“The more I saw of the district the more extraordinary it began to appear to me… I soon realised that, as with most places in the world today, the unusual events and happenings in life were taken for granted…”
Emeric Pressburger
I was all ready to go with the angle that, by some act of
cinematic synchronicity, both Powell and Pressburger turned to the subject of Soho when, towards the end of their
collaboration they started dating other filmmakers. But no… although in some ways
yes. Pressburger had originally written what became The Miracle in St Anthony’s
Lane about a group of German exiles in Paris in 1934 before changing it to
London after migrating here. The script was sold and resold during the 30s but
it only made it to screen in 1957 directed by Julian Aymes and not his partner
for almost two decades.
Powell thought the story lacked substance and that they
had covered some of the ground in films like AMOLAD and Blimp leaving, as Kevin
Gough-Yates suggested in Sight and Sound (Dec 1995), only the bare bones
of the idea of a special love and two people connecting almost immediately in
an almost mystical way. Whether or not there is an actual miracle in the film
is open to debate and if there is, surely it’s the way that John Gregson’s
character Michael Morgan, decides to stop running and open himself up to the
risk and possible reward of a life with Belinda Lee’s Julia Gozzi, an Italian
immigrant who is due to move on herself with her family to Canada.
Seeing so many of Pressburger’s films in such a short
space of time in this Season of All Seasons, his interest in the immigrant
experience is clear and even across a span of 22 years his intentions with this
film were, as always, to show how immigrant communities find common ground and grow
together united by faith, retailing, hospitality and everyday human experience
as well as the inevitability of road works. They’re also united by the GPO or
Royal Mail as it’s now known with local postie, Sam Bishop (the protean Cyril
Cusack who, only last Monday, was pure evil, scheming the downfall of That
Elusive Pimpernel) who also doubles up as local Salvation Army captain. He's such a good observer of character and motivation, you see exactly why he was fascinated by Soho's mix of people.
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| Cyril Cusack's postie maintains order |
The impact of Michael Morgan is felt even before he
arrives as a vengeful husband arrives to deck one of the workmen, also called
Michael, in the mistaken belief that he’s the man who was making merry with his
Suzie. Then a young woman called Maggie (young Billie Whitelaw!) arrives in
search of Michael, who tells her she’s misunderstood their relationship “this
is the way it was with us…” he says, she has deceived herself as he’s never
less than frank about his golden rule of engagement, one purely based on the
location of his work and nothing more… besides, he’s already got his eyes on
the tight sweater of barmaid Gladys (Barbara Archer).
Michael is part of a group of workers called in to re-lay
the tarmac on St Andrew’s Lane, a made-up street in a studio-bound Soho. The
massive sets, designed by Oscar-winner Carmen Dillon, evoke a London of time
just past – lots of familiar brands in the pet shop but with long gone beers in
the pub: you’ll have to go to The Coach and Horses on Greek Street, or the
Edgar Wallace off Fleet Street to see still-extant advertising for Double
Diamond and other lost ales.
It’s a street full of the new influx of immigrants who
helped build Britain from the thirties onwards, who opened restaurants,
hairdressers, dance studios and shops of every type to bring vibrancy to the
streets. There’s a harmony in the film’s Soho that may not have been entirely
matched by contemporary reality but Pressburger wasn’t just an optimist he had
been welcomed by this country as had many others. It’s a lost world in many ways
but surviving from this time there is still the French House, Bar Italia, Maison Bertaux (from 1871) and a few others.
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| John Gregson and Barbara Archer |
Michael sets about hammering the old road up and
befriending his workmates whilst arranging to view Gladys’ sweater in closer
quarters. He has to make a quick exit as they are interrupted by the arrival of
her boyfriend Filippo Gozzi (Ian Bannen at his most un-Scottish) an intense
young man who manages a wine merchants and is intent on marrying Gladys. Filippo
is part of an Italian family whose father (Peter Illing) plans on moving them
all to Canada to find a new life. Daughter Mafalda (Rosalie Crutchley) is the
eldest and resolved to marrying a convenient man whilst youngest Julia (Belinda
Lee) is still to be disappointed by life – she is not ready to compromise.
Naturally Julia catches Michael’s attention and the
question will be whether she will be just another “best girl in the street” for
the itinerant Romeo or whether he’ll finally be brought to ground and, even if
he is, will anything stop her joining the family exodus to Canada?
Viewed on its own terms and without the baggage of Archers
expectation, Miracle is a very likeable and effective film and, filmed
almost entirely on Carmen Dillon’s huge sets in Pinewood’s Stage A, there’s a
cosiness that focuses on the human interactions and which suggests that this is
more fantasy than reality whereas Peeping Tom’s staged settings have the
opposite effect entirely. Emeric was looking to show diversity in action bound
by the commonality of experience, Michael was digging deeper into the psych of
cinema’s creators and the audience, making voyeurs of us all just like
Hitchcock. That said, I’ll take on anyone who says Peeping Tom is any
more vicious than Psycho; Alfred was always more perverse than Michael.
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| Belinda Lee |
There are good performances from Crutchley, Bannen and
Cusack as you’d expect whilst Belinda Lee is charming enough to anchor any
wanderer’s affections. Scouser John
Gregson pushes the envelope on his natural likability and, whilst his Irish
accent frequently deserts him, he’s spot on as decency takes hold. There’s also
an interesting relationship with his own father, played by granite-faced
Wilfred Lawson, the kind of tough-hearted man that survived work and war with an
unyielding hardness that took generations to soften. Michael might well be a
softer lad than he thought and as he sits alone on a Saturday night listening to the radio broadcast of the classical concert Julia has gone to, his old man scoffs, drinking his tea from his saucer. The film has "class" too, Pressburger knew "us" so well.
The presence of regular collaborators, cinematographer
Christopher Challis and composer Brian Easdale adds to the Archers’ feel but as
with any well-tuned duo, it feels like there’s something missing and for all
Powell’s efforts on Tom, most of the films he would make without Pressburger
would feel that way too. I’m looking at you, The Honeymooners and you The
Queen’s Guards.
We watched the BFI’s gorgeous National Archive 35mm print which, despite a few issues here and there with the sound, ran through the gates in a very satisfying way. When was the last time this film was screened on film? When will it be shown again? Thank you BFI!
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