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A Matter of Life and Death (1946) - Full Reaction (Patreon)

Published:
2025-04-18 13:00:22
Imported:
2026-06
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This was our PAF winner this month! It was romantic and full of wonder and felt like one of those sweeping classics you hear people talk about. It had little cute quirks and ideas and in the end all about LOVE. Thanks Jules for the pick!

You can currently watch this FOR FREE on YouTube. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djkkJxHXMQc

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[Full Reaction] A Matter of Life and Death (1946)

Comments

Jake McNulty

A classic film, glad you enjoyed it. BTW I don't think you would've recognised her, but Kim Hunter who played June also was Zira in the Planet of the Apes films.

Ria Grix

Ooh really interested to see your reaction for this. So soon after the war, it really was something else. Unusually fantastical and sci-fi’ish… and just really lovely. I love the bit about the difficulty of finding someone from history who hasn’t been oppressed or invaded by the British, funny because it’s true (I’m British)

Dryfesands

A very strange movie but an absolute classic. I'm generally not into high romance but this is an absolute exception. There's an ethereal dream like atmosphere that pervades the whole thing, and somehow the proximity of this movie being made so close to the war by the people who made it, gives it an emotional weight which punches above the staginess of it. I can't help be sold on it despite my innate hard hearted cynicism.

Henry Graham

As far as I'm concerned, the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger are inarguably the peak of British cinema. It's astonishing that they made these pictures amid the provisions and rubble of WWII-era Britain - they are so wildly romantic, passionate, imaginative and vibrant, they look like alien objects compared to the films being made by their peers in this era. Jack Cardiff's Technicolor cinematography is unmatched in films like A Matter of Life and Death, Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. I would heartily recommend you continuing your path of discovery through these pictures, not to mention earlier masterpieces like I Know Where I'm Going!, A Canterbury Tale and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. I have had the immense privilege of talking about these films with the great editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who was Powell's wife for the last decade of his life and helped him finish his memoirs, before spending the subsequent decades restoring and celebrating his films. She talked about how they worked on constrained budgets due to wartime and the ingenious production design tricks they employed to create a sense of the infinite in the afterlife scenes. It's amazing how spectacular it still looks today, almost eighty years on. I think the opening scene alone is perhaps the most romantic in cinema: "I love you, June. You're life and I'm leaving you."

Silver Machine

Indeed, this film was a deliberate and sincere attempt to keep the US/UK relationship strong after the war. At the time, many Americans had a negative view of the British Empire.

Silver Machine

Jack Cardiff might be the best cinematographer to ever shoot color film. We have seen his gorgeous work before, when Cassie watched The African Queen.

Joe J

Welcome to Art House Cinema, Lol. I wonder if Cassie will make a YT edit? This one will sink view-wise. Probably very few under 60 have even heard of this movie, has it aired anywhere in decades.

Paul Cox

I've loved every Powell & Pressburger film I've seen (Black Narcissus the most), but I'll be seeing this one for the first time along with Cassie. Been super excited for this ever since the winning film for April was announced.

Shad Kanyak

I can’t say I’ve been here a super long time, but I don’t recall any instance when a full reaction didn’t also get a YT edit. I don’t think projected views matters. Especially since it’s an ongoing joke that any film Cassie picks on her own usually tanks in views.

Paul Cox

It happened a few times in the first year when the tiers were set up differently, but everything eventually makes it to YT nowadays if the copyright cops allow it.

Joe J

PAF rules clearly state that a YT edit may or may not be made.

Paul Cox

We know what the rules say. Why are you so invested in this particular film not getting a YT edit? Are you scared it might open the door for more reactions to films made before any of us were born? I watch movies older than I am all the time, and so do tons of other people. The fact you think this is impossibly obscure just indicates your own film literacy is pretty much zero.

MikeLL

Cassie saw the movie on YouTube, but I watched it for free also on Archive.org, my stop for most old movies.

Maria Torres

My first Powell and Pressburger, watched on PBS with my parents, at around age ten. I fell deeply in love with Roger Livesey and Marius Goring, and the themes and images have influenced me ever since.

Maria Torres

And there's so much more than "just" romance in this.

