The Small Back Room (1949) in Color — Starring David Farrar & Kathleen Byron

The Small Back Room (1949) — Buy This Classic in Color

Experience the intense, psychologically gripping British thriller The Small Back Room (1949) colorized in stunning HD quality. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger — the legendary filmmaking partnership known as The Archers — this London Films production stars David Farrar as Doyen Doyen Doyen Sammy Rice, a brilliant but tormented bomb disposal scientist working for the British military during the final years of World War II. Rice is a man at war with himself — crippled by an artificial foot that causes constant pain, battling alcoholism, struggling with a love affair complicated by his own self-destructive nature, and frustrated by military bureaucracy that values politics over science. When the Germans begin dropping a mysterious new type of booby-trapped bomb on British beaches, Rice must overcome his personal demons to investigate, dismantle, and defeat this lethal new weapon — in one of the most agonisingly suspenseful bomb disposal sequences ever filmed. Now available as an instant, DRM-free digital download for only €15.00.

Plot Summary

Sammy Rice (David Farrar) works in the ‘small back room’ of a wartime research establishment — a cramped, cluttered space where a team of brilliant scientists develops weapons and analyses enemy technology for the British military. Rice is their most gifted member — a physicist of extraordinary ability whose analytical mind can solve problems that baffle his colleagues. But Rice is barely holding himself together.

He lost a foot in an earlier incident and the prosthetic causes him constant, grinding pain. He manages the pain with whisky — a bottle that sits on his desk like a permanent temptation, a glass that he reaches for with increasing frequency. His lover Susan (Kathleen Byron) watches helplessly as the man she loves retreats deeper into self-destruction. The military bureaucrats who control the research programme are more interested in their own careers than in winning the war, and Rice’s contempt for their incompetence further isolates him.

Then the Germans begin dropping a new weapon on the British coast — small, cylindrical devices that look like thermos flasks. The first soldier who picks one up is killed. Others follow. The devices are clearly booby-trapped, but no one can determine their precise mechanism without dismantling one — an operation that requires extraordinary technical skill and physical nerve. Rice is sent to the beach where one of these unexploded devices lies half-buried in the sand. What follows is one of the most unbearably tense sequences in British cinema — Rice, alone on the vast empty beach, working with damaged hands and a mind clouded by alcohol and self-doubt, methodically attempting to disarm a device designed to kill anyone who touches it.

Cast & Crew

Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Stars: David Farrar gives the performance of his career as the tormented Rice — conveying the man’s brilliance, his pain, his self-destructive impulses, and his ultimate courage with extraordinary naturalistic conviction. Kathleen Byron — unforgettable as the mad nun in Powell and Pressburger’s Black Narcissus — is equally impressive as the woman who loves Rice despite his determined effort to destroy himself. Jack Hawkins brings authority to a supporting role as a sensible military man.

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

This professionally colorized edition enhances the film’s atmospheric wartime settings with era-accurate hues. The cramped research rooms, the rain-soaked London streets, the vast empty Dorset beach where the climactic bomb disposal takes place, and the intimate domestic scenes gain extraordinary visual depth through careful colour restoration. Now also available in colour.

Buy now for an instant, secure digital download with no DRM restrictions. Compatible with all devices that play MP4 files.

Historical Significance

Released in 1949, The Small Back Room is one of the most underrated films by Powell and Pressburger, the partnership that produced The Red Shoes, A Matter of Life and Death, and Black Narcissus. Based on Nigel Balchin’s acclaimed 1943 novel, the film combines intimate psychological drama with one of the greatest suspense sequences in British cinema. The bomb disposal scene on the beach — filmed with agonising deliberation and complete technical authenticity — has been cited by filmmakers including Kathryn Bigelow as an influence on The Hurt Locker. Through colorization, this masterful wartime thriller is preserved for modern audiences.

Technical Details

• Format: MP4
• Resolution: HD 720p
• Colorized: Yes — professionally restored frame-by-frame
• Audio: Original English mono soundtrack
• Runtime: 106 minutes
• DRM-free: Yes — play anywhere, keep forever
• Instant download: Yes — available immediately after purchase
• Price: €15.00

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Movie-Specific Questions

Q: Is this a Powell and Pressburger film?
A: Yes — it is one of the lesser-known works by the partnership that created The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus, and is increasingly recognised as one of their finest achievements — a rare combination of intimate character study and unbearable suspense.

Q: Is the bomb disposal scene really that tense?
A: It is considered one of the most agonisingly suspenseful sequences in British cinema — Powell films it in real time with meticulous technical detail, creating an almost unbearable tension that has influenced bomb disposal films ever since.

Q: Is this a war film or a character drama?
A: It is both — the war provides the context and the climactic challenge, but the heart of the film is Rice’s battle with his own demons: pain, alcoholism, self-doubt, and the fear that his brilliance is not enough to save him from himself.

Digital Download Questions

Q: What format is the download?
A: The film is delivered as a high-quality MP4 file compatible with all modern devices and media players.

Q: Is there DRM protection?
A: No. The download is completely DRM-free — you own it outright and can play it on any device forever.

Q: How do I receive the film after purchase?
A: You receive an instant download link immediately after payment. A backup copy of the link is also sent to your email address.

Related Colorized Classics

• I Accuse! (1958)
• I Know Where I’m Going! (1945)
• 49th Parallel (1941)
• The Dam Busters (1955)
• The Third Man (1949)