Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the film masters whose rich sense of atmosphere and fantasy made The Red Shoes a timeless favorite and made Stairway to Heaven so strangely perverse and original, bring the same hypnotic touch to this haunting, mystical tale. Based on a novel by Rumer Godden, Black Narcissus is set high in the Himalayas, where a group of nuns have transformed an old palace into a school and dispensary for the natives. Conflicts arise, though, as the sisters gradually fall victim to the erotic spell of their surroundings. The title has a double-edged meaning: It refers not only to the fragrant flower but also to the strong perfume worn by a bejeweled and handsomely adorned young prince. Nature's heady opulence and masculine sexuality combine to unsettle the holy women, bringing back forgotten memories, dreams, and desires. Remarkably, the breathtaking and intensely colorful visuals were studio-created rather than shot on location; the result is a world unto itself, bearing more relation to the unleashed imagination than to any reality -- which only heightens the feeling of being inside a living hallucination. Deborah Kerr, brimming with supressed emotions, shines in the lead, and well-deserved Oscars went to art director Alfred Junge and cinematographer Jack Cardiff.