Let Him Have It

Peter Medak, UK, 1991, 115 minutes

A judge, a jury and a Home Secretary stand accused of ending the life of Derek Bentley. The case for the prosecution: Bentley shot no-one. Indeed it was established in court that he was technically under arrest at the time of the shooting. He was an epileptic and had a mental age of about eleven years. He allegedly said "Let him have it" to his companion, Chris Craig - the young man who killed a policeman. The "it" could be interpreted as "the gun", or "the contents of the gun". A cruial distinction.

Chris Craig did all the normal things a slightly deranged gangster would do. Manufactured knuckledusters. Traded in stolen goods. Kept a large collection of guns. Carried plenty of ammunition. Unlike most other people with these kinds of hobbies he was too young to shave and too young to hang. Which is why the responsibility for the murder was shifted to his older friend.

Peter Medak, best known for directing The Krays, places the blame for Bentley's flirtations with the world of crime squarely at the feet of Craig who takes advantage of Derek's slow wittedness and naivety. The period setting, the austere world of 195Os London is perhaps handled too heavily. There is hardly an exterior frame without a red double-decker bus rolling past (perhaps its the same one every time). But the depiction of Derek's troubled upbringing is handled with sympathy and Tom Courtenay's performance as a strict, but understanding father is excellent.

This is a bleak but powerful film. It is a lesson to anyone who may view capital punishment as some kind of quick, satisfying revenge. Hanging is not the end of the matter. Thirty years later there are still calls for a posthumous pardon for Bentley.

Review by Michael Morrison
Taken from EUFS Programme 1992-93