MikeLL

What a quaint little movie. Yes, I quite liked it. And I had reason not to like it as it started, because the premise was a little too fantastical for me, I prefer a more down to earth story, but the movie did win me over in the end. It was charming, and of course Cassie's love of the movie did persuade me as well. The movie did have an abundance of quirky and charming old school special effects, and the performances were winning. Speaking of performances, in addition to Kim Hunter and David Niven who Cassie has seen before in other movies, there was Richard Attenborough, who when Cassie saw him, she said “He's so young” as one of the airmen in heaven. He of course was seen by Cassie as X in The Great Escape and the owner and founder of Jurassic Park. And the prosecutor Farlan, was Raymond Massey who played the evil brother Jonathan Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace. I really thought I recognized the voice of the actor who played Frank, but I looked him up in IMDB and I can't place a movie where I saw him before. The voice was familiar, but maybe that was because it was English, lol. I along with Cassie did quickly catch on the to films dual nature, the real world and the world of the airman's imagination (or was it) where the movie could be interpreted as a result of the airman's concussion and subsequent hallucinations, or be accepted as a true fantasy. But if not real, just how did he survive that fall without a parachute, hmmm? I love how the film was setup. And I am mad jealous at Jules for getting one of her favorite classics seen. I have so many!!

Keith Brown

Believe it or not Jack Cardiff has done every genre of movies in the decades he worked ! He even did one of Stallone's Rambo movies !

Keith Brown

I will always love watching a classic with Cassie as she finds the gems of yesterday and how much she learns and enjoys them !

Julian Corbett

The young man who says "It's Heaven, isn't it" is one of the early appearances of Richard (later Lord) Attenborough, the actor in films like The Great Escape & Jurassic Park and director of Gandi. Although extremely unusual, there have been documented cases of people falling from great heights and surviving. Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade jumped from his burning plane without a parachute (as it had burned up) and fell 5,500m, (18,000 ft or approx 3.4 miles), landing in fir trees and a snow bank, merely spraining his leg. He was given a signed affidavit by his German captors to verify his story after they found the wreck of his plane with the remains of his parachute still in place. Staff Sergeant Alan Magee exited his aircraft at 6,700 metres (22,000 ft or 4.16 miles) without a parachute and survived as he crashed through the glass roof of Saint-Nazaire train station. Hitting water though, has been described as "being like hitting concrete", as water doesn't compress when hit, so it would appear impossible to survive.

2-Can

Great pick, Jules! I had never seen or even heard of this movie before. I find the 'God/heaven has made a mistake' plot line to be interesting for this time in history, considering the second world war. In the US there were a couple of similar concepts in 'Heaven Can Wait' (1943)(which is originally about someone trying to prove to the devil that he should be admitted into hell) and 'Here Comes Mr. Jordan' (1941) where someone gets returned to earth (which was later the basis for 'Heaven Can Wait' (1978)/'Switch' (1991)/'Down to Earth' (2001)).

Maria Torres

At the common house where the doctor meets Peter, that's Midsummer Night's Dream they're rehearsing. Fantastic and common stories crossing over each other. Frank's house is my kind of house: Books Everywhere! Dr has a housekeeper, not a wife. He loves June like a daughter.

James M

Glad you got to see this one. Trying to reframe the case about Peter into one about the English was the main idea of the prosecution. I think the idea was that England had behaved so badly throughout history that no one would trust an Englishman who claimed he was in love. Frank did a good job of returning attention to the specifics of the individuals. And that I think was the point of the court setting. The story came together over the shared English and American value of individual rights. It's what we most have in common with England (and Canada for that matter).

Henry Graham

Roger Livesey, the actor who played Frank, was one of Powell and Pressburger's favourite actors. He is wonderful in their romantic comedy I Know Where I'm Going! and he gives an incredible performance in The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp. The way he and the filmmakers depicted a character changing over time was something Martin Scorsese studied when he was preparing Raging Bull.

Henry Graham

An amazing career. His autobiography Magic Hour is a marvellous read, full of wonderful anecdotes.

MikeLL

Perfectly said, sir!

OddThomas

Looks like that Youtube link is US only.

Maria Torres

For me, as far as whether it was real or in Peter's head: I say yes. Both.

Joe J

@Paul, don't presume to know what my film literacy is. I don't belittle other patrons...you might keep that in mind in your comments.

