21 Days Together 1940

Excitingly Together!

6.1 / 10   26 vote(s)
NR
Drama Romance

After Larry Darrent accidentally kills his lover's blackmailing husband, someone else is arrested for the crime. When he is found guilty, Larry and Wanda have just three weeks together before he must give himself up or let an innocent man go to the gallows.

Release Date 1940-01-07
Runtime 1h 12m
Directors Basil Dean, Jan Stallich, A.W. Watkins, Muir Mathieson
Producers Alexander Korda, Basil Dean
Writers John Galsworthy, Graham Greene, Basil Dean

A happy couple (Laurence Olivier & Vivien Leigh) return from a day out to discover her husband waiting for them. He demands £20 to go away, a fracas ensues and in self-defence, Olivier kills him. He dumps the body and then confides in his career-obsessed solicitor brother (Leslie Banks) who advises them to sit tight and do nothing. That works until a man is charged with the murder so they decide that should he be found guilty then they will confess all to save the him from the gallows. I found Olivier's rather insipid performance a bit irritating after a while; sure his character is weak-willed but his constantly stunned facial expressions and overly theatrical gestures rather over-egged the pudding here. Great performances from Leigh, Banks and a super supporting cast with an avuncular Francis L. Sullivan, Robert Newton & David Horne all compensated adequately, though, and contributed well to make this an engaging crime thriller - with a slight twist at the end...

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