Made in 1938 but shelved until 1940 when the two stars were captivating the world as Scarlett O'Hara and Heathcliff (Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, of course!) this is a very slight little film that is typical of the low-budget stuff producer Alexander Korda was churning out in Britain throughout the 1930's. Modest, inoffensive, rather stiffly acted and implausibly scripted, "21 Days" is decent enough entertainment and I guess a "must-see" if you are fans of the Oliviers. Larry plays Larry, the ne'er do well brother of an aspiring judge (Leslie Banks) who accidentally kills his girlfriend's (Vivien Leigh) husband. Olivier still wasn't that comfortable with the film medium and you can see it here, while Leigh doesn't have much to do except look very pretty and act concerned. Leigh and Olivier famously caught a US screening of this in 1940 and left halfway through and got roaring drunk because they thought it was that bad! Hmm, while it's often cited as the worst film Leigh was in, I prefer it a lot to the con-fuddled mess that is "Dark Journey".
Review of 21 Days Together
