The Small Back Room with David Farrar: DVD Cover
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The Small Back Room
a.k.a. Hour of Glory Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger Cast: David Farrar, Kathleen Byron, Jack Hawkins, Cyril Cusack

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  • DVD Release Date: 08/19/2008
  • Original Release: 1949
  • Rating: Not Rated
  • Sales Rank: 6,490

Viewer Rating: (1 ratings)

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  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Scenes
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Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer; Audio commentary featuring film scholar Charles Barr; New video interview with cinematographer Chris Challis; Excerpts from Michael Powell's audio dictations for his autobiography; Plus: a new essay by film critic Nick Jones

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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- The Small Back Room
1. London, Spring 1943 [8:55]
2. Sammy's Flat [6:22]
3. The Reeve's Gun [10:16]
4. A Perfect Pair [5:51]
5. The Back-Room Boys [7:29]
6. Bala, North Wales [7:46]
7. Trouble At Home [4:50]
8. Ticktock [7:47]
9. Scientifically Speaking [7:41]
10. Night Out [4:27]
11. Closing Time [6:21]
12. Staurt's Notes [8:56]
13. Another Way [14:16]
14. The Man in Charge [6:39]
15. Color Bars [:00]
1. Blackout [8:55]
2. Restricted Narration [6:22]
3. Stonehenge [10:16]
4. Cast [5:51]
5. Korda and Rank [7:29]
6. Unexpected Location [7:46]
7. Music [4:50]
8. Important Spaces [7:47]
9. Nigel Balchin [7:41]
10. Brief Analysis [4:27]
11. Citizen Kane [6:21]
12. The Bomb [8:56]
13. Suspense [14:16]
14. Full Manhood [6:39]
15. Color Bars [:00]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

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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