This film is currently unavailable
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_480x270/public/hero-images/bf2c6f99a9eba7c9b17ed5ad697debad.jpg?itok=Pkf53IEa)
The Spy in Black
A masterful thriller with true flair, The Spy In Black has a much larger importance: it threw Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger together for the first time.
Director: Michael Powell
Overview
A masterful thriller with true flair, The Spy In Black has a much larger importance. It threw Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger together, and The Archers' first arrow hits dead centre. U-Boat captain Conrad Veidt arrives in The Orkney Islands to meet a fellow spy. News from a British traitor emboldens him, starting a game of chase on land and sea. Suspense and depth elevate this far beyond the 'quota quickie' of the time.
Powell's technical mastery creates real thrills, while Pressburger's script adds form and flavour, painting the German in light and shade (brave for a film released three weeks before the invasion of Poland). He is helped by Veidt, whose thin face and dagger eyes haunt. Both men had fled Nazi tyranny for Britain, giving their work here an undeniable extra frisson.
Related
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Our-River-our-sky-01.jpg?itok=p9xO8tL8)
Our River... Our Sky Our River... Our Sky
War 2021 118 mins Director: Maysoon Pachachi
A small Baghdad community searches for hope in the face of unpredictable violence, turmoil, and loss.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Occupied-City_01.jpg?itok=WDTMxhBR)
Occupied City Occupied City
Documentary 2023 251 mins Director: Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen’s cinematic commemoration of the Holocaust offers a multidimensional experience full of gravity and sublimity.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/small-back-room.jpg?itok=sbdhyAbQ)
The Small Back Room The Small Back Room
Thriller 1949 103 mins Director: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
An embittered bomb disposal expert is driven to drink in Powell and Pressburger’s compelling insight into the mental anguish of the alcoholic.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/2BBClassic.jpg?itok=aCLTgA8Y)
Casablanca Casablanca
Romance 1942 103 mins Director: Michael Curtiz
Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman star in the eternal story of love, loss and redemption; the ultimate testament to the brilliance of Golden Age Hollywood.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/summerland1.jpg?itok=gJSJChTA)
Summerland Summerland
Drama 2020 100 mins Director: Jessica Swale
Gemma Arterton stars in acclaimed theatre director Jessica Swale’s moving Second World War drama, as a woman rediscovering her ability to love.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Kanarie_Peccadillo_Still1.jpg?itok=8hWimrha)
Kanarie Kanarie
Drama 2018 124 mins Director: Christiaan Olwagen
A Boy George-obsessed smalltown boy joins the South African Defence Force army choir, in this quirky Apartheid-era musical drama.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/d036a583b8eec1df86e26d1a082822a4.jpg?itok=prTZXolU)
Gomorrah Gomorrah
Crime 2008 132 mins Director: Matteo Garrone
Matteo Garrone's unnervingly authentic Naples crime drama won the Grand Prix at Cannes before inspiring a hit TV series.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/promo208435145_2.jpg?itok=XV4aV6xC)
How I Ended This Summer How I Ended This Summer
Drama 2010 124 mins Director: Alexei Popogrebsky
Alexei Popogrebski's taut psychological drama depicts two Arctic meteorologists (a veteran and a novice); secrets, lies and isolation take their toll
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/celine1-girlfriends.jpg?itok=bVepR-Hi)
Celine and Julie Go Boating Celine and Julie Go Boating
Drama 1974 194 mins Director: Jacques Rivette
Jacques Rivette’s biggest commercial hit is an exhilarating combination of theatricality, paranoia and ‘la vie parisienne’, around an entrancing examination of making and watching films.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/promo216993432_2.jpg?itok=JBH0udO7)
Nightbirds Nightbirds
Drama 1970 78 mins Director: Andy Milligan
Dark drama about the doomed relationship of two down-and-outers living in the squalid East End of London in the early 1970s.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/promo216987862_1920x1080.jpg?itok=oXeLEN3I)
Ostia Ostia
Crime 1987 26 mins Director: Julian Cole
Ostia is a fascinating short film directed by Julian Cole and starring Derek Jarman, which reconstructs the events leading up to the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/what-can-i-do-with-a-male-nude-player-1920x1080.jpg?itok=PoFo2lK0)
What Can I Do with a Male Nude? What Can I Do with a Male Nude?
