1. Alright say it with me: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (Director-Writer-Producer/Director-Writer-Producer, 24 collaborations)
Yeah, I'll let that shocking, shocking reveal here at number one die down a second. Powell and Pressburger rolls off the tongue smoothly, as it should for the two were inseparable. Now, even though Emeric Pressburger was a Jewish immigrant from Hungary, he grew to understand English better than most native-born to the island (some are born, he chose to be English). Michael Powell was already an established filmmaker having worked with Alfred Hitchcock on his silent movies and directing a prolific number of films in a short span, some 20 films between 1932-39. However, it wasn't until working together on The Spy in Black that they discovered they had a common attitude to film-making and that they could work very well together. After making a couple of more films together the pair decided to form a partnership and to sign their films jointly as "Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger", officially forming The Archers production team, and the rest, as they say, is history. Beginning in 1942 with One of Our Aircraft is Missing, the two would produce some of the finest films from that era, including The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, A Canturbury Tale, A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes, and The Tales of Hoffman. Through their direction was nearly all done by Powell, all The Archers production worked as a complete unit, with the cast and crew often making suggestions. Pressburger would always be on hand to make sure that these late changes fitted seamlessly into the story. In the early 1950s Powell and Pressburger began to produce fewer films, with notably less success. The Archers' productions officially came to an end in 1957, and the pair separated to pursue their individual careers. They would work together a couple of more times without The Archers moniker, never reaching the critical and commercial successes of their previous efforts. There was only three years difference in age between the two; Powell was born three years later, and died only two years apart. Perhaps it is poetic that way, yet in any case, their legacy will go down as the greatest filmmaking team in history.