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Friday, Nov 25, 2016
3 PM (104 mins)
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BAMPFA -
Saturday, Dec 10, 2016
3:30 PM (104 mins)
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BAMPFA
SUBJECTS
A Matter of Life and Death
(Stairway to Heaven)
Archival Print
David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Robert Coote,
The first of Powell and Pressburger’s three Jack Cardiff–shot masterpieces, this is postwar propaganda at its finest: a tribute to love between individuals and reconciliation between nations. An effortlessly charming David Niven plays Peter Carter, an English fighter pilot who falls in love with June (Kim Hunter), the American radio dispatcher he speaks to just before leaping from his plane without a parachute. When Peter miraculously survives, he tries to make up for lost time with his Yankee love—but it appears that heaven can’t wait. What follows is part love story and part medical drama, all mixed up with a wonderfully bizarre trial scene.
FILM DETAILS
Screenwriter
- Emeric Pressburger
- Michael Powell
Cinematographer
- Jack Cardiff
Print Info
- B&W/Color
- 35mm
- 104 mins
Permission
- Sony Pictures
Additional Info
- Preserved by the Academy Film Archive
CINEFILES
CineFiles is an online database of BAMPFA's extensive collection of documentation covering world cinema, past and present.
View A Matter of Life and Death documents
Michael Powell's bookends (review), Los Angeles Times, Dennis Lim, 2008
Matters of life and death : the films of Michael Powell (program note), Cinematheque Ontario/a division of Toronto International Film Festival Group, James Quandt, 2002
A matter of life and death (program note), Film Society of Lincoln Center, 2002
Stairway to heaven (A matter of life and death) (program note), Toronto International Film Festival, Sally Potter, 1997
Legendary filmmaker Michael Powell in person! (flyer), California State University, Sonoma, 1997
A matter of life and death (review), Village Voice, Elliott Stein, 1995
A matter of life and death (program note), San Francisco International Film Festival, 1995
A matter of life and death (program note), Vancouver International Film Festival, 1995
Powell's 'Stairway' still leads somewhere (review), Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan, 1995
A production of the Archers: the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger (program note), Film Forum (New York), 1995
Displaying 10 of 21 publicly available documents.
View all A Matter of Life and Death documentation on CineFiles.