 and Powell  and Pressburger were able to buy the rights for the screenplay back  from Korda for £12,000 in 1947. To do this, however, they had to  pretend that it was purely for sentimental reasons and not because  they wanted to make it into a film. Having worked for Korda before,  they both knew that he was a very shrewd businessman and that, if he  detected that they really wanted the property, he would have raised  the price.