Just Plain Bob

Cassie, a quick note on Peter’s use of the word “fantastic” early in the film. Today, fantastic is used almost exclusively to describe something we consider wonderful. But that’s not what it meant at the time. It simply meant something extraordinary. Whether that was something good or bad was not the point, it was just a way of expressing that something was far out of bounds of the commonplace or ordinary, possibly even extending so far as to be unbelievable. As for the movie itself, I had never heard of “A Matter of Life and Death” before it won the drawing and I consider myself a cinephile. I love classic films and this movie has immediately jumped to the front tier of my favorites from the pre-1960s era. Simply a marvelous movie. One of the great things about the classics is that they DID NOT have the crutch of fancy computer effects or other modern (i.e. corporate cookie cutter) filmmaking techniques. They relied on great storytelling and, in the case of films dealing with the fantastique, unbridled imagination. And not just the imagination of the writers, directors or actors, but the imagination of the audience. Finally, I’d like to extend a VERY BIG THANKS to Jules for picking this movie and exposing me to a new favorite!!!

TheSingulatarian

Sad that this film has largely been forgotten. It obviously had a major impact on more recent films like Disney's "Soul" and Albert Brooks' "Defending Your Life".

Julian Corbett

Cassie, to answer your question "why are they there?" about all the women in uniform who were in audience in the celestial court. During WWII, a lot of women joined the Auxilliary services (WAAFs, WRNS and WRACs) and were employed in mostly non-combat duties (the exception were the incredibly brave women who joined SOE and were dropped into Occupied Territory as agents) that men had done formerly in peacetime. They were often to be found on RAF stations and other Army/Navy bases, other military installations and in Military Hospitals. The UK was heavily bombed during WWII, especially early on during 1940/1941 and then the V1 and V2 weapons in 1944. Many military bases were hit (including many RAF Stations during the Battle of Britain) along with major cities, including hospitals, both military and civillian. Many serving were killed in those bombings, hence those women in the court.

Larry Darrell

Immense privilege indeed! I’m sure that’s a heck of memorable experience. Over the past week, I’ve had my own little Powell & Pressburger marathon, watching everything from One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942) to The Small Back Room (1949). A Canterbury Tale (1944) is one that really caught me off guard. I’m gonna have to watch that one again. I was not prepared for it, and after reading about it, I don’t think I could have been prepared. I just know that I had a peaceful easy feeling when it was over.

Clay F

Joe, good points. My favorite movies she reacts to typically get low YT views. My current PaF submission would surely get low YT views. I suspect here for this movie there will be a YT edit, even with an obscure pre-1950 movie not looking good for YT views. Maybe will compete with Now and Then for last place of her recent reactions. But we will see. Hopefully, there are enough YT views so that she recovers editing costs.

Larry Darrell

I feel like the only reason to not do a YouTube edit would be that it would hurt the channel. Would a YouTube edit to this film push people away? I would hope not. Low views is still views IMO, and at the very least, I would think having this film on YouTube would still only gain viewers. There are some people out there that look for reactions to old films from the 30s and 40s. This film could bring in more of a newer crowd. (Unless that’s the initial worry ;-)

Gray

First watch for me and I really enjoyed it such a well shot movie too for the time period, I loved all the costumes. She missed it when the surgeon took off his mask him being the one who was The Judge

Larry Darrell

There had been incidents before the making of this film, that gave them the idea of an airman surviving a fall from a plane without a parachute. Look up US airman Alan Magee who fell 4 miles from his B-17 in 1943, and survived. And he didn’t fall in the ocean. Powell & Pressburger had the idea of what if such a person survived something like that and felt like maybe they weren’t supposed to of.

Larry Darrell

+1 for Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) +1 for Heaven Can Wait (1943)

Larry Darrell

I attended a Powell & Pressburger film festival about 20 years ago, when in high school, and saw Black Narcissus (1947) and The Red Shoes (1948). Afterwards Thelma Schoonmaker (editor of the recently seen Cape Fear (1991), came on stage and spoke about the films. I had not taken a deep dive into Classic Films yet, but those films, especially Black Narcissus, which I still include in my All-Time Top 10, had a major influence on my perception of Classic Films. I wanted to see and know more. Before seeing Black Narcissus, if you had told a teenager Me that I would one day soon regard a film made in the 1940s about Nuns in the Himilayas, as one of my All-Time favorite films… I wouldn’t have believed it. Now many of my All-Times are Pre-1970 films. I agree with Henry Graham below, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger films are the peak of British cinema. They really are a breed of their own. I do hope that you, Cassie, decide to watch some more soon. Powell & Pressburger had one of the greatest “One, Two, Three” punches in Cinema History, with… A Matter of Life and Death (1946) Black Narcissus (1947) The Red Shoes (1948) Highly, Highly Recommended.

