Let Him Have It *** (1991, Tom Courtenay, Christopher Eccleston, Eileen Atkins, Paul Reynolds, Tom Bell, Clare Holman) – Classic Movie Review 8015

The Derek Bentley-Christopher Craig policeman murder case in Fifties London is recreated with flair and great attention to period accuracy by director Peter Medak in the 1991 drama Let Him Have It, following his 1990 hit with The Krays.

This time Neal Purvis and Robert Wade’s screenplay has not got the same poetry, grandeur or sharpness, and some of the performances are shaky. But there is fine acting from Tom Courtenay and Eileen Atkins as the parents of the epileptic, retarded, slow-witted Bentley, aged 18, who was hanged in January 1953 after his under-age friend Craig, aged 16, shot a policeman during their petty factory robbery.

After a halting start, and a not entirely convincing shootout, the film finally hits its stride in the courtroom sequence and in the scenes of the parents’ frantic efforts to save their boy from the gallows.

With Christopher Eccleston in his film debut as Bentley and Paul Reynolds as Craig, the actors playing the two lads give inexperienced performances with an uncertain tone that permeates the movie. But Let Him Have It tells a fascinating story and the film still remains of continuing strong interest throughout.

Also in the cast are Tom Bell, Clare Holman, Mark McGann, Michael Gough, Ronald Fraser, James Villiers, Michael Elphick, Murray Melvin, Norman Rossington, Serena Scott Thomas, Ben Brazier, Edward Hardwicke and Clive Revill.

Let Him Have It is directed by Peter Medak, runs 115 minutes, is made by Vivid Entertainment, British Screen Productions, Canal+, Film Trustees, Jennie and Company, Pierson and Vermillion, is released by Fine Line and First Independent Films (UK), is written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, is shot by Oliver Stapleton, is produced by Jeremy Thomas, Robert Warr and Luc Roeg, and is scored by Michael Kamen.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 8015

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