Hour of Glory

Original title: The Small Back Room

1949
Approved
1h 46m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

3.4K

YOUR RATING

Kathleen Byron, David Farrar, and Jack Hawkins in Hour of Glory (1949)

Trailer for the 4K restoration of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's THE SMALL BACK ROOM. rialtopictures.com

Play trailer1:44

1 Video

20 Photos

Drama Romance Thriller War

As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.As the Germans drop explosive booby-traps on Britain in 1943, the embittered expert who'll have to disarm them fights a private battle with alcohol.

Directors
- Michael Powell
- Emeric Pressburger
Writers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

3.4K

YOUR RATING

Directors
- Michael Powell
- Emeric Pressburger
Writers
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination total

Trivia
When Sammy and Susan are at the Hickory Tree nightclub, Susan spots Gillian, an old acquaintance, and asks Sammy to start talking, to avoid the meeting. Sammy starts, and then Susan joins in reciting the following lines: "I never nurs'd a dear gazelle / To glad me with its soft black eye / But when it came to know me well / And love me, it was sure to die." These lines are from the poem "Lalla Rookh" (in the section entitled "The Fire Worshipers") by the Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779-1852).

Goofs
Most of the music played at the Hickory Tree is of a style of jazz called bebop. Bebop was just starting to evolve in the U.S. in the early forties, so it's unlikely that a British band would be playing it in 1943, the setting of this movie.

Quotes
Susan: Wouldn't it be silly to break up something we both like doing, only because you think I don't like it.
Sammy Rice: Yes, you've got it all worked out in the way women always have. They don't worry about anything except being alive or dead.

Crazy credits
"It has been suggested that I should point out that the characters and incidents in this story are purely fictional. This I gladly do. They are." - N.B. N.B. is Nigel Balchin, the author of the original novel.

Connections
Featured in The Late Show: Michael Powell (1992)

Soundtracks
If You Were the Only Girl in the World
(uncredited)
Music by Nat Ayer
Performed by Ted Heath's Kenny Baker Swing Group

User reviews49

Review

Featured review

minor Powell and Pressburger

After the wild fantasies of Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, Matter of Life and Death (and to a lesser extent Canterbury Tales, Colonel Blimp, and Spy in Black) this was a quiet Archers film, but one I enjoyed very much. David Farrar and Kathleen Byron are fine, well-cast, adequate - the supporting players (including Cyril Cusack and a youngish Sid James) are good, and the story, although slight, keeps the interest and is done rather well. Not entirely sure about the hallucination scene, although that in itself is well-done. I prefer the wild colours and textures of other films by the same team, but this is one I'd recommend for a look.