What do Romero and Scorsese have in common?

The Telegraph recently interviewed lord of the undead George A. Romero about his favorite film (as part of their Film-makers on Film series) - and was surprised as anyone might be to learn it's Powell and Pressburger's The Tales of Hoffmann, their spellbinding 1951 adaptation of Offenbach's opera of unrequited love.

He was 11 when it was released. "I saw it at exactly the right time," he says. "I was a Bronx kid, and I had this aunt and uncle who lived in Manhattan. They had to take me kicking and screaming." But the young George was captivated immediately. "I was just blown away by the fantasy elements. It also opened my ears to classical music." And it's the film that convinced him he had to become a filmmaker.

Remarkably, Romero wasn't the only boy in early-'50s New York who was obsessed with The Tales of Hoffmann. "When I was old enough," recalls Romero, "I used to go downtown and rent the movie. In those days, you had to go rent a projector and then rent a 16mm print in order to see a movie at home. It was a big deal: you had to save up.

"Whenever I went to the store and the movie wasn't there, Marty [Scorsese] had it. And whenever he went and it wasn't there, I had it. So, when we finally met - only about 10 years ago - we had this amazing thing in common. "And we looked at each other and said, 'You son of a bitch! It was you who had The Tales of Hoffmann out when I wanted it!"

Read the whole story here (and buy the Criterion Collection DVD here).