1946: A Matter of Life and Death (a.k.a. Stairway to Heaven)

From a burning airplane, and thinking he is about to die, a British World War II pilot gets in touch with an England-based American radio operator and the two fall in love during a few minutes of conversation. As it turns out, he survives and, naturally, meets the woman right away, so they can fall into each other's arms. Meanwhile in heaven, they're missing a scheduled new arrival. Yes, this Powell-Pressburger classic has a totally bizarre setup, but once you've managed to switch off your higher reasoning faculties, it's possible to appreciate it as a nice-in-a-stupid-way-for-a-rainiy-Sunday-afternoon-way film, in particular for its rather decorative Technicolor (though the technology isn't used nearly as effectively as in Powell and Pressburger's The Red Shoes). Unfortunately, it contains a twenty-minute segment about how great it is to be British towards the end. Might make a nice UK Technicolor Trash double feature with Peeping Tom. (5.5)