dwrdnrth I love this film. My father flew bombers in the RAF during WWII and told me the sequence at the beginning was the most realistic representation of a damaged aeroplane in flight he had seen in film. Having said that this is not a war film, it is a charming tale of love, friendship, life and, of course, death. David Niven is his usual convincing self but he doesn't dominate the film in which he stars. (Though it must have been his influence that caused one character to be named Trubshaw.) Roger Livesey, Kim Hunter, and the excellent Raymond Massey make this a rounded film with their portrayals of developed characters. It is beautifully filmed, Kim Hunter's bicycle ride along the beach somehow enchants me. It is a good tale well told and acted. I highly recommend it.

rogerdarlington At the end of the Second World War, relations between the Americans and the British were a little strained as, in the run-up to D-Day, the yanks won local hearts while they were "overpaid, oversexed and over here" and a British Government department suggested the idea of a locally-made film to improve perceptions.Written, produced and directed by the quintessentially British Michael Powell and the Hungarian-born Emeric Pressburger, the work may not have fully met its contemporary brief: British critics of the time thought the film was too pro-American and the Americans renamed the work "Stairway To Heaven" because they thought the word 'death' would kill its prospects. But the movie played well with audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and it was so visually inventive and verbally clever that it has become a classic.At the heart of the story is an inversion of the usual 'yank gets the girl' narrative, as RAF bomber pilot Squadron Leader Peter Carter (David Niven) wins the affection of American radio operator June (Kim Hunter) in record time and audacious circumstances as he is about to bale out without a parachute. That should be the end of the 'matter' but Conductor 71 (Marius Goring) of "the other world" (the word 'heaven'is never used) fails to find his man in the Channel fog.So this is a romance - and a comedy - but it is also very political with some satirical analysis of contemporary Britain and America. The tribunal in the other world, pitting American prosecuter (Raymond Massey) against the British defender (Roger Livesey), features critiques and characteriisations of both nations, not least in the choice of the members of the two juries.The set designs - by German-born Alfred Junge - are simple but striking, especially the staircase to the other world and the scenes of that world, while there are a whole range of clever visual techniques, starting with the representation of earth in colour and the heavenly world in black & white and including the 'freezing' of 'real life' when Conductor 71 makes his earthly appearances and an amzing shot from an eyeball point of view.Even the statutes on the stairway are carefully chosen (all of the 17 famous personages named in Pressburger's copy of the script were believed to be sufferers of epilepsy). Indeed the whole film is constructed so that the viewer can interpret the story either as a real life medical phenomenon or as an obviously spiritual experience.Most people will only have seen this film on television which is where I first encountered it. But, in December 2017, a digitally restored version was shown in British cinemas and I was fortunate enough to see it on the big screen as a Boxing Day treat.Seven decades on, the film still has resonance as a British Prince Harry wins the heart of the American actress Meghan Markle and the second jury - made up entirely of self-declared immigrants to the USA - reminds us that current US President Donald Trump does not represent the real America.

DKosty123 While the script itself has been sort of done in "Heaven Can Wait" and "Here Comes Mr. Jordan", this one is done better than either of those films. David Niven became a star with this film. It is easy to see why. This is a very good film.The film starts with Niven alone on a Lancaster Bomber on it's way down. With the exception of one dead person, everyone else has bailed out. Niven has not because he does not have a parachute. For some reason he gets a radio call from a woman who he tells his situation too and then he bails out rather than burning with the plane.Here this plot becomes more complicated as he meets the girl he fell in love with on the radio as he is still alive after jumping out. It seems he was supposed to die but because of the fog, he did not.This film uses black and white and technicolor to major advantages. It has some special effects that are amazing considering when the film was made. The supporting cast is great. It started filming on V-Jay day, and because of that the war sequences seem more real than many films.The script while not perfect, does a good job of balancing the story between Heaven and Earth. It doe it better than the other films I mentioned and gets rid of the hokey desire of the dead person to want to step into another persons shoes. It is stronger because it goes to the mode of airman Niven getting a trial to decide if he should come to heaven now (after their foggy mistake to end his live missed) or if he should stay on earth with his new found love.It works better, and that is simply why this is a great film.

elision10 I've seen several of the Archers' movies, including most recently the delightful The Red Shoes. I've enjoyed most of them, although some more than others. The popularity and accolades for Stairway to Heaven, however, baffles me. I can understand the praise from critics, who often find merit in historical, technological, and professional importance, as they should. What I can't understand is the popularity among more typical moviegoers, including those at IMDb. Eight points plus? Really guys?Anyone watching a fantasy knows they have to suspend belief. But you still want the characters to reflect normal human emotions. The cheerfulness in which death is greeted in some scenes just defies the way most people react to the passing of both acquaintances and loved ones. As for the "it was a different time" counter-argument, the whole stiff-upper-lip, that's-a-good-chap, cheerio credo must've seemed rather tiresome to the British by 1945, who by then had been through two massive onslaughts of death and destruction within 30 years. In addition, the treatment of the US/UK love/hate theme is awfully heavy-handed. Again, I realize critics can point to 1945/1946 as crucial years in the trans-Atlantic relationship, and they find its importance in the film noteworthy. But some of the related dialog is out of place and does nothing to advance the story, similar to the preachy words of Lefty film makers.In all, a disappointment.