The Small Back Room (“Hour of Glory”)
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Written by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
1949/UK
The Archers/London Film Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental
Susan: Wouldn’t it be silly to break up something we both like doing, only because you think I don’t like it.
Sammy Rice: Yes, you’ve got it all worked out in the way women always have. They don’t worry about anything except being alive or dead.
The Archers follow up a couple of technicolor extravaganzas with a little black and white film that harkens back to One of Our Aircraft Is Missing. The result is uneven but enjoyable.
It is London in 1943. Bomb demolition wizard Sammy Rice (David Farrar) lost his foot in some unspecified accident. Since then he has been in constant pain that neither pills nor alcohol seem to touch. Nevertheless, he persists with taking both to excess. He lives with Susan (Kathleen Byron), a secretary at work, and feels sorry for himself. She does her best to soothe his woes.
Sammy works in a top-secret research unit in the Ministry of War. He is presented with the challenge of guessing what kind of German bomb is responsible for killing a number of young people. The military authorities continue to search for the actual device. Sammy promises to travel anytime, anywhere if the bomb is found or claims additional victims.
Sammy’s unit is also asked to test a new gun for use by the military. The army brass thinks very little of the weapon, judging it unsuitable for use by the raw recruits that will have to use it. Sammy’s boss (Jack Hawkins) is pushing the gun hard at the behest of his superiors. Although Sammy’s figures reveal the gun’s drawbacks, he is unwilling to argue forcefully against it or stand up to his boss. Susan is disgusted and they quarrel, sending Sammy back to the bottle. Can he redeem himself and regain his manhood? With Lionel Banks as a colonel and Robert Morely as a clueless Minister.
This film is a bit of a mess combining as it does a psychological study with wartime political intrigue and suspense. We get elements as disparate as a dream sequence that seems straight out of The Lost Weekend and a bomb demolition scene as tense as something from a Bond film. It doesn’t hold together that well but is still enjoyable thanks largely to the performances, including many from new faces who would go on to make a name for themselves in the British cinema.
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