Michael Powell (director) THE TALES OF HOFFMANN [1951] UK photo archive

The Tales of Hoffmann. [London]: London Films, [1951]. Set of 55 vintage original 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm) black-and-white British photos. One has damage in top left margin, another in lower left margin. Some are trimmed for publication. Forty-five have production company stamps on verso, 35 have mimeographed descriptive text on verso, 9 have on verso the stamp of photographer Bert Conn, 5 are also date stamped. Overall near fine.

A major archive of images from one of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s most visually captivating films. Powell adapted the French opera of Jacques Offenbach, which was in turn an adaptation of three horror short stories by German author E. T. A. Hoffmann.

For the 2002 Sight and Sound poll, director George Romero called it his “favourite film of all time; the movie that made me want to make movies.” Three years earlier, Romero introduced the film as part of the “Dialogues: Talking with Pictures” programme at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival. Romero later taped an interview for the Criterion Collection edition, discussing his love of the film and its influence on his career. Martin Scorsese, an ardent fan of Powell and Pressburger (and of this film), produced the 2015 4K restoration. (Wikipedia)