A Matter of Life and Death 1946

In May 1945, Squadron Leader Peter Carter, David Niven, a Royal Air Force pilot, pilots a badly damaged and burning Lancaster bomber over the English Channel after a mission over Germany. With his crew ordered to bail out and his own parachute destroyed, Carter faces a death he believes is certain, but his only radio contact is June, Kim Hunter, at a United States Army Air Forces base along the English coast. After he jumps from the aircraft, Carter expects oblivion, yet a thick fog over the Channel thwarts a timely arrival to the afterlife. He awakens on a beach near June’s base, surprised to learn that he is still alive when a low-flying de Havilland Mosquito passes overhead.

Peter Carter soon encounters June again and experiences an unexpected and growing romance. Conductor 71, [Marius Goring], the guide charged with escorting souls to the Other World, briefly freezes time to explain the situation and urges Carter to accept his death and move on. Yet Carter refuses and presses for an appeal. While Conductor 71 consults his superiors, Carter clings to the possibility that his life can continue on Earth, and his fight to remain grows even as doctors on the living side of the world prepare to intervene.

Doctor Reeves, [Roger Livesey], becomes involved as Carter’s visions are diagnosed as a brain injury—adhesive arachnoiditis from a concussion suffered two years earlier. Reeves is killed in a motorcycle accident while searching for the ambulance that would take Carter to the hospital, but his death ironically frees Reeves to act as Carter’s counsel in the ensuing celestial hearing. Reeves argues that Carter, through no fault of his own, was granted extra time on Earth and has since formed a real earthly commitment with June that should take precedence over any afterlife claim.

The case moves toward a celestial court trial that unfolds in parallel with Carter’s brain surgery. The prosecutor, Abraham Farlan, [Raymond Massey], an American Minuteman who resents the British for making him one of the first casualties of the American Revolution, faces Reeves in a debate about justice and loyalty. Reeves challenges the jury’s makeup, insisting that it be free of prejudice, and the panel is ultimately replaced by a diverse group of modern Americans whose backgrounds are varied and contemporary. Throughout the proceedings, Reeves and Farlan trade jabs comparing their respective nationalities, each insisting that their side deserves a ruling in their favor.

A turning point comes when Reeves puts June on the stand and reveals the depth of her love for Carter. She explains that the only way to save Carter is for her to take his place in the afterlife, and she steps onto the stairway to the Other World without hesitation, only to be carried away by the same force she chose to confront. Carter’s plea intensifies as love and duty collide, and Reeves pauses long enough to acknowledge that love has the power to override even the strongest legal arguments. > nothing is stronger than the law in the universe, but on Earth, nothing is stronger than love.

The celestial jury eventually rules in Carter’s favor, and the Judge reveals a newly extended lifespan granted to him, a decision Reeves characterizes as generous, while Farlan, good-hnaturedly frustrated, concedes the point. The courtroom banter shifts to a lighter tone as the Chief Recorder protests the breach of legal procedure, and the story moves to the operating room, where the masked surgeon—the Judge in disguise—confirms the procedure’s success. Carter’s restoration becomes possible not merely through legal technicalities but through the enduring power of love and the stubborn hope of two people who would rather live together than accept a predetermined fate.