The Small Back Room Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

The Small Back Room Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 5, 2024

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's "The Small Back Room" (1949) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the release include new program with Kevin Macdonald, film director and grandson of Emerich Pressburger' new program with critic Ian Christie; archival program with cinematographer Christoper Challis; restoration program; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Billy Wilder made the film Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger probably wanted to make a couple of years earlier. In Wilder’s The Lost Weekend, Ray Milland plays a failed writer-turned-miserable alcoholic who is determined to drink himself to death because he believes that he has screwed up his life beyond repair. While trying to make his wish come true, the alcoholic removes from his life the few people who have been willing to help him bounce back with unfiltered hatred that is breathtaking. For this reason, viewing The Lost Weekend feels like an unusually long gut punch.

The main protagonist in Powell and Pressburger’s The Small Back Room is an alcoholic, too. Sammy Rice (David Farrar) has lost a leg and makes ends meet as a bomb explosives expert in a special team whose existence is known only to a small group of British government officials. When the Germans begin dropping newly designed bombs across the country’s coastline, Rice is asked to assist in a dangerous campaign that has started claiming the lives of other experts like him. He answers the call, but while trying to control his drinking problem, manage a rapidly deteriorating relationship with a woman who genuinely loves him (Kathleen Byron), and suppress the feeling that the Grim Reaper is breathing down the back of his neck quickly evolves into an intolerable human wreck.

Like Milland, Farrar gives a powerful performance that makes it easy to grasp what it means to struggle with alcoholism. However, Farrar has not yet reached the final phase of his addiction, so the nature of the intimate drama in The Small Back Room is different.

Nearly two-thirds of this intimate drama channel bitterness that is routinely impacted by other characters. Byron, for instance, successfully resets Farrar’s dark thoughts several times, and even after she is publicly humiliated continues to support him. Jack Hawkins, who plays Farrar’s superior and is aware of his drinking problem, always reveals a willingness to compromise so that the special team remains unchanged. So, Farrar is never seen at the bottom of the dark abyss where Milland is stuck, and this is why his bitterness never evolves into misery that can force one to consider self-destruction.

Something else that is very much worth mentioning is that Farrar never loses the desire to keep moving forward. Indeed, even when he is at his worst, a self-contained human wreck, he is not thinking of a permanent solution to his misery. The big bottle in front of him has the alcoholic fix his body demands to continue living. So, Farrar is bitter, but unlike Milland, he is not yet suicidal.

The final act clarifies this exact point. However, it also leaves the impression that The Small Back Room could have been a much better scripted and directed film. Instead of remaining focused on Farrar’s struggle to control his addiction, here the screenplay rather dramatically resets the drama by focusing on his struggle to defuse the latest German bomb. This shift makes The Small Back Room look like a multi-layered but mismanaged war film, while it should have remained an intimate drama about a military man fighting a dangerous alcohol addiction.

Released in 1949, The Small Back Room was a massive box office flop. It has been speculated that its unflattering portrayal of British military bureaucracy was way ahead of its time and therefore the patriotic filmgoers did not treat it right, but this is untrue. The Small Back Room simply is not one of Powell and Pressburger’s better films.

The Small Back Room Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Small Back Room arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal.

The release introduces an exclusive new 4K restoration of The Small Back Room that was finalized at Cineric in New York. The 4K restoration is a genuine stunner. I was so impressed with the quality of the visuals my system displayed, I must write that it rivals what I typically see from native 4K content. Delineation, clarity, sharpness, and depth were terrific even in all areas, regardless of whether they were properly lit or not. The fluidity of the visuals was exceptional as well, so all movement looks very natural and very, very smooth. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Grain is wonderfully exposed and boasting a very stable appearance. Image stability is excellent. The grayscale is outstanding. As our screencaptures demonstrate, all blacks are healthy and rich, while the grays and whites are wonderfully balanced. The entire film looks immaculate as well. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Small Back Room Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

It is immediately obvious that the audio has been fully restored. All exchanges are clear, sharp, and stable. I did not notice any distracting age-related imperfections, or similar anomalies caused by restoration work. Dynamic intensity is modest, but this is obviously something that should be expected from a film that was completed in the 1940s.

The Small Back Room Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Restoring The Small Back Room - this new program features clips from interviews with some of the specialists that prepared the new 4K restoration of The Small Back Room. In English, not subtitled (12 min).

• A Tortured Hero - in this new program, Kevin Macdonald, film director and grandson of Emerich Pressburger, discusses the history of The Small Back Room, its visual style, and main protagonist. In English, not subtitled (22 min).

• Defusing The Archers - in this new program, critic Ian Christie explains why The Small Back Room is a unique film in Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger's body of work and discusses its visual style and tone. In English, not subtitled (25 min).

• Commentary - this audio commentary was recorded by critic Charles Barr.

• Interview with Cinematographer Christopher Challis - in this archival program, cinematographer Christoper Challis discusses his professional relationship with Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger and contribution to several of their films, including The Small Back Room. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• The Making of an Englishman - this archival documentary about Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger was directed by Kevin Macdonald in 1995. In English, not subtitled. (51 min).

The Small Back Room Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A lover of classic cinema will find it impossible not to compare The Small Back Room and The Lost Weekend because they come from the same decade and see the damage alcoholism causes with identical clarity. Both have impressive male leads, too. But the latter remains focused on its lead and misery, and goes a lot farther, which is why it is a much more powerful film. Despite some structural issues, the former is a fine film, very much worth seeing, but I do not think it is right to tout it as one of Michael Powell and Emerich Pressburger's best. This new Blu-ray release introduces an exclusive recent 4K restoration of The Small Back Room that is enormously impressive, plus a nice selection of bonus features. If you decide to pick it up for your library, please keep in mind that it is Region-B "locked". RECOMMENDED.