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)
After miraculously surviving a jump from his burning plane, RAF pilot Peter Carter (David Niven) encounters the American radio operator (Kim Hunter) to whom he’s just delivered his dying wishes and, face-to-face on a tranquil English beach, the pair fall in love. When a messenger from the afterlife arrives to correct the clerical error that spared his life, Peter must mount a fierce defense for his right to stay on earth—painted by production designer Alfred Junge and cinematographer Jack Cardiff as a rich Technicolor Eden—climbing a wide staircase to stand trial in a starkly beautiful, black-and-white modernist heaven. Peppered by humorous jabs intended to smooth tensions between the wartime allies Britain and America, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s richly humanistic A Matter of Life and Death traverses time and space to make a case for the transcendent value of love. (Criterion)
(more)Cast
![David Niven](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/381/164381895_5cdfb0.png)
David Niven
UK
Best movies:
Murder by Death (1976)
The Brain (1969)
The Dawn Patrol (1938)
![Kim Hunter](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/363/164363797_a6d2de.jpg)
Kim Hunter
USA
Best movies:
Planet of the Apes (1968)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
![Robert Coote](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/306/165306806_b4a2fc.jpg)
Robert Coote
UK
Best movies:
Othello (1952)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
![Kathleen Byron](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/141/158141955_6b9761.jpg)
Kathleen Byron
UK
Best movies:
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Almost Strangers (2001) (series)
![Richard Attenborough](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/269/269536_c92229.jpg)
Richard Attenborough
UK
Best movies:
Jurassic Park (1993)
The Great Escape (1963)
Hamlet (1996)
![Bonar Colleano](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/511/160511049_82d867.jpg)
Bonar Colleano
USA
Best movies:
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Fire Down Below (1957)
Zarak (1956)
![Joan Maude](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/306/165306809_91d8e6.jpg)
Joan Maude
UK
Best movies:
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
![Marius Goring](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/157/948/157948875_266d72.jpg)
Marius Goring
UK
Best movies:
The Red Shoes (1948)
Holocaust (1978) (series)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
![Roger Livesey](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/505/505250_9c4253.jpg)
Roger Livesey
UK
Best movies:
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
The Adventures of Colonel Blimp (1943)
The League of Gentlemen (1960)
![Edwin Max](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/620/159620105_fe7963.jpg)
Edwin Max
USA
Best movies:
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Come Back, Little Sheba (1952)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
![Abraham Sofaer](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/148/160148455_59835a.jpg)
Abraham Sofaer
Burma
Best movies:
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Quo Vadis (1951)
Song Without End (1960)
![Raymond Massey](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/505/505188_e32e59.jpg)
Raymond Massey
Canada
Best movies:
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
East of Eden (1955)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
Robert Arden
UK
Best movies:
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Never Take Candy from a Stranger (1960)
A King in New York (1957)
![Robert Beatty](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/306/165306807_89797d.jpg)
Robert Beatty
Canada
Best movies:
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Jesus of Nazareth (1977) (TV movie)
![Tommy Duggan](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/525/159525562_ef853b.jpg)
Tommy Duggan
Ireland
Leslie Dwyer
UK
Best movies:
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Laughter in Paradise (1951)
Act of Love (1953)
![John Longden](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/097/319/97319181_7d766c.jpg)
John Longden
Best movies:
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Blackmail (1929)
![Lois Maxwell](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272894_4bcae8.jpg)
Lois Maxwell
Canada
Best movies:
Goldfinger (1964)
From Russia with Love (1963)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Wally Patch
UK
Best movies:
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
The Adventures of Colonel Blimp (1943)
High Treason (1929)
![Laurence Payne](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/306/165306808_44b1e9.jpg)
Laurence Payne
UK
Best movies:
Ben-Hur (1959)
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
A Tale of Two Cities (1958)