Squadron Leader Peter Carter (David Niven), is caught between two worlds, reality, and the other which exists in his imagination that has been contaminated by war. As his plane travels over the English Channel in a ball of fire, he prepares to jump without a parachute. In what he believes are his final moments he shares his feelings on love and poetry with an American WAC, Kim Hunter. After he lands ashore he meets the WAC and they fall in love. All seems well, but a case of concussion causes Carter to experience hallucinations in which he finds himself on trial within his imaginary world. This film also features Raymond Massey, Roger Livesey and Richard Attenbourough. Also known as “Stairway to heaven”. Earthbound sequences are filmed in technicolour and Heaven sequences in black and white.
Content notification
Our collection comprises over 40,000 moving image works, acquired and catalogued between the 1940s and early 2000s. As a result, some items may reflect outdated, offensive and possibly harmful views and opinions. ACMI is working to identify and redress such usages.
Learn more about our collection and our collection policy here. If you come across harmful content on our website that you would like to report, let us know.
How to watch
Stream, rent or buy via
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
308526
Language
English
Audience classification
PG
Subject categories
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Fighter pilots
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1939-1945 - Psychological aspects
Crime, Espionage, Justice, Police & Prisons → Trials in motion pictures
Fantasy & Science Fiction → Fantasy
Feature films → Feature films - Great Britain
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)