A Matter of Life and Death ( Stairway to Heaven ) ( A Matter of Life & Death )

A Matter of Life and Death (DVD) (*)

$21.99

Original Title: Stairway to Heaven
Alternate Title: A Matter of Life & Death
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Mono )
English ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( PAL/Region 2 )

Running Time:
100 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Biographies
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Short Film

Movie filmed in 1946 and produced in:
United Kingdom ( Great Britain, Ireland )

Directed By:
Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger

Written By:
Michael Powell
Emeric Pressburger

Actors:
David Niven ..... Peter Carter
Kim Hunter ..... June
Robert Coote ..... Bob Trubshawe
Kathleen Byron ..... An Angel
Richard Attenborough ..... An English Pilot
Bonar Colleano ..... An American Pilot (as Bonor Colleano in end credits)
Joan Maude ..... Chief Recorder
Marius Goring ..... Conductor 71
Roger Livesey ..... Doctor Frank Reeves
Robert Atkins ..... The Vicar
Bob Roberts ..... Dr. Gaertler
Edwin Max ..... Dr. McEwen
Betty Potter ..... Mrs. Tucker
Abraham Sofaer ..... The Judge/The Surgeon
Raymond Massey ..... Abraham Farlan

Synopsis:

Returning to England from a bombing run in May 1945, flyer Peter Carter's plane is damaged and his parachute ripped to shreds. He has his crew bail out safely, but figures it is curtains for himself. He gets on the radio, and talks to June, a young American woman working for the USAAF, and they are quite moved by each other's voices. Then he jumps, preferring this to burning up with his plane. He wakes up in the surf. It was his time to die, but there was a mixup in heaven. They couldn't find him in all that fog. By the time his 'Conductor' catches up with him 20 hours later, Peter and June have met and fallen in love. This changes everything, and since it happened through no fault of his own, Peter figures that heaven owes him a second chance. Heaven agrees to a trial to decide his fate.

It's night over Europe, the night of the 2nd of May 1945. A crippled Lancaster Bomber struggles home across the English Channel, all crew dead save for the young pilot desperately scanning the radio for signs of life. His prayers are answered. June (Hunter), a young radio operator, picks up his signal, and in the final moments of the young flyer's life, a special bond is formed. The next morning washed up on an English beach, Squadron Leader Peter Carter (Niven) is alive, he finds June, and the two fall in love. Somehow he survived. It's a miracle, or is it? Peter Carter should have died that night; a heavenly escort missed him in the fog above the channel, and now he must face the celestial court of appeal for his right to live.

On 02 May 1945 during the World War II, the Englishman and Commander Peter David Carter is returning to England in a bomber on fire, without parachute and with the pilot Bob dead. He contacts the June from the American Air Force on land and they start a conversation. June tells that she is single and is presently living in Lee Wood, at the seaside, and Peter explains his situation and asks June to send a telegram to his mother, and tells that he will jump from the plane since he does not want to burn with the plane. Peter awakes in the surf of Lee Wood beach and he meets June and they fall in love with each other. Meanwhile in Heaven, the Conductor 71 admits to the Powers That Be that he committed a mistake and lost Peter in the fog. Then he meets Peter and tells him that he must go to Heaven since he should have died in the fall. But Peter claims to the Court of Appeals in Heaven claiming that the negligence of the Department of Records had allowed him to fall in love with June and he deserves a second chance. Down on Earth, June takes Peter to Doctor Reeves and the doctor finds a brain concussion that may be causing hallucinations in Peter and tells that he must operate in an urgent basis. While Peter is submitted to a surgery, heaven agrees to open a case in court and judge his fate.

This product was added to our catalog on Monday 02 February, 2009.

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