I do applaud anything that brings more attention to this and the other great films, whenever and wherever they were made. But it’s an uphill battle fighting against the massive advertising budget that comes with most “major” films nowadays.

When people are raised on a diet of “action” films and other “blockbusters” with little real plot or characters which are just filled with special effects and explosions, then it’s hard to wean them off that diet onto something which is more fulfilling.

I just cherish the small victories like when someone does see one of these classic films and wants to see more of them, rejecting the “junk diet” that they are being force fed. That’s why the Somerset House screening was so good. It was the first year that they’d screened films there like that and it led to the popularity of the others. But to see an audience of 2,000 young people give a standing ovation to a 60 year old film, that was wonderful.

All the best

Steve

I have to admit that I do come across a few people who vaguely recollect having seen it when I describe the plot, but surely this illustrates how woefully ignored it has been. It is the kind of film people catch in passing on TV and don’t remember the name of, whereas it should be a film that people automatically know as one of the great classics of British cinema along with things like Brief Encounter, Kind Hearts and Coronets, and Get Carter etc. Try walking into a shop to buy a copy- you’ll find plenty when it comes to these other titles but you’d be lucky to find more than one copy of this.

There were at least 2,000 people in the audience when it was screened in the courtyard of Somerset House back in August 2005. Most of those were quite young to my ageing eyes. I would have said that most of them were in the 25-35 age group. It was a bit more expensive that a ticket to the average (very average) blockbuster at the local multiplex so I wouldn’t have expected many teenagers to be able to have afforded it.

I don’t disagree with your summary or with your opinions of the film. I just query your assumption that it’s ignored or even that it’s not very well known by young people. I find that as soon as I mention a few of the iconic scenes, like David Niven on the “Stairway to Heaven”, then people realise that they have seen it, often quite a few times. Also that they’ve usually been impressed by it and liked it even if they couldn’t remember its title.

Steve Crook
The Powell and Pressburger Appreciation Society
http://www.powell-pressburger.org/