Cinematography:
Jack CardiffComposer:
Allan GrayCast:
David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote, Kathleen Byron, Richard Attenborough, Bonar Colleano, Joan Maude, Marius Goring, Roger Livesey, Edwin Max (more)Plots(1)
Classic fantasy from Powell and Pressburger in which an RAF pilot must argue for his life in a celestial trial after a mix-up sees him survive a fall from his plane. When Peter Carter (David Niven)'s plane is struck on his way back to England from a bombing mission and his parachute destroyed, he prepares himself for death. Incredibly, however, he awakes safely on the ground the next day. It turns out that the emissary sent from Heaven to carry him to Heaven, Conductor 71 (Marius Goring), was unable to locate him in the fog, but has now arrived to take him to the next world. Carter refuses to go, having fallen in love with the radio operator, June (Kim Hunter), who talked to him while the plane was going down. A trial is convened in Heaven to see if Carter should be allowed to live on. Will the pilot be able to convince the court that his love for June is strong enough that he should be given another chance? (ITV DVD)
(more)Cast
David Niven
UK
Best movies:
Murder by Death (1976)
The Brain (1969)
The Dawn Patrol (1938)
Kim Hunter
USA
Best movies:
Planet of the Apes (1968)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Robert Coote
UK
Best movies:
Othello (1952)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Kathleen Byron
UK
Best movies:
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Perfect Strangers (2001) (series)
Richard Attenborough
UK
Best movies:
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Great Escape (1963)
Hamlet (1996)
Bonar Colleano
USA
Best movies:
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Zarak (1956)
Fire Down Below (1957)
Joan Maude
UK
Best movies:
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Marius Goring
UK
Best movies:
The Red Shoes (1948)
Holocaust (1978) (series)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Roger Livesey
UK
Best movies:
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
The League of Gentlemen (1960)
Edwin Max
USA
Best movies:
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Abraham Sofaer
Burma
Best movies:
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Quo Vadis (1951)
Chisum (1970)
Raymond Massey
Canada
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
East of Eden (1955)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Robert Arden
UK
Best movies:
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (1960)
A King in New York (1957)
Robert Beatty
Canada
Best movies:
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (TV movie)
Tommy Duggan
Ireland
Leslie Dwyer
UK
Best movies:
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Laughter in Paradise (1951)
Act of Love (1953)
John Longden
Best movies:
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Blackmail (1929)
Lois Maxwell
Canada
Best movies:
Goldfinger (1964)
From Russia with Love (1963)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
Wally Patch
UK
Best movies:
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
High Treason (1929)
Laurence Payne
UK
Best movies:
Ben-Hur (1959)
A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
A Tale of Two Cities (1958)