PG | 1h 44min | Fantasy, Romance, Comedy | 1946
At a critical moment in “A Matter of Life and Death” (1946), a character quotes Sir Walter Scott and says, “Love is heaven and heaven is love.” Around that foundational belief, screenwriter-producer-director duo Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger build their memorable comedy-fantasy film “Stairway to Heaven.” They then illustrate, as comically as possible, that in spite of this aspirational common ground, the earth is nothing like heaven.
A World War II British pilot, Peter Carter (David Niven) radioing for help as his plane burns up mid-air off the English coast, manages to connect with a Boston-born radio operator June (Kim Hunter). June is horrified that his crew are dead and that the parachutes onboard, including his own, are ruined. Charmed by his lively banter in the face of death, she tries to talk him through to safety, but he ends up bailing out in a fall that would’ve killed any other man….