From the legendary filmmaking duo Powell and Pressburger (A Matter of Life and Death, 1949The Red Shoes), The Small Back Room is the story of the troubled love affair between atormented back-room scientist and a secretary, told against a background ofministerial intrigue and Empire building.Sammy Rice (David Farrar) was the army's finest bomb disposal officer until he wasinjured in the war. Now part of a specialist 'back room' team, he dismantles the boobytrappeddevices being dropped by Nazi bombers. He falls in love with Susan(Kathleen Byron), a colleague, and the two begin a secret affair. However,embittered by life, he feels inferior: inferior as a lover, inferior as a man unableto wear uniform, inferior in his work. Although a brilliant scientist, he allowshimself to be exploited by his power-hungry boss and haunted by his past,he drowns his sorrows in whiskey.Sammy's life is descending into disarray when the news comes; a bombhas exploded with catastrophic consequences, and anothe