A Matter of Life and Death

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.