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Title: A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
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1 win & 2 nominations.
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War
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Edit
Cast
| Complete credited cast: | |||
| David Niven | ... | Peter D. Carter | |
| Kim Hunter | ... | June | |
| Robert Coote | ... | Bob Trubshaw | |
| Kathleen Byron | ... | An Angel | |
| Richard Attenborough | ... | An English Pilot | |
| Bonar Colleano | ... | An American Pilot (as Bonor Colleano) | |
 |
Joan Maude | ... | Chief Recorder |
| Marius Goring | ... | Conductor 71 | |
| Roger Livesey | ... | Doctor Frank Reeves | |
|
|
Robert Atkins | ... | The Vicar |
|
|
Bob Roberts | ... | Dr. Gaertler |
| Edwin Max | ... | Dr. Mc.Ewen | |
|
|
Betty Potter | ... | Mrs Tucker |
| Abraham Sofaer | ... | The Judge / The Surgeon | |
| Raymond Massey | ... | Abraham Farlan | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Plot Synopsis
Storyline
Returning to England from a bombing run in May 1945, pilot 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 U.S. Army Air Forces, 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 mix-up in heaven. They couldn't find him in all that fog. By the time his "Conductor" catches up with him twenty 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. Written by John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>
Taglines:
A NEW EXPERIENCE! (print ad - all caps) See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
UKRelease Date:
March 1947 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
A Matter of Life and Death See more »Edit
Box Office
Budget:
£320,000 (estimated)Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
Edit
(1943) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Phil Moore
Sung on the radio by an unidentified man at the trial
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Betty Field was one of the many American actresses considered for the part of June. But Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger never actually got to see her. See more »Goofs
In several scenes the overseas hat worn by June has gold piping for an officer yet she was a Tech Sergeant. The piping on June's cap is in fact yellow and green, the colors of the Women's Army Corps. June wears the collar branch insignia of the WAC. See more »Crazy Credits
Foreword (Scrolled up the screen at the start of the film): This is a story of two Worlds the one we know and another which exists only in the mind of a young airman whose life & imagination have been violently shaped by war [Pauses, then scrolls up to reveal] Any resemblance to any other world known or unknown is purely coincidental. See more »Alternate Versions
The US release was cut to avoid showing the naked shepherd boy in the sand dunes. See more »Soundtracks
Shoo Shoo Baby(1943) (uncredited)
Music and Lyrics by Phil Moore
Sung on the radio by an unidentified man at the trial
See more »
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A Matter of Life and Death had me stunned when I first saw it. The marvellous opening, makes you feel like you are floating among the stars in a place of your own. Then it moves to the horrors of war and the down side of life, men dead and more to follow. The story has already been told a thousand times by other reviewers who were as enchanted by this film as I was. The cinematography, the story, everything was just right. In my book it is the greatest film ever made. I liked the way that the earth is in sometimes beautiful, sometimes gritty Technicolour, then what is above is in mystical Black and White. To my dying days I will always love this film. See it before you die.