Henry Graham

Yes, A Canterbury Tale is such an unusual film, there's real magic in it, and A Small Back Room is so underrated. We had a big Powell and Pressburger retrospective in the UK a couple of years ago and it was such a pleasure to rediscover their films. It was great to see so many younger viewers discovering these timeless pictures too. There is nothing like their work.

TheSingulatarian

My film professor made us watch "Peeping Tom" in college. I was kind of unimpressed. Which made him mad. But of course, he was a film professor at a university without a film program. In fact, I think he was the entire film department. In fact, the only film he ever made was a rather boring short film about the university itself. I'm not sorry I went to business school, but I do sometimes wish I had gone to film school at Wesleyan instead of UCONN. I should watch "Peeping Tom" again to see if my opinion has changed.

Maria Torres

Off topic, but Archive.org is a truly wonderful site if you're doing almost any kind of research and need publications.

OddThomas

The Red Shoes by P&P is STUNNING

Maria Torres

+ 1 more for both! If nothing else, "Mr. Jordan" gives us Claude Rains and the great James Gleason!

Maria Torres

He's also a quiet scene stealer in the mini-series "The Plantagenets" which came to the US on PBS in the 1970s. Our family watched it religiously (as well as "I, Claudius", which we called "I, Clavdivs".

Paul Cox

I recently saw another "sent back to earth" film with Claude Rains called 'Angel on my Shoulder," except this time he plays the devil. He's so good at both.

Maria Torres

To say nothing of "The African Queen"!

Ben Livingstone

I know I'm a broken record about this, but if you loved this movie, you may feel the same way about "I Know Where I'm Going!"! Also "49th Parallel", an anti-Nazi adventure movie set entirely in Canada. Both fine Powell and Pressburger films!

2-Can

Interesting- add to that It’s a Wonderful Life which also included divine intervention and it’s starting to look like a theme or insight into the public mindset during and just after the war.

Mark Vaderr

The same way that Robert Armstrong is directing Fay Wray on the boat as to what she is supposed to see. "It's fantastic!" Also how Leslie Nielsen describes the plaster footprint of the ID monster from Forbidden Planet. "That's fantastic."

Henry Graham

It's interesting that Psycho and Peeping Tom were released within months of each other, and while Hitchcock's film was a huge hit, the vicious reaction to Powell's film destroyed his career. I think it's the way that Powell created a sense of subjectivity and implicated the viewer that was too much for people to tolerate, though both films are now rightly regarded as extraordinary works.

Carol_White

She didn't love this movie.

Ben Livingstone

We might be in court for hours to determine whether she truly loved this movie, but it sure seemed like she liked it! I mean, she said she did.

Chris Thom

I've heard of Peeping Tom. Not a lot, but just that it was the first movie to feature the killer's point of view with the camera.

Kevin Charley

It started as a British propaganda film against America. Which the Archers had no real interest in. But that's why the prosecutor is American and it becomes UK vs US during the trial.

Clay F

"A young lady of good American stock." I liked it. He looked older than 27 to me. Thx Jules for submitting an interesting movie as your PAF. This link is an HD version, which I think she reacted to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbVcF5eSkL4 Thanks Cassie for a good reaction. I haven't watched that many pre-1950 movies, but a pre-1950 romance movie I recently watched that I like and recommend is "The Philadelphia Story" (1940) (comedy/romance/melodrama) [AFI Top 100]. A charismatic trio of 3 awesome actors – Jimmy Stewart, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant.

Clay F

Conductor 71 (the French aristocrat guy who can stop time) mentions "Philidor" a couple of times. Philidor (1726-1795) was widely regarded as the best chess player of his age. His chess book was considered a standard chess manual for at least a century. Philidor was arguably the first modern player with a real positional, not just tactical, sense. Best known for his focus on pawn play, and there is also an opening for black named after him = "The Philidor Defense" characterized by 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 (thus as an alternative to the common 2… Nc6) that aims to avoid the common white openings Ruy Lopez and Italian Game (e.g., Giuoco Piano). While "The Philidor Defense" is now less popular at the highest levels, it's still considered a solid option for Black. Still given in chess books. For instance, The Philidor Defense is given in the book “Modern Chess Openings” that the janitor (Mr. Shaibel) gave Beth in the orphanage in "The Queen’s Gambit" Netflix series.

Steve Holton

Yes, David Niven was born in 1910, so he was older than 27 in 1946. But Niven was well cast as a war hero. His fame might have excused him from less dangerous work, but he volunteered to serve as a commando behind enemy lines during World War 2. He felt great pressure to live up to the memory of his father's heroic and fatal military service in the first world war.

