A Matter of Life and Death (film) afterward. David Niven was a fan of chess. Peter and June play chess while they await Dr Reeves. Then Conductor 71 "borrows" a chess book Peter has accidentally knocked off the table, Alekhine's "My Best Games of Chess". After the trial is won, Conductor 71 throws the book from the stairway; June finds it in his jacket pocket "to serve the 'was it a hallucination or did it really happen?' motif of the film", according to Mig Greengard. He also noted, "Lots of chess in movies past and present, but I can't recall another prominent appearance of a real chess
A Matter of Life and Death (film) the Cinematograph Trade Benevolent Fund and £30,000 (£ in 2019 pounds) was raised. It then went into general release in the UK on 15 December 1946. The film subsequently had its US release in New York on 25 December 1946 under the name "Stairway to Heaven". According to trade papers, the film was a "notable box office attraction" at British cinemas in 1947. In 1986 the film was screened out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Upon its premiere in New York City, Bosley Crowther said "the delicate charm, the adult humor and visual virtuosity of this Michael Powell—Emeric