Some of these early Michael Powell films have shown in the US recently such

as "His Lordship" (one of my favorites of his Quota Quickies) at the Syracuse

Cinefest last year and in archival showings at UCLA, MoMA and UCLA; but the

British Film Institute is still clearing up who owns the rights so

distribution is on a holding pattern.



Although Powell always (loudly) groaned when a new QQ was discovered, there

are several I (and others) consider to be imaginative and delightful.



Powell considered the real start of his creative career to be Edge of the

World which is why we spent some years in acquiring it as a posthumous

tribute to his wish to have it distributed.



But I would definitely say that the Quota Quickies are definitely worth

seeing and writing about. Think of them as a young Powell in the raw. At

times, he took remarkable strides (and risks) in films that couldn't have

taken more than a month or two to make from start to finish. At other times,

he can see him going through the paces.



Back issues of Sight & Sound have carried articles about these and they have

been written about every now and then when they have premiered at the London

Film Fest and National Film Theatre showings. And of course, the BFI has had

many champions of these earlier works including Clyde Jeavons, David Meeker,

Ian Cristie (Powell's biggest supporter) and others.



Dennis Doros

Milestone Film & Video



In a message dated 2/1/00 10:02:20 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:



<< I knew Powell had put in his apprentice days but until seeing a filmography

recently I didn't realize that this was something like a couple of dozen

films.  None of them sound familiar and I'd guess have never been released

in the US but the question is whether any of these early films have

anything to offer beyond completist auteurism.



LT >>



----

For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives:

http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html