Bullets, trench coats, and color hits the screen. Cinema grows darker, tougher, and starts to see the world in a whole new light.

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One of the top British films of all time, a wartime romance by Powell and Pressburger, features Deborah Kerr in a triple feature and one of the most impressive uses of flashbacks we've ever seen in cinema. It remains highly impactful.

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General Candy, who oversees a British platoon in 1943, is a veteran leader who lacks the respect of the men he trains and is seen as out of touch with what it takes to win a war. But in looking back at his early career in the Boer War and World War I, we see a daring young officer whose life has been shaped by three different women and a lasting friendship with a German soldier.

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp

Finding optimism and humanism in the wreckage of World War II, Powell and Pressburger's endlessly inventive and beautiful masterpiece travels through space and time, across the earth and the skies, following a love that knows no boundaries.

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British air force pilot Peter Carter returns to England from a World War II bombing mission in a badly damaged aircraft. Before he abandons the plane and crashes into the ocean, he communicates with June, an Allied radio operator. Peter survives, finds June and they fall in love. The problem? A messenger of the gods comes to Earth to take Peter to heaven - as he accidentally survived the afterlife!

A Matter of Life and Death

The end of colonialism, but also the clash of religious faith and impulse are uniquely captured in the thrilling film by the leading directorial duo of Powell and Presberger, which won a prestigious Academy Award for Photography for its unique depiction of the Tibetan landscape.

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In a remote Himalayan monastery, an order of English nuns struggle not only with the wild beauty of the primitive landscape, but also with the sexual awakening caused by the arrival of an agnostic man.

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Best Cinematography | Oscars | 1948
Best Set Decoration | Oscars | 1948
Best Cinematography | Golden Globes | 1948

Black Narcissus

Innocence’s epilogue was brought upon by the war and the transformation of the once funny jester into a delightfully cynical figure was something that the world was not yet ready to digest. Although unfavourably acclaimed in its time, it’s now regarded, not unfairly, as his black masterpiece.

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Inspired by notorious French serial killer Landru, Henri Verdoux lures wealthy women by promising them sweet happy-everafters. After the wedding bells chime, however, he murders them for their fortunes. In this particularly dark comedy, Chaplin questions our perception of evil: isn’t this refined criminal a mere amateur compared to weapons suppliers and dictators? We stand ready to condemn a murderer, but when war victims are counted in millions, we celebrate a hero!

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Nominated for Best Original Screenplay | Oscars | 1948

Monsieur Verdoux

Iconic film noir, a reference point in the history of cinema to this day. Set in post-war Vienna, with an ever-increasing mystery, and featuring Orson Welles in an unforgettable appearance.

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A writer of popular western novels arrives in ruined Vienna after the end of World War II, at the invitation of an old friend, Harry Lime. But when he gets there, an unpleasant surprise awaits him: Lime has already died in a car accident. And as he prepares to fly back to America, he begins to suspect that Harry's death might not have been such an accident after all. Was there a "third man" at the scene of the accident?

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Best Cinematography | Oscars | 1951
Best British Film | BAFTA | 1950
Grand Jury Prize | Cannes Film Festival | 1949

The Third Man

Less well known than Powell and Pressburger's other films, but just as masterful, this tribute to the mysterious beauty of the Scottish landscape is an unforgettable combination of romance and mystery. And if you don't believe us, it's Tilda Swinton's favourite film.

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A stubborn young woman travels to the remote Hebridean islands to marry a wealthy lord. Bound by the stormy weather, she meets a handsome naval officer who threatens to thwart her carefully laid plans for her future.

I Know Where I'm Going!

When Chaplin decided to introduce the idea of dialogue to the cinema for the first time, he made a timeless and humanitarian satire on the horrors of war and the monster called fascism, thus prejudging the following five terrible years. "We think too much but feel too little".

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Charlie Chaplin writes, directs and stars in The Great Dictator. The story of Dictator Adenoid Hinkel who tries to expand his empire, while a poor Jewish barber struggles to escape capture by the former's soldiers.

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Nominated for Best Picture | Oscars | 1941
Nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Charles Chaplin) | Oscars | 1941
Nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Oakie) | Oscars | 1941
Nominated for Best Original Screenplay | Oscars | 1941
Nominated for Best Original Score | Oscars | 1941

The Great Dictator

The most beautiful film ever made, a breathtaking technicolor marvel with Jack Cardiff's mesmerizing photography and the sensational Moira Shearer dancing on the cutting edge. A tribute to the artist who goes to extremes for their art, Powell and Pressberger's masterpiece is an absolute cinematic must-see.

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Young ballerina Victoria Page is poised to become a superstar, but she earns the scorn of her company director, Boris Lermontov, when she falls in love with Julian Craster, composer of The Red Shoes, the ballet Lermontov is staging to showcase her talent. Victoria leaves the company and marries Craster, but is still torn between the demands of Lermontov and those of her heart..

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Best Set Decoration | Oscars | 1949
Best Original Score | Oscars | 1949
Nomination for Best Film | Oscars | 1949
Nomination for Best Screenplay | Oscars | 1949
Best Original Score | Golden Globes | 1949
Official Selection - International Competition | Venice Film Festival | 1948

1940s