21 Days Together

1938, Movie, NR, 72 mins

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A slow movie that languished two years on the shelves before it was released. Leigh and Olivier had by then achieved stardom, and the distributing company hoped to cash in on that. Olivier is a bit of a rake and a flake, but lovable nevertheless. His brother Banks is a well-known barrister who is on the brink of becoming a judge in the British judicial system and thus fearful of any scandal that might besmirch his name. Olivier meets Leigh a model who is estranged from her husband. When her husband finds out that she and Olivier are seeing each other, he arrives at Olivier's place and threatens him. Olivier kills the man in self-defense as Leigh watches. A mentally deranged man is taken in for the crime and will be held for 21 days until he comes to trial. Olivier decides to use the three weeks to have some happiness with Leigh before he gives himself up for the murder rather than allow the innocent man to be tried. Banks, who knows the truth, tells Olivier to keep mum, as he'd rather see the innocent mental case hanged than suffer the slings and arrows of the outraged press. The problem is cleared up when the innocent man dies in jail of heart failure, so Olivier and Leigh are free to take up a happy existence with each other. The picture was reissued in 1944, but fared no better than the first go-around. Producer Alexander Korda directed one sequence of the film, which had a working title of "The First and the Last" until the final title was decided on. Although brief at 72 minutes, it seems twice that long because the characters appear to be moving as though they just awoke. leave a comment
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21 Days Together
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