Based on the 1919 play "The First and the Last" by John Galsworthy, this is a limp and unconvincing romantic thriller. The second of only three films that Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh made together, it was filmed in 1937 but not released for almost three years, by which time its two stars had made names for themselves in Hollywood. Olivier later said that he believed that the film may never have been released otherwise as it was so dreadful and he and the future Lady Olivier were so dreadful in it. While I would not go quite that far, I don't think that anyone involved gave it pride of place on their CV. It is certainly my least favourite of the Olivier films that I have seen. It is badly written by Basil Dean and Graham Greene (even Homer nods) and the former's direction leaves a great deal to be desired.
The film concerns Larry Durrant, the ne'er-do-well younger brother of the prominent barrister Keith Durrant who is soon to be appointed to the bench, and his lover Wanda. On April 21, 1938, Larry and Wanda return home from a romantic trip to the pawnbroker's and find that her husband Henry Wallen, whom she hasn't seen in three years, is waiting for them in her flat. Henry threatens to kill Wanda and Larry accidentally kills him. He later places his body in an archway not far from Wanda's house. Fearing the shadow that it will cast on his legal career, Keith advises Larry not to tell the police, even after a harmless vagrant named John Evan is arrested and charged with murder. In spite of the very circumstantial evidence, Evan is remanded for trial in three weeks.
After learning that Henry was a bigamist, Larry and Wanda get married and try to fit 30 years into 21 days. Larry has decided that he will come forward if Evan is convicted but not if he is acquitted. As it turns out, Evan is convicted and sentenced to death - after a one day trial, mind you - but dies that very night so Larry is off the hook. This is supposed to be a happy ending but it isn't as a wrongly convicted man has died, probably due to stress, and his name will never be cleared. This happens so that two dippy characters can live happily ever after. Considering Larry acted in self-defence, one would hope that this justification would be successful in court and he would be found not guilty so there is a very good chance that they could have lived happily ever after even if he had done the right thing. However, they would rather a very nice and, far more importantly, innocent man be considered a murderer.
Olivier's performance as Larry (which is what he liked to be called in preference to Sir Laurence or Lord Olivier in later life) is not one of his best but it is nevertheless the best in the film. He makes the film and its flawed, poorly thought-out plot all the more bearable as I couldn't help but pay attention to his great skill as an actor whenever he was on screen. Leigh was a fantastic actress but not in this film. She has a thankless role as Wanda but she plays it dreadfully. In many cases, she fails to even deliver lines in a convincing fashion, which shocked me. She was excellent in "Fire Over England" which she and Olivier made shortly beforehand so I don't know what happened here. Leslie Banks is good as the morally dubious Keith - well, the more morally dubious Keith - but the best supporting performance comes from Hay Petrie as the unfortunate Evan. It also features nice small appearances from Robert Newton and William Dewhurst (who died over two years before the film was released). Banks and Newton likewise appeared in "Fire Over England" and Olivier later cast them in his version of "Henry V", incidentally.
Overall, this is a very bad film which does not make a great deal of sense if you think about it but Olivier saves it from being a complete disaster. Still, it is one of my least favourite films of the year.
The film concerns Larry Durrant, the ne'er-do-well younger brother of the prominent barrister Keith Durrant who is soon to be appointed to the bench, and his lover Wanda. On April 21, 1938, Larry and Wanda return home from a romantic trip to the pawnbroker's and find that her husband Henry Wallen, whom she hasn't seen in three years, is waiting for them in her flat. Henry threatens to kill Wanda and Larry accidentally kills him. He later places his body in an archway not far from Wanda's house. Fearing the shadow that it will cast on his legal career, Keith advises Larry not to tell the police, even after a harmless vagrant named John Evan is arrested and charged with murder. In spite of the very circumstantial evidence, Evan is remanded for trial in three weeks.
After learning that Henry was a bigamist, Larry and Wanda get married and try to fit 30 years into 21 days. Larry has decided that he will come forward if Evan is convicted but not if he is acquitted. As it turns out, Evan is convicted and sentenced to death - after a one day trial, mind you - but dies that very night so Larry is off the hook. This is supposed to be a happy ending but it isn't as a wrongly convicted man has died, probably due to stress, and his name will never be cleared. This happens so that two dippy characters can live happily ever after. Considering Larry acted in self-defence, one would hope that this justification would be successful in court and he would be found not guilty so there is a very good chance that they could have lived happily ever after even if he had done the right thing. However, they would rather a very nice and, far more importantly, innocent man be considered a murderer.
Olivier's performance as Larry (which is what he liked to be called in preference to Sir Laurence or Lord Olivier in later life) is not one of his best but it is nevertheless the best in the film. He makes the film and its flawed, poorly thought-out plot all the more bearable as I couldn't help but pay attention to his great skill as an actor whenever he was on screen. Leigh was a fantastic actress but not in this film. She has a thankless role as Wanda but she plays it dreadfully. In many cases, she fails to even deliver lines in a convincing fashion, which shocked me. She was excellent in "Fire Over England" which she and Olivier made shortly beforehand so I don't know what happened here. Leslie Banks is good as the morally dubious Keith - well, the more morally dubious Keith - but the best supporting performance comes from Hay Petrie as the unfortunate Evan. It also features nice small appearances from Robert Newton and William Dewhurst (who died over two years before the film was released). Banks and Newton likewise appeared in "Fire Over England" and Olivier later cast them in his version of "Henry V", incidentally.
Overall, this is a very bad film which does not make a great deal of sense if you think about it but Olivier saves it from being a complete disaster. Still, it is one of my least favourite films of the year.