Spy in Black
(a.k.a. The Spy in Black).
1939

The Spy in Black

It has been said that in some ways all people are like all other people; in some ways all people are like some other people; and in some ways all people are like no other people.

The films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger result from a very unique collaboration which ultimately crystalized into the company known as “The Archers”, in which all the films were “written, produced and directed” by both men. Although Powell is generally seen as the director and Pressburger as the writer, it is perfectly clear that the situation is not that clear cut.

Despite radically different backgrounds (Pressburger was a Hungarian Jew who moved around Europe (Hungary, Germany, France and finally England); Powell was an English born man whose parents had a hotel in southern France where Powell spent a great deal of time and where he met Irish filmmaker Rex Ingram who inspired and encouraged him into film.

The duo is also intimately connected to a family of Hungarian Jews who had settled in England as well. Their name was original Kellner but changed it to Korda and the three Korda brothers were very involved in films.

In one sense, Powell and Pressburger share a kind of continental view of things. Britain is seen of course as “non continental”. The two shared an interest in continental European arts and so some of the aspects of their films contrast strongly with other British films of the time (e.g. Ealing Studios films).

Most of the class is probably unaware of the various British studious, film companies and performers and crew. This is somewhat true (to perhaps a lesser extent) of American performers of the same time period who may be better known. Since some of the British performers migrated over to Hollywood some of them are better known here than those who did not.

All films reflect the time and place in which they are made and so to some degree you need to have some knowledge of Europe in the period around and during WWII. This period and the situations that were going on at the time are enormously complicated and the everyday lives and experiences of the people who lived during and through WWII are probably not experienced by the people in the class, although they may have heard stories about the time period from relatives who did. As things progress, you will find more and more out about the period.

British films are perhaps easier for Americans than films of some other cultures where the films are accessible only through sub-titles for many. Despite the fact the both USA and Britain speak English they have been sometimes described as “Two Countries divided by a single language.

(attributed to both Oscar Wilde and George Bernard, Shaw in different formats)

Some of the English dialects are virtually unintelligible to speakers of other English dialects in Britain. Cockney and Scots are good examples and although Americans may struggle and understand a kind of “staged Scots” the real thing is another story.

Both Powell and Pressberger are simultaneously insiders and outsiders to the culture. Although born in England, Powell’s time away has given him a different “eye”. Pressburger as an outsider who has become an insider of sorts also has a different perception which in some ways makes both of them very susceptible to seeing the British and spotting what might be called “Britishisms”.

BACKGROUND

Geopolitical organization

The history of Britain is long and somewhat complicated and need not be gone into in any depth here. It is important to realize that there are four major divisions in what is known and the United Kingdom– England to the South, Wales to the West, Scotland to the North and Northern Ireland on an altogether different “island” called Ireland. Great Britain technically refers to all but Northern Ireland

Technically it is correct to call people from England, Scotland and Wales as British, but it is incorrect (to say nothing of unwise) to refer to the Scots, Welsh or Northern Irish as being English. It is a common error among Americans to think that English and British are synonymous, or that Great Britain and the United Kingdom are synonymous.

In mid-2012 the estimate of the number of people in the four countries were:

So it is easy to see that England is by far and a away the most populous of the four countries

England had long been an empire with many colonies. The US through the War of Independence broke free. Some of the other countries did not leave by warfare, and have maintained a closer relationship with the “crown”. Specifically Canada, Australia and New Zealand

Language and Culture Considerations

Not only by a language, and many cultural bits but also by a monetary system

Language in Britain has a great deal of local dialectical variation (see G.B. Shaw’s Pygmalion) as well as distinctly different languages. English, the dominant language of Britain is Germanic while Gaelic (Erse) and Welsh are Celtic. The Celtic languages were dominant until after the departure of Julius Caesar when Angles and Saxons, who spoke Germanic arrived. By 1066 there is a Norman invasion and French becomes the language of the upper classes while English remains the common language. It was for a while possible for a person to be arrested, tried and convicted in French, a language which many in Britain did not understand.

In many of these films there are a variety of dialects of English spoken as well as non-English languages. Scots, a variety of English is often felt to be impenetrable by speakers of other dialects of English. A Scottish form of “Received Standard” English is far easier to understand for most English speakers. In some of the films you will hear Danish, Dutch, French, Gaelic and German among others being spoken.

There are several names you need to become familiar with other than Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

SOME NAMES

Michael Powell
Born Sept. 30 1905 Bekesborne, Kent (near Canterbury), England
Died Feb. 19th 1990 Avening Gloustershire England
European “sensibility” wrote for Hitchcock (Blackmail, uncredited) German expressionism was of interest
Grew up in England and south of France where his parents owned a hotel.

Emiric Pressburger (Imre József Pressburger )
Born to a Jewish family in Hungary Dec. 5th 1905 Miskolc Austria-Hungary (now Hungary)
Died Feb. 5th 1988 Saxstead, Sussex England
Educated Prague and Stuttgart

The Archers
Production Company headed by Powell and Pressburger

The Kordas (Kellner) Brothers, Alexander Korda Sándor László (Hungarian Jews):

J. Arthur Rank (22 Dec. 1888 – 29 March 1972) Producer/writer

Alfred Junge

London Films

Robert Flaherty

Ralph Vaughn Williams (pronounce "Rafe")

Alfred Hitchcock

Jack Cardiff