| Home |  |
Mission | |
Film Notes | |
Reviews | |
Links | |
Contact Lou | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1945) Rank-General Film
Distributors.
An Archers Presentation
Written,
Produced and Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric
Pressburger. Associate Producer: George R. Busby.
Cinematography by Erwin Hillier. Production Design by
Alfred Junge. Edited by John Seabourne. Sound by C. C.
Stevens. Music by Allan Gray. Released in the United
States in 1947 by Universal-International. 91 min. |
| Between 1942 and 1956,
director Michael Powell (1905 – 1990) and
screenwriter Emeric Pressburger (1902 – 1988)
co-produced, directed and wrote some of the most
enchanting films in the history of British cinema.
Critically, their movies have been criticized for being
too pretentious, but they are dazzling, just the same,
and definitely original in their concept and
individuality. Powell, who was born in Canterbury,
entered films as an assistant to director Rex Ingram,
where he learned his trade, bouncing from cameraman to
film editor to screenwriter. Later, while at Teddington
Studios, he started working on many low-budget films or
“quota quickies”, as they were referred to,
like the delightful Something Always Happens (1934)
starring Ian Hunter and Nancy O’Neil and the equally
enjoyable Crown v. Stevens (1936) starring Beatrix
Thomson and a young Patric Knowles. It was shortly after
he left Teddington, that he began indulging in some
personal projects like Edge of the World (1937) and The
Spy in Black (1939), which were both filmed in Scotland,
a locale that Powell would frequently visit. |
 |
||
| Emeric
Pressburger, who was born in Hungary, studied journalism
in Prague and Stuttgart, before becoming a screenwriter
in Austria and Germany. After the rise of Hitler,
Pressburger found himself fleeing Germany to France in
1934 and in 1936 settled in England. There he met Michael
Powell, formed a mutual bond and started a film company
together, which they would call the Archers in 1942. Through the years, they produced some of the most exquisite films in British cinema, utilizing Technicolor better than any of the American filmmakers up to that time. One only has to experience one of their classics to become a lifelong fan of the Archers, where you can witness some of the most striking imagery by cinematographers like Jack Cardiff, Erwin Hillier and others. Their filmography, especially in the 1940’s, is truly first-rate, with films like The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ((1943), the highly personal A Canterbury Tale (1944), and the visually dazzling Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948). It’s amazing to fathom that I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING was almost never made. In actuality, the Archers were preparing a big-budgeted fantasy, which would be filmed in Technicolor with some occasional black and white sequences. While waiting for the availability of the Technicolor facilities and cameras, Powell and Pressburger decided to make a fairly simple film, while their initial project, A Matter of Life and Death, which was eventually released in America as Stairway to Heaven (1946), would be put on hold. What was supposed to be a little film turned into more than they had anticipated in that the film would be shot in the Scottish Hebrides on the Isle of Mull, a location which Powell had previously used in his earlier Edge of the World. Casting was more of a problem than the producers had bargained for. Originally, they had wanted James Mason, who questioned the pair’s judgment in their filming techniques and accordingly had insisted upon preferred treatment throughout the production, one of these being not to set foot on the Isle of Mull, but to shoot all of his scenes in a sound stage rather than making the awful journey. Instead, Powell tried to enlist Roger Livesay, who had made an impression on the Archers when he starred in the title role in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp two years earlier. Initially, when Powell first saw Livesay, he was horrified to see how much he had aged and how much weight he had gained since their last encounter. However, after reading the script and promising to dye his hair and shed some his bulk as well as get back into condition, Livesay agreed to star, but another, more serious problem arose. Livesay already had other commitments, in that he was appearing in a play in London and couldn’t bow out of the show since he was the star. Powell and Pressburger knew that they couldn’t shuttle their star back and forth from London to Scotland and then back again in time for each show on a daily basis. Instead, they shot all of Livesay’s scenes on a sound stage in London and carefully utilized some fancy trick camerawork including some excellent rear projection as well as using a double, who had to learn the actor’s walk as well as his mannerisms. The result was flawless, with seamless continuity crafted by cinematographer Erwin Hillier and film editor John Seabourne. |
|||
 |
The part of Joan Webster was
originally written with Deborah Kerr in mind, since
Michael Powell had been romantically involved with her,
but once he saw Wendy Hiller, he was taken by her
“real-life down to earth personality and impudent
face” and selected her instead. I KNOW WHERE
I’M GOING remains one of Dame Wendy Hiller’s
best performances and it seems a shame that she appeared
in so few films, preferring the London stage instead! Her
previous film, Major Barbara, had been made four years
earlier, and was a resounding hit. Curiously, after the
Powell/Pressburger picture, she didn’t appear on the
screen again until 1951. |
| Another bit of excellent casting was the part of Caitriona. Powell selected Pamela Brown, whom Emeric Pressburger thought was “hideously ugly”, but found her extremely intelligent. To Emeric’s delight, Michael felt that she could do wonders with the part and did! When I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING was released on December 17th, 1945, it received rave reviews, with Richard Mallett of Punch joyously commenting that the film was “continuously fresh and interesting, intelligently written and played, and full of beautiful photography.” One of the greatest of movie critics, James Agee, was equally charmed by the film, citing that “the sensitive photography and the intelligent if not very imaginative use of sound do more than enough to make eloquent the influence of place on people, and the whole thing is undertaken with taste and modesty.” |
| The part of Joan Webster was
originally written with Deborah Kerr in mind, since
Michael Powell had been romantically involved with her,
but once he saw Wendy Hiller, he was taken by her
“real-life down to earth personality and impudent
face” and selected her instead. I KNOW WHERE
I’M GOING remains one of Dame Wendy Hiller’s
best performances and it seems a shame that she appeared
in so few films, preferring the London stage instead! Her
previous film, Major Barbara, had been made four years
earlier, and was a resounding hit. Curiously, after the
Powell/Pressburger picture, she didn’t appear on the
screen again until 1951. |
 |
| Another bit of excellent
casting was the part of Caitriona. Powell selected .Pamela
Brown, whom Emeric Pressburger thought was
“hideously ugly”, but found her extremely
intelligent. To Emeric’s delight, Michael felt that
she could do wonders with the part and did! When I KNOW
WHERE I’M GOING was released on December 17th, 1945,
it received rave reviews, with Richard Mallett of Punch
joyously commenting that the film was “continuously
fresh and interesting, intelligently written and played,
and full of beautiful photography.” One of the
greatest of movie critics, James Agee, was equally
charmed by the film, citing that “the sensitive
photography and the intelligent if not very imaginative
use of sound do more than enough to make eloquent the
influence of place on people, and the whole thing is
undertaken with taste and modesty Even today, so many people who have seen the film have become enchanted with it so much that they have made a pilgrimage to the Isle of Mull to firsthand experience the warmth and raw beauty of the island firsthand and see how the inhabitants there live. The town of Tobermory, where much of the movie was filmed, is quite unchanged in many respects. The Western Isles Hotel, which today is run by Susan Fink and her husband, is still there as well as the wharf where Miss Hiller first encounters Roger Livesay and also the waterfall which has the telephone booth adjacent to it are still some of the attractions where tourists, including Martin Scorcese, after he first screened a print, insisted on seeing firsthand. In his excellent book Love in the Film, Professor William K. Everson stated that I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING was “conceived and produced as a labor of love, and that love – for the countryside, for the people and for their traditions – shows up in every foot of the film.” In 1993, filmmaker Mark Cousins produced a 30-minute documentary on the making of the film, combining original footage and comparing new footage of many of the wondrous locations. |
