Educated at the Universities of Prague and Stuttgart, Emeric Pressburger worked as a journalist in Hungary and Germany and an author and scriptwriter in Berlin and Paris. He was a Hungarian Jew, chased around Europe (he worked on films for UFA in Berlin and Paris) before World War II, finally finding sanctuary in London–but as a scriptwriter who didn’t speak English. So he taught himself to understand not only the finer nuances of the language but also of the British people. A few lucky breaks and introductions via old friends led to his meeting with “renegade” director Michael Powell. They then went on to make some of the most interesting (IMHO) and complex films of the 1940s and 1950s under the banner of “The Archers”. Pressburger often showed a deep understanding of the British only granted to those “outside, looking in”. He always prided himself on being “more English than the English”. After all, some of us were just BORN English, but he CHOSE to become English. He spent his last days at Shoemakers Cottage, Aspall, Stowmarket, Suffolk in the English countryside that he loved so well. – IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Crook He entered the script department of UFA in 1928 and contributed to a string of musicals and comedies before the Nazi takeover in 1933 forced him to emigrate. After two precarious years in Parishe moved to London where a contract with Korda’s London Films led to the start of a 20 year partnership with the MIchael Powell starting with ‘The Spy in Black’. Together they created some of the most original film contributions to the war effort with ‘. ’49th Parallel’, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’, ‘A Canterbury Tale’and ‘A Matter of Life and Death’. ‘T’he Archers’, as Powell and Pressburger were then signing their joint films continued, with the use of Technicolour, in ‘The Black Narcisus’ (1947) and ‘The Red Shoes’ (1948) A renewed crisis in the British film industry forced them into compromised co – productions of ‘Gone to Earth’, ‘ The Elusive Pimpernel’ and ‘ The Tales of Hoffman’ led to three years of failed projects. After ‘Oh Rosalinda’ ‘The Battle of the River Plate’ and ‘Ill Met by Moonlight’ the partnership ended – IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5 Alexander Korda brought Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberger together for the film The Spy in Black up to then Powell had been directing low budget films in Britain and Pressburger working as a scriptwriter in Europe. They stayed together for 20 years and 20 films first a series of inventive contributions to the war effort including 49th Parallel a A Canterbury Tale then a variety of imaginative attempts to produce post war films of international appeal and sophistication from a strong British base, which led to successes such as A Matter of Life and Death and The Red Shoes but foundered in the 1950’s, After the partnership dissolved Powell directed Peeping Tom which when rediscovered by a a younger generation caused a renewed appreciation Powell and Pressburger, In 1943 they formed The Archers as an independent production company under which all their later productions were made. – IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5