David Niven Film

[Loosehead]

Anyone know the name of this film. David Niven plays a pilot who crashed in the beginning. he then seems to spend some time on a giant moving staircase. Presumably some Heaven and hell symbology. There is also a femail radio operator involved somewhere. A bit vague I know any ideas?

[Octavius]

A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038733/

[Sue Balou]

Sounds like "A Matter of LIfe and Death" which was known as "Stairway to Heaven" in the US. Check out www.imdb.com for more details.

Sue

[Champagne]

Loosehead - I asked this exact same question after I saw the film years ago! It's a great movie isn't it? They are right of course, it's is 'A Matter Of Life & Death'.  :o)

[WaldoMcFroog]

Yup. It's called 'A Matter of Life and Death' in the UK, or 'Stairway to Heaven' in the US, and filmed in 1946. It was directed by Michael Powell (The Red Shoes, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp). Niven cheats death and before Heaven can catch up with him falls in love with Kim Hunter, the radio operator who talked him down.

He is then forced to stand trail for the right to stay alive; it's an extended metaphor for the behaviour of the allied forces during the war and must have been contentious at the time. Great, great film!

[MargeB]

Why is it a big deal now? Did Michael Powell just die? I've seen the sequence on telly three times over the last few weeks (the stairway actually looks great). Is that the film where they blend in and out of monochrome?

[Peri]

Is that the film where the case hinges on a real teardrop at the end ?  Or am I mixing it up.

[Loosehead]

Thanks everyone, I did look on IMDB but I had no Idea it was a 40's film so I didn't look back far enough. Yes and absolute classic.

[jno]

It was commissioned to celebrate US-UK co-operation in the war effort, and does so in a rather eccentric fashion.