I've seen copies selling for hundreds of dollars. There is a reason! Now is your chance to enjoy the best words there are about Michael Powell--his own.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exploring the Wonder of the World in Film.,
By
This review is from: A Life in Movies (Paperback)
No other biography i've read places the man himself before me, so evocative is it. In his films he chased and captured the wonder in all things, but his own writing does this more directly, a wonderful book. The life of the film maker from the 1920's onwards, and one who can fully express himself descriing the life, and equally great on his growing up towards film. The maker of wonders like A Canterbury Tale, Small Back Room, The Spy In Black and Peeping Tom achieved as much in this book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An absolute must for any cinephile,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Life in Movies (Paperback)
A beautifully written account of a life dedicated to the making of films by a true Master of the medium. This book together with the other volume of his autobiography, Million Dollar Movie, gives the reader a wonderful insight into a very creative personality. Michael Powell recounts his life with charm, whimsy, wit and voluptuousness: a perfect picture of the man himself.
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First Sentence:
All my life I have loved running water. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
whale warning, lighting cameraman, silver fleet, fire raisers, moving stairway, studio restaurant, oast house, film unit, red shoes, scenario department, elephant boy, camera department, stills department Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Colonel Blimp, Arthur Rank, Black Narcissus, Conrad Veidt, Canterbury Tale, John Seabourne, Rex Ingram, Denham Studios, Monte Carlo, Uncle Alfred, Alexander Korda, David Lean, Independent Producers, Mare Nostrum, Alfred Junge, Roger Livesey, United Artists, David Niven, Michael Powell, Ralph Richardson, Cap Ferrat, Jack Cardiff, Laurence Olivier, Ministry of Information New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
All my life I have loved running water. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
whale warning, lighting cameraman, silver fleet, fire raisers, moving stairway, studio restaurant, oast house, film unit, red shoes, scenario department, elephant boy, camera department, stills department Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Colonel Blimp, Arthur Rank, Black Narcissus, Conrad Veidt, Canterbury Tale, John Seabourne, Rex Ingram, Denham Studios, Monte Carlo, Uncle Alfred, Alexander Korda, David Lean, Independent Producers, Mare Nostrum, Alfred Junge, Roger Livesey, United Artists, David Niven, Michael Powell, Ralph Richardson, Cap Ferrat, Jack Cardiff, Laurence Olivier, Ministry of Information New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 43
books:
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40
books
cite this book:
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- The Edge of the World: The Making of a Film by Michael Powell on 6 pages
- The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp by Michael Powell in Table of Contents, Back Matter, and Back Cover
- on page 465, and page 494
- The Moon and Sixpence (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin) by W. Somerset Maugham on page 150, and Index
- The Small Back Room by Nigel Balchin on page 662, and Back Matter
See all 43 books this book cites
- The British At War: Cinema, State and Propaganda, 1939-1945 (Cinema & Society) by James Chapman on 5 pages
- J. Arthur Rank and the British Film Industry (Cinema and Society) by Macnab on 4 pages
- A Matter of Life and Death (BFI Film Classics) by Ian Christie on 4 pages
- Out Takes: Essays on Queer Theory and Film (Series Q) by Ellis Hanson on 4 pages
- The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929- 1939 (Cinema and Society) by Jeffrey Richards in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
See all 40 books citing this book
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