Rating: NR
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 08/19/2008
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD1
Run Time: 107 Minutes
Flags: Suitable for Children, Suitable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Criterion
In 1948, "The Archers" -- the writing and directing team of
Michael Powell and
Emeric Pressburger -- had completed
The Red Shoes, one of their greatest international successes, but it had yet to be released when
the Rank Organization, doubting the commercial appeal of the picture, severed ties with the team and
Powell and
Pressburger signed a new deal with
Alexander Korda's
London Films. Their first project for
Korda,
The Small Back Room, was a dramatic change of pace, a thriller set in London in the midst of World War II.
Sammy Rice (
David Farrar) is explosives expert who works with British military intelligence as part of a ragtag munitions research team studying new ways to defuse enemy weapons and improve allied arms. While he's brilliant on the job,
Rice is a troubled man with an artificial leg that causes him chronic pain and an appetite for alcohol that stands between him and those around him, especially his girlfriend and secretary
Susan (
Kathleen Byron).
Rice's latest project is finding a way to defuse a new German bomb that's cleverly disguised as a children's toy, but
Rice finds himself battling his superiors when
Waring (
Jack Hawkins), an unscrupulous businessman who has been pressed into service with the explosives team, and his colleague
Professor Mair (
Milton Rosmer) begin lobbying the Army to purchase a new weapon that
Rice feels is both ineffective and dangerous. Despite excellent reviews and a fine cast that includes
Cyril Cusack,
Sidney James and
Robert Morley in a cameo appearance,
The Small Back Room was a box office disappointment on its original release, and it appeared in edited form in the United States under the title
Hour of Glory, though later video releases allowed Americans to see the film in its original British cut.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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