Ted Little

Michael Powell (director) and Emric Pressburger (writer) first collaborated on the wartime propaganda film "49th Parallel," which was set and largely filmed in Canada. They worked so well together that they formed a production company, "The Archers" listing themselves as written and directed by P&P. Their movies had a way of moving between fantasy and reality that is quite charming. I see that you have gotten a number of mentions in the comments of "I Know Where I'm Going." It is one of the best Rom Coms of all time and should be on a poll.

Maria Torres

You can't go wrong with Claude Rains!

Stick Figure Studios

Niven looked old even when he was young, but he still looked great.

Stick Figure Studios

Yeah, this is a great movie. Two other Powell in Pressburger movies you should consider watching our THE RED SHOES and BLACK NARCISSUS.

Clay F

That's what I was thinking -- that he looked old for his age. Not necessarily in a bad way.

Julian Corbett

Most people do, especially as the surgeon is not credited at the end, (although the Judge is) though it does beg the question...if everyone in the celestial court is "not alive at all!", as Abraham Farlan points out, how come the "Judge" is alive to perform Peters operation? Just another trick to add to the "is it real or all in his head" premise of the movie. :-)

K, Zachary

David Niven is in this and kept asking my SO where I knew him from she replied with the Pink Panther. No this is something I had seen dozens of times. Then it dawned on me Eye Of The Devil Sharon Tate's first major role. Then I grabbed the book A Sharon Tate Collection by Debra Tate Quote by David Niven " Sharon is a great discovery. First of all she's a fabulously good looking bird and she's got all the fun spark and go. She's a marvelous girl. She's up on cloud nine, Sharon is. And I think she's going to be a very very good actress. She is obviously going to make a big hit in this picture " Sharon Tate with David Niven https://photos.app.goo.gl/HbUFKaVHUn4KMrvT9

Stephen Dias

Cool movie! I actually bought the DVD before I discovered it for free, but it's all good. Some really cool visuals, especially the courtroom in space. Going back and forth from color to black and white is something you don't very often and well done here.

Michael Walsh

David Niven's love interest is Kim Hunter, who played Zira in the original Planet of the Apes and Escape From...

Michael Walsh

I tend to agree. She just sort of goes through the motions with (most, there are a few exceptions) classic films that require greater attention span, imagination and perceiving people in the past as full human beings, who are the same as we are. And like too many viewers acting and speaking styles, from earlier eras, are too big an obstacle to overcome. The silliest overuse of CGI is AOK, but a different acting or speaking style causes a disconnect.

Ben Livingstone

There is sometimes a disconnect, but in past reactions, she's been favorably surprised by many classics. If I assume that she has no capacity for empathizing with people in the past, then I'm ignoring those reactions. I'm also thinking of her as an easily-distracted infant, fundamentally unsuited to the job she's doing. Even for Patreon, that attitude seems a little too patronizing. It sometimes takes a little time (even repeated viewings) to immerse ourselves in a different world. There also could be personal circumstances--fatigue, sickness, family worries, etc. If she has smaller reactions to some movies than others, that doesn't makes her deficient. It makes her normal.

Michael Walsh

I've watched all her classic movie reactions and commend her for several : Wonderful Life, Best Years, a few others. But overall there's a condescension that's impossible to overlook, "wow, I was able to get through this old movie, and it surprised me etc." It is what it is, and I'm still interested in seing how different generations react to different eras. I'm hoping to be surprised at some point and acting style and elocution are no longer such a barrier. But I've only seen that kind of growth in one or two reactors, who can submit themselves to the work as it is. I assure you, it's not an indictment of Cassie, she's obviously a lovely person, but it's my inescapable observation. Cheers!!

Milton Reduxed

I thought when Farlan challenged Frank to select an American jury he was was going to pick a black man living under segregation, a Native American living on a reservation, a Japanese American living in an internment camp, a Mexican American living in a former Mexican state, and a southern confederate rebel, all to sway the jury But I preferred the direction they went instead where Farlan was also convinced the two were in love Great PaF, June really raised the bar with this choice

William Burnham

Roger Livesey is excellent in the famous and controversial Powell and Pressburger film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ( also with Deborah Kerr , Another superb film 🙂🙂🙂🙂

Ted Little

"Here Comes Mr Jordan" (1941) is an excellent earlier treatment of a similar idea though with a completely different vibe.