Michael Powell

25 films · 1935 to 1972

Born 30 September 1905, Bekesbourne, Kent, England · Died 19 February 1990

Michael Latham Powell was an English filmmaker. He is celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger and through their production company, The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a series of classic British films, notably The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Canterbury Tale (1944), I Know Where I'm Going! (1945), A Matter of Life and Death (1946, Stairway to Heaven in the U.S.), Black Narcissus (1947), The Red Shoes (1948), and The Tales of Hoffmann (1951). Powell's controversial film Peeping Tom (1960), which was so vilified on first release that it seriously damaged his career, is now considered a classic, and possibly the earliest "slasher movie". Many renowned filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, George A. Romero, Brian De Palma, Bertrand Tavernier, and Martin Scorsese have cited Powell as an influence.

Biography adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.