MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH 1946 ROGER LIVESEY Michael Powell PORTRAIT #P16A

Original British 9 3/4 inch x 7 3/4 inch Portrait of ROGER LIVESEY in the 1946 Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger Fantasy A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.

Text attached to reverse: In “A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH”, ROGER LIVESEY plays the part of Dr. Reeves, a general practitioner in an English village, with an up-to-date and extensive knowledge of neurology. For this part his many fans will notice that he has grown a Vandyke beard - an ambition he has secretly fostered for some years, but this has been his first opportunity for realising it. A well-known actor on the British stage, ROGER LIVESEY was comparatively unknown to cinema-goers until his brilliant portrayal of the English professional soldier in an earlier Powell-Pressburger production “THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP” won him international fame. His part as the doctor in “A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH” is an important one, for he is instrumental in saving the life of the injured young RAF pilot, Peter Carter (played by DAVID NIVEN). “A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH” was written, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and filmed in Technicolor and Monochrome. An Archers production. Chosen for the first Royal Command Film performance. EAGLE-LION DISTRIBUTION

The stills photographer was Eric Gray. Gray entered films as assistant cinema manager in 1919. His first film still assignment was with Herbert Wilcox in 1926. After this he worked for First National of America in France and England, and Welsh-Pearson films in 1927. He covered Shooting Stars and Cottage on Dartmoor for Anthony Asquith. He had his own portrait studio from 1931-1940 at 17 Rupert Street in central London and was in the Royal Observer Corps from 1939-1945. He returned to production in 1941 working on One of Our Aircraft Is Missing and A Matter of Life and Death for Michael Powell. He joined P.F.F. in charge of still photographic research for Independent Frame Experiments. He toured the U.S. and Mexico to investigate still photographic equpment and colour processes for the J. Arthur Rank Organisation and was in charge of still photographic developments for D. and P. Studios

The portrait is in very good condition with minor surface marks.