Fascinating trivia (and any goofs) connected with the film
- The huge escalator linking this World with the Other, called
"Operation Ethel" by the firm of engineers who constructed
her under the aegis of the London Passenger Transport Board,
took three months to make and cost £3,000 (in 1946).
"Ethel" had 106 steps each 20 feet wide and was driven by a
12 h.p. engine. The full shot was completed by hanging minatures.
- The backcloth of the High Court scene, suggesting tiers of seats
stretching into infinity, measured 350 feet long and 40 feet high.
Altogether 8 backcloths of similar large dimensions were used
in Other World scenes, and 29 elaborate sets were constructed.
In all these vast scenes 5,375 crowd artistes were used, including
real R.A.F. crews, Red Cross nurses and W.A.A.C.s. Director Michael
Powell insisted upon a high standard of acting in even small parts,
and 96 artists were under contract for the film.
- The perfect casting of Marius Goring as the French diplomat,
Conductor 71, is partly explained by the fact that he was at Paris
University and also toured France in three French plays with the
Compagnie des Quinze.
- Michael Powell's brother in law Joe Reidy, a surgeon,
gave medical information about neurological conditions,
pressure on the brain causing olfactory and optical hallucinations
etc. Joe was a plastic surgeon, part of McIndoo's team
giving badly burnt fighter pilots (The Guinea Pigs) their
faces back.
- Another source of information about olfactory and optical hallucinations
caused by clots on the brain was A Journey Round My Skull by
Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy. The narrator wittily & ironically
recounts the onset of hallucinations and the brain operations he had to
get rid of them.
- An American researcher recently (1994) wrote an entire
paper on the case of Peter D. Carter. Apparently all the
symptoms and diagnoses are medically correct.
- The prologue narrator refers to stars and regions of gas between them,
then says that "the starlight makes the gas transparent, and where there
are no stars, it appears as dark obscuring clouds." Transparency is
actually caused not by starlight but by the absence of dust; starlight
will either have no effect on the appearance of gas, or will cause it to
be illuminated or perhaps to fluoresce. Dark obscuring clouds are those
that contain dust and are not illuminated.
- When the prologue shows the Earth and moon, the sunlight is falling on
them from different directions. Also, their motion is in the wrong
perspective with that of the stars as the viewpoint moves; some stars
seem to be farther away than the Earth, but closer than the moon.
- Peter walks slowly up a very wet beach, shedding his flying gear and
one boot. The camera switches to a long shot showing a line of gear and
Peter in completely dry sand, the surf a long way off. Also, his shadow
jumps to a different direction, indicating the passage of at least 3 hours.
- In the scene where the table tennis game is frozen, the ball moves back
a few inches from the first shot of the game to the second, and the
position of Frank's left arm changes.
- Conductor 71 says "One is starved for colour up there" during filming,
but "Technicolor" was dubbed for "colour" during post-production.
- June's voice is heard before Peter's and she is then seen before Peter
is, but the closing credits "in order of appearance" begin with Peter
(David Niven).
- For the table tennis scene, Kim Hunter and Roger Livesey were trained
by Alan Brooke, the British champion who played many games with
International Champion Victor Barna. During a visit to Denham Studios the
two champions played a couple of games before an admiring audience of
artists and technicians. For luck, Hunter borrowed one of Brooke's
tournament bat for her film game.
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