Michael Latham Powell

Michael Latham Powell (September 30, 1905-February 19,1990) was a British film director, renowned for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger which produced many classic British films.

Powell was born in Bekesbourne, Kent, and educated at Dulwich College. He worked in a bank before becoming an actor and entering the film industry. His first major success with Pressburger was the 1943 drama-fantasy, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. Other classics produced by the team included:

• A Canterbury Tale (1944)
• A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
• Black Narcissus (1947)
• The Elusive Pimpernel (1950)

After making the psychological horror film Peeping Tom in 1960 as a solo effort, Powell was ostracised by the film world. His offence, it seemed, was to have made a horror movie that was genuinely horrific. However, his reputation was restored over the years, and by the time of his death he and Pressburger were recognised as one of the foremost film partnerships of all time.