THE BOY WHO TURNED YELLOW (1972)
Article 3453 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-19-2010
Posting Date: 1-27-2011
Directed by Michael Powell
Featuring Mark Dightam, Robert Eddison, Helen Weir
Country: UK
What it is: Children’s fantasy

A young boy loses his pet mouse named Alice on a field trip to the Tower of London. He seeks a way to get it back.

If the above plot description seems singularly lacking in fantastic elements, be aware that the plot involves our main character ending up in an area in London where everything and everybody has turned yellow, meeting an extraterrestrial who skis across electricity, and facing execution unless someone can get a television to him in time. Yet the strangest thing about this one is that it marks the final collaboration between director Michael Powell and screenwriter Emeric Pressburger, who were responsible for THE RED SHOES, A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH and THE TALES OF HOFFMANN, just to mention the movies I’ve covered of theirs for the series. Powell also gave us PEEPING TOM, which practically destroyed his career. This movie was made for the Children’s Film Foundation, and is definitely not representative of Powell’s work, but it is intriguing and downright weird. Once again, a children’s movie takes me places I’d never been before.