The Small Back Room

Hour of Glory

1949

Michael Powell
Director
Emeric Pressburger
Director
The Archers
Production Company
British Lion
Distributor
London Films
Production Company

Alcoholic fuse expert finds new purpose when he is confronted with a new type of German bomb.

Excellent wartime drama from the Archers, with a very fine lead performance from Farrar. The alcoholic hallucination sequence is justifably lauded, but more interesting is the subtext running throughout in protest of the military-industrial complex, perhaps the first film to do so. Quite jarring, in a way, to see two stalwart good guys (Hawkins and Keen) playing the slimiest members of said complex. And the climatic scene of Farrar defusing the bomb is still gripping.

Note: Ted Heath is credited as bandleader on IMDb, but he doesn't appear in the film. It is Ted Heath's Kenny Baker Swing Group playing in the Hickory Club, however. Also, the purported appearance of Michael Powell as a gunnery officer appears to be an urban legend.

-Dave W.

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21st February 1949
Cinema



106 mins
1.37:1



HyperLink
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David Farrar
Sammy Rice
Kathleen Byron
Susan
Jack Hawkins
R.B. Waring
Leslie Banks
Colonel A.K. Holland
Michael Gough
Captain Dick Stuart
Cyril Cusack
Corporal Taylor
Milton Rosmer
Professor Mair
Emrys Jones
Joe
Walter Fitzgerald
Brine
Renée Asherson
A.T.S. Corporal
Henry Caine
Sergeant Major Rose
Sid James
Knucksie Moran
(as Sidney James)
Sam Kydd
Crowhurst
Michael Goodliffe
Till
Geoffrey Keen
Pinker
(as Geoffrey Keene)
June Elvin
Gillian
David Hutcheson
Norval
Robert Morley
The Minister
(as A Guest)
Roddy Hughes
Welsh Doctor (Ellis)
Bryan Forbes
Dying Gunner (Petersen)
(as Brian Forbes)
Roderick Lovell
Captain Don Pearson
James Dale
Brigadier
Elwyn Brook-Jones
Gladwin
Anthony Bushell
Colonel Strang
James Carney
Sergeant Groves
Unknown
Man Firing Reeve's Gun
Fred Nicholas
Officer at Reeve's Gun Trial
Unknown
Bertha, Restaurant Hostess
Unknown
Restaurant Waiter
Jackie Armstrong
Hickory Tree Band (Trombone)
Kenny Baker
Hickory Tree Band (Trumpet)
Pete Chilver
Hickory Tree Band (Guitar)
Johnnie Gray
Hickory Tree Band (Saxophone)
Jack Parnell
Hickory Tree Band (Drums)
Charlie Short
Hickory Tree Band (Bass)
Norman Stenfalt
Hickory Tree Band (Piano)
Wallace Bosco
Passerby Who Thinks It's Monday
(uncredited)
Hamlyn Benson
Professor Char
(uncredited)
Julian Somers
Dr. Bryan (uncredited)
Unknown
Man at Committee Meeting
Patrick Macnee
Man at Committee Meeting
(uncredited)
John Stratton
Young Army Officer at Committee Meeting
(uncredited)
Unknown
Police Sergeant at Committee Meeting
Unknown
Man at Committee Meeting
Unknown
Man at Committee Meeting
Unknown
Man at Committee Meeting
Richard Nielson
American in Hickory Club
(uncredited)
Jan Conrad
Polish Soldier Sammy Shoves
(uncredited)
Unknown
Soldier on Chesil Bank
Unknown
Soldier on Chesil Bank
Unknown
Soldier on Chesil Bank
Unknown
Soldier on Chesil Bank
Claude Frederic
Colonel D. Strachey
(uncredited)
Michael Conry
Soldier (uncredited)
John Fitzgerald
Solider (uncredited)
Jan Frankowski
Man in Pub
(uncredited)
Jack Watson
Undetermined Role
(uncredited)
Sonya O'Shea
Mrs. Taylor
(scenes deleted)
Julia Lang
Mother of Danny in the Midlands
(scenes deleted)

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