Comedy 1985 24 mins Director: Ron Peck
Ron Peck tests the thin line between pornography and art with his amusing rumination on the difficulties of showing the naked male form.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/7956b6466e4385acbcc91b23aba0fca0.jpg?itok=SHop99uY)
I Was a Spy I Was a Spy
War 1933 91 mins Director: Victor Saville
A nurse who doubles as a spy in German-occupied Belgium attracts the attentions of a German commandant.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/d6c911fab9e9065b01d8549318dc4b10.jpg?itok=fzLgiOTR)
Rome Express Rome Express
Thriller 1933 91 mins Director: Walter Forde
A star-studded international cast boards the Paris-Rome express for this lavish comedy-thriller from Gainsborough Pictures.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/it-happened-here-1.jpg?itok=TavTH8w7)
It Happened Here It Happened Here
Science Fiction 1966 101 mins Director: Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo
Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's legendary, independently produced speculative fiction, imagining the Nazi occupation of Britain.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/7a7810111621e1c50c0a63541fa52d01.jpg?itok=vnjXxNR2)
Men Are Not Gods Men Are Not Gods
Comedy 1936 83 mins Director: Walter Reisch
A theatre critic's secretary is caught up in a love triangle involving the stars of a production of Othello.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Her-Last-Affair.jpg?itok=UQl61gMR)
Her Last Affaire Her Last Affaire
Drama 1936 68 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell's 'society drama’ involving suspicion, clandestine romance and presumed murder, and glorious comic double-act from Googie Withers and John Lurie.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Rynox-02.jpg?itok=XesY1bg-)
Rynox Rynox
Crime 1932 46 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s earliest existing film is a twisty thriller crafted with a bold visual style that is unmistakeably influenced by Fritz Lang.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Hotel-Splendide04.jpg?itok=fV-dNlK4)
Hotel Splendide Hotel Splendide
Comedy 1932 53 mins Director: Michael Powell
Music hall veteran Jerry Verno stars as a lowly clerk who gets more than he bargained for when he inherits a hotel, in Michael Powell's charming comedy.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Night-of-the-Party-01.jpg?itok=kaw9eV7V)
The Night of the Party The Night of the Party
Crime 1934 61 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s fun stage adaptation about a murder at a society party, with characterful performances from its fine ensemble cast.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/somethingalwayshappens.jpg?itok=DKK4JJpi)
Something Always Happens Something Always Happens
Comedy 1934 70 mins Director: Michael Powell
Michael Powell’s sprightly comedy about a freeloading charmer who romances the daughter of a wealthy petrol station owner.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Crown_v_Stevens_01.jpg?itok=1zwVYuYz)
Crown v. Stevens Crown v. Stevens
Crime 1936 67 mins Director: Michael Powell
Patric Knowles stars as a naïve young man who becomes embroiled in the murderous, money-hungry scheming of his boss’s wife, in Michael Powell’s stylish proto-film noir.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Unicorns-01.jpg?itok=6jauxZRs)
Unicorns Unicorns
Romance 2023 120 mins Director: Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd
Sally El Hosaini and James Krishna Floyd have created a moving romance between an Essex mechanic and a South Asian drag queen.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/call-jane-01.jpeg?itok=E78Ed1Ja)
Call Jane Call Jane
Drama 2022 90 mins Director: Phyllis Nagy
Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver star in this confident directorial debut from Carol screenwriter Phyllis Nagy about a network of women providing safe abortions in 1960s America.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/kill.jpg?itok=LoP7_LMc)
Kill Kill
Action and Adventure 2023 105 mins Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
A pair of commandos square off against savage bandits in this breathless action thriller set on a moving train.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/mazzetti.jpg?itok=JF_zXz49)
Together with Lorenza Mazzetti Together with Lorenza Mazzetti
Documentary 2023 55 mins Director: Brighid Lowe
Brighid Lowe’s intimate documentary about the Italian-born artist and filmmaker who became a vital part of the Free Cinema movement in '50s Britain.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/PhantomParrot.jpg?itok=WPjypCuC)
Phantom Parrot Phantom Parrot
Documentary 2023 85 mins Director: Kate Stonehill
A top-secret surveillance programme is revealed in this razor-sharp analysis of technology, human rights and structural racism.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Rosalie-05.jpg?itok=bfxGGvgb)
Rosalie Rosalie
Period drama 2024 115 mins Director: Stéphanie Di Giusto
Enchanting tale of female empowerment in 19th century France, based on the true story of a famed ‘bearded lady’.