DVD : Let Him Have It [1991]

Rating: - Stark story relates social history
Sad as it is, I love this film. It reminds me that not everything in the world is black and white. If you like a film that considers injustice and has a courtroom scene.. or you like films set in 50s/60s Britain.. then this is for you. Based on a true story.

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Rating: - "Let him have it" Film on the true story of Derek Bentley.
"Let him have it" is the true heart breaking story of a 19yr old boy with the mental age of an 11yr old who is hanged for murdering a police officer. When I started watching this film it must have only taken 10 minutes but I was hooked the film cast were amazing and the performance by Christopher Eccleston had me in tears by the way he portrayed Derek Bentley in such a true to life way it was as if i was watching a video starring Derek Bentley. I dont usually cry at films but it was such an emotional story and tha fact that it was true life made it more emotional by just realising that his poor family had to go through all that.I think the film was totally believable and I could watch it again and again. The Cast and the Crew were incredible well done to everyone. Derek Bentley and his family may not have got justice all those years ago but everyone who was involved in the project has done him justice now in helping them clear his name and be pardoned.

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Rating: - THEY LET HIM HAVE IT...
This film, based upon a true story, illustrates the misapplication of the death penalty. In 1953 England, a slow-witted young man, Derek Bentley, was executed, hanged for his alleged part in the killing of a police officer. It was a case that received much notoriety at the time.

Derek Bentley (Chris Eccleston) was a learning disabled, young man who was easily led. His sister, Iris (Clare Holman), however, treated him like a regular bloke, and he thrived under her watchful eye. His steadfast, working class parents, William and Lilian Bentley (Tom Courtenay and Eileen Atkins), did everything they could to ensure that their son would stay on the straight and narrow. Still, boys will be boys, and one night, Derek, wanting to be one of the boys, simply hooked up with the wrong crowd who was up to no good. Although Derek was unarmed, another of the other boys was not, and when an inevitable clash with the police came about, a police officer was shot. Derek's by now famous words, "Let him have it", were the catalyst for his trial, conviction, and execution.

Notwithstanding Derek's learning disability, the ambiguity of the statement attributed to him, and his tangential involvement during the shootout with the police, Derek was given the death penalty. The draconian sentence was a heartbreaking blow to Derek and his family, as it was always Derek's position that he meant for the shooter to let the police have the gun. Nearly forty-five years later, after persistent efforts by his beloved sister, Iris, Derek was finally exonerated by the very courts that had earlier found him guilty. In reality, it was too little, too late, for Derek.

Chris Eccleston gives a bravura performance as the slow-witted Derek, compelling and moving. He plays him as a young man who was aware of his shortcomings and very much wanted to be accepted by his peers. Tom Courtenay and Eileen Atkins are outstanding as the loving parents whose steadfast belief in the system is derailed at the last. Clare Holman is excellent as the sister whose expectations of her brother would never fail to make him try harder. All in all, the entire cast gives notable performances. Superbly directed by Peter Medak, it is a film well worth watching.

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Rating: - "Let Him Have It" my review By Lisa Cooper
"Let Him Have It"was a very moving film based on a sad but true real life story.It really changed my view on capital punishment. Sadly Bently was at the wrong place,at the wrong time,and also said the wrong words to,"Let Him Have It!".At first i thought Bently meant shoot,but then as the film went on,i realised he meant give him the gun.

The film showed the story to it's best,i think this because the court case scene was brilliant.The acting was at a high level and also the script was well written.

By watching the film it made us feel sorry for Bentley, but to me i also felt abit sorry for Craig,because he was just trying to live the life of a ganster from the movies and make something out of life,apart from living with rashons and in povity.This didn't help under the inflowance of his older brother,who was given 12years inprisonment just before Bently and Craig decided to break into the warehouse.

I think this film is well worth watching and people who agree with capital punishment should see this,because they would proberly change their minds.This film shows the capital punishment system in those days to its best.

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Rating: - Thought-provoking issue film about capital punishment
In 1991 Peter Medak directed this film, which is based on the true story of Derek Bentley, a 19 year-old simple-minded youth, who was hanged in 1953 for the murder of PC Sidney Miles when he and his friend, Christopher Craig, had been caught by the police trying to rob a Croydon warehouse.

The story centres around the life of Derek, a teenager whose brain was seriously damaged in a bomb attack on London during the second world war. With a mental age of 11, he knows Christopher, aged 16 who us obsessed with American gangster movies and follows the example of his older criminal brother. After committing a couple of thefts they end up cornered by the police on the roof of a warehouse they are trying to rob. When Derek is arrested, