Customer Reviews

Stairway to Heaven (AKA A Matter of Life and Death) [VHS]

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I know this movie under its original UK title, A Matter of Life and Death, and it's one of the finest, wittiest meditations ever on the relationship between earth and heaven, law and justice, England and America.

Bomber pilot Niven finds himself in a rapidly disintegrating aircraft, shortly to come down over the sea. His last radio message is to an American WAC, Kim Hunter, who falls in love with him during their brief conversation. Then they lose contact, the plane comes down and Niven is washed up on a beach - but much to his surprise, he's not dead. He meets Hunter and they connect.

However, up in heaven, things are not well. Niven should have died, and a heavenly messenger (Marius Goring as a deeply camp French aristocrat) is sent to earth to persuade Niven that he's in the wrong place. Meanwhile, Niven is suffering appalling headaches. His doctor (lovably blurry-voiced Roger Livesey) diagnoses a brain injury. On earth, Niven must have a difficult operation. In heaven, he must go on trial for his right to stay alive.

Powell and Pressburger made the movie as part of a wartime propaganda effort to defuse tension between American servicemen stationed in Britain and the British people, who occasionally resented the Americans' higher pay, better uniforms and general chutzpah. But the film-makers exceeded their brief by several degrees. This is a lovely bit of movie-making; one of the wittier conceits is that life on earth is depicted on sumptuous technicolour, while heaven is in silvery black-and-white (the normal practice would have been to have it the other way round). Niven is a live wire, Livesey is as gruff and cuddly as ever, Goring is bright and cheeky (when he first arrives on earth and the rose in his buttonhole turns from grey to crimson, he sniffs it and sighs "Ah! Technicolor!"), Raymond Massey is cragginess incarnate, plus there's the gorgeous ice-queen Kathleen Byron as an angelic receptionist...ahhh. They don't make films as mad and as intelligent as this any more. (Well, maybe Trainspotting.) Great stuff.

I was a film student when I came upon this movie, on television, completely by chance. I'd never even heard of it; director Powell's "Peeping Tom" and "The Red Shoes," yes, but not his "Stairway to Heaven." The opening sequence had me in tears; it's a lovely mini-movie on its own. The rest of the picture held me spellbound with its delicate blending of earthy humanity and star-dust spirituality. Later, I discovered I'd not really seen the real "Stairway to Heaven." TV prints were all black & white, while the theatrical version was color with black & white fantasy sequences. Now I long to own it and share it...AND I WANT IT ON DVD! Hear my plea, Columbia Pictures! I've recommended this movie to many people and some have even tracked down one of the few remaining copies on VHS and bought it. Put it out on DVD and I will sing it's praises 'til "Stairway to Heaven reaches the top 1000 on Amazon's Sales list.

I know that Amazon.com won't be happy to hear this, but for those of us that have been searching high and low to get a copy of this delightful movie, I found a catalogue that carries it (and as of this date 1/12/00, it's on sale)! Critic's Choice Video mail order is the place to go....

I adore this movie. Even despite its heavy toned moralizing, it is a colorful, off balance, headturner of a film.

So where's this DVD? I got a notification from amazon about its release around a year and a half ago. And still it sits in limbo. I've got my twenty dollars in hand, just itching to plunk it down for this pristine ghostly romance.

Somebody, somewhere...Get on the ball!

Yes, I know...it's in Region 2, where it's just had it's second DVD release. It was available on VHS here in the U.S. for about three minutes, and I was lucky enough to find a copy. The British (Region 2) DVD can be ordered from AmazonUK and can evidently be played on "region-free" DVD players. I ordered one, and it plays very nicely on my computer's DVD-ROM drive. The picture quality is astounding--much sharper than the VHS, and I really hope a DVD arrives that I can watch on my regular TV, since my DVD player is Region 1 only. The 39 other reviewers here have pretty much covered the plot and the reasons why this breathtaking British film deserves widespread notariety in the United States. It's no fluke that all 40 of us have given this movie 5 stars, as has every professional film critic out there. Obviously this is a movie that is loved by everyone who has had the rare chance to see it. Columbia-Tristar (who holds the home video rights) has no plans to release a Region 1 DVD or rerelease the VHS at any time in the foreseeable future. Evidently they feel that British film-goers have better taste than we Americans. They are wrong! Please, Columbia-Tristar, release this great movie as a Region 1 DVD and promote it for all it's worth! If more Americans had a chance to see this elusive movie, it would be as well-loved and famous as OUR great classics Gone With The Wind, The Wizard Of Oz, and Star Wars, et al., and the home video sales would fill your coffers. Even at a higher price, I'm sure fans would snap it up and it would be worth every penny! So...what are you waiting for?

David Niven stars as Peter, a squadron leader during World War II whose plane is about to crash after being hit by the enemy. All of his crew are dead. The radio controller from the airbase is a young American, June, who tries to persuade Peter to bail out before it is too late. Peter intends to do that but unfortunately he has no parachute. Still, deciding it's a better way to die, he jumps.
No one is more surprised than him when he awakes on a beach having been washed ashore close to his airbase. He meets June and it's love at first sight. However, Peter wasn't supposed to survive the crash but the `angel' sent to meet him got lost in the fog and missed the `appointment'. Now this being wants Peter to give up life and return with him to heaven. Peter refuses on the basis of his love for June and decides to appeal against his fate, something that hasn't been seen before, and a trial in Heaven follows.
In a reversal from most films of this type, the scenes in Heaven are shot in black and white whilst the Earthly scenes are shot in wonderfully vivid colour. This is a film that has stood the test of time and is as good to watch today as it has ever been, proof that special effects and a frenetic pace do not beat a good, well acted story. The DVD has very little in the way of extras (region 2 version) but there are subtitles for the hard of hearing and a brief interview with the main cameraman. Wonderful movie.

David Niven plays a dashing young pilot, Peter Carter who is about to die. His plane is on fire and he doesn't have a parachute. Rather than burn to death he opts to leap from the plane and meet his death less painfully. However fate steps in and he is miraculously given a second chance at life. A second chance that is unfortunately not sanctioned by the Powers that Be. The story follows Niven as he falls in love with the young American girl June (Kim Hunter at her best) who spoke to him just before he was supposed to "die" and his relationship with those on the other side of life who tell him that his survival was a mistake and he has to meet his maker whether he likes it or not. What happens next is a wonderful combination of drama, humour and a smattering of science-fiction, as Peter tries to reason with those that are trying to claim his soul. Dr Reeves, a friend of June's (another brilliant piece of casting in the form of Roger Livesey, doesn't he have the most amazing voice?) realizes that Peter has suffered a form of rare brain damage that can only be cured on the operating table. But Peter has a trial to attend, and whether it is real or in his mind it has to go ahead, and he has to find someone on the other side to defend him. Poignant, haunting and beautifully acted this film is a superb creation born out of time. The scenes in the "other world" all filmed in black and white are quite breath-taking and for its day it displayed a surprising understanding of the human race in the form of the people it showed living side by side in heaven. Sikhs, and Black Americans being the first two that spring to mind. In a nutshell I loved this film. It was wonderfully funny in parts, especially when Conductor 71 (the Angel who missed Peter's soul because of the English fog) constantly made a plethora of delicious of quips throughout the film that were rib tickingly funny. This is another David Niven classic of the highest quality which was released in the UK under the title of "A Matter of Life and Death." It's also available on DVD in the UK and if you have a multi-regional player it's worth investing in as it has transferred to compact disc exceedingly well unlike many films.

Go to CCVIDEO.COM........I just received my copy from them

:)

I've loved this movie since I was young and only would catch it from time to time when it came on tv. From a note somewhere in searching for it (maybe here, maybe another site), I did find the Time-Warner oldies version in DVD and it was great... and readily available (Region 1) for a reasonable DVD price. I'm not sure why that version is not sold here. It's funny how you see things years later and it's rather slow paced from my memory, but it still "got it". Really wonderful movie... should be up there with Casablanca and Robin Hood in those classics.

I agree with the astute praise ot the others in this forum. This film is witty and moving to a remarkable degree. I can only say, with a restored print now available, that it is a crime that there is no DVD issue. I think Sony-Columbia has the rights....and an obligation to make this film available. I have written them already. If you agree, write them as well. Until then, I must make do with my British DVD (which is not such a good transfer and requires a region free player).