A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (1946) Defending his life

A young British WWII pilot (a young David Niven) bails out of his burning plane – sans chute, sans prayer – and wakes up on a sandy beach near which a naked shepherd boy is playing a flute. Is poet Peter Carter dead or alive? If alive, does he actually see or simply imagine Conductor 71, a foppish Frenchman, who coaxes him to abandon life and love and accompany him "up"? The trial Peter must face in heaven to determine whether he can remain on earth – is it real or dreamed? How does his doctor (or is he Peter's barrister?) figure in? And what about Peter's damned headaches? See the charming and ultra-romantic A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH, aka STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, produced by The Archers, and decide for yourself. (Trivia note: elements of this movie, including a similarly odd piano theme, showed up in a Twilight Zone episode called "And When the Sky Opened Up," about three astronauts who have returned from a space flight, but because they were really died in a crash, soon begin to disappear one by one.)