21 Days

he film begins with two happy lovers (Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh) returning to her home. There, waiting for her is her husband--a man who she hasn't seen in three years. He demands money and then attacks Olivier--trying to stab him. In self-defense, Olivier kills the husband and dumps his body in an alley. He then visits his brother, a respected judge (Leslie Banks) and confesses. However, the brother surprisingly does NOT want him to go the police--which is odd, since it was a case of self-defense. It seems that he doesn't want this dirty laundry to be aired in public. For a time, things appear fine...until some other guy is arrested for the killing. Olivier cannot allow this to happen but his brother encourages him to be quiet--the defendant is sure to be found innocent. But, as the trial progresses, things look worse and worse for the defendant. And, all the while his brother, a respected judge, encourages the couple to leave the country and forget about the case. The problem is that Olivier's character has character--much more than his supposedly upright and respectable brother.

While the story is very simple and relatively easy to predict (though the ending was a bit of a twist), I liked the idea of two brothers who appear one way but are the opposite. Olivier's character is a bit of a rotter--gambling and living a rather frivolous life--but down deep, he has a conscience. His proper brother, however, is truly evil and can live with an innocent man being convicted and hung! Because it is a very good film, it is perplexing why Gainsborough Pictures shelved this movie for three years before finally releasing it. I'd love to know why.

Graham Greene here made an inauspicious entry into film writing converting a John Galsworthy story he himself considered "peculiarly unsuited to film adaptation" into "the worst and least successful of Korda's productions".

Olivier and Leigh, the gilded young lovers of the Old Vic, had yet to learn how to act before the cameras in this overwrought melodrama with a noisy score by John Greenwood which spent two years on the shelf before eventually slipping quietly into cinemas only after both leads had hit it big in Hollywood.

There are compensations, however, in the graceful work of it's Czech cameraman, some vivid shots of London as it looked in 1937, and above all a moving performance - twelfth in the cast list - by Hay Petrie, who Greene himself declared "enriches every picture in which he appears.

I was disappointed in this film, but it's my own fault. I went into it thinking it was some marvelous mystery or noir.

"21 Days Together" has an interesting history. Released in 1940, it was actually made in 1937 but for some reason not released. After Gone with the Wind, I suppose there was a lot of interest in Leigh and the film was released.

The Leigh role was to be played by Vera Zorina, but obviously she didn't do it and Leigh won the role.

The story concerns a young couple in love, but the woman, Wanda (Leigh) is married but not living with her husband. He shows up and attempts blackmail, but gets into a fight with her lover Larry (Olivier) who accidentally kills him.

A man who stole something off of the body is arrested for murder and found guilty. The couple has three weeks together before Larry must give himself up or let an innocent man hang. His brother, who is up for a judgeship, is determined that Larry not admit to the crime.

This film was not close-captioned and, as I am a little hard of hearing, it was difficult to understand some of the dialogue.

I found this an okay drama, well acted for the most part.

Leigh and Olivier made a beautiful couple, and it's always nice to see them together, young and in love. Makes you sad about how it ended.

There are many barriers to love, most can be overcome, but is murder one such obstacle, can a couple allow an innocent man to take the blame for their crime?

It's not as good as some of the movies I've seen from this era and in the same genre, but it is good, it's very watchable, and let's be honest, anything that features Vivian Leigh is worth watching.

It's perhaps a lack of suspense that is the stumbling block, you're left in no doubt as to the ending.

It's a good watch though, nicely made, and very well acted, 6/10.

21 Days is directed by Basil Dean and adapted to screenplay by the director and Graham Greene from John Galsworthy's play The First and Last. It stars Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Leslie Banks, Francis L. Sullivan and David Horne.

When Larry Durrant (Olivier) accidentally kills his lover's husband, he decides to hide his crime and the couple embark on a whirlwind romance for the next twenty one days. However, with an innocent dupe on trial for the murder, Durrant's conscience begins to get the better of him.

If it didn't feature Olivier and Leigh then this would have been consigned to the forgotten bin and sealed up post haste. That the stars give it a curiosity value is a given, but one peak at the meagre back story backs up the fact that it really is rather a dull movie. Film was wrapped in 1938 but sat on the shelf for two years and was only released once Olivier and Leigh became big names in 1940. The two stars were more interested in playing footsie under the table than putting any acting depth into the production, something which greatly annoyed director Dean as he was trying to make a gripping crime drama. In fact Viv and Larry were so unhappy with how the film ended up, they reportedly walked out of a screening of it at the halfway point!

Picture is clearly meant to be a scathing observation on the folly of criminal law, wrapped around a male protagonist battling his moral codes as his heart goes pitter patter for a dame. Yet the picture rarely reaches dramatic heights, playing out more as a movie about young lovers inconvenienced by an accident, than one about a cruel twist of fate so pay your penance you loser. Olivier gives good quality mental anguish, again that is a given, but Leigh is just on the sidelines looking pretty and rarely impacting on the narrative. The other cast members work well enough, but everyone seems confused as to just what sort of tone to aim for, in fact taking their queues from Larry and Viv. While the ending lacks an edge, playing out more as a cheap cop out than anything else, geared once again towards how lovely the central couple are together.

Somehow finding its way into a British film noir DVD collection, that's a bit of a bum steer. However, little snippets of visual pleasures do provide bright spots in the viewing experience. The few scenes involving a foggy London of wet back streets and street lamps hint at where the director hoped his movie would dwell, and with cinematographer Jan Stallick photographing continually with shadows prominent, there's just enough to keep it from being a complete wash out on the tech side of things. Ultimately it's very disjointed, a tonally confusing picture in search of a more dramatic and thrilling home, director Dean knew it, producer Alexander Korda knew it, and crucially, so did Olivier and Leigh. Only the most staunch (biased) fans of the two stars can seriously think this is a good movie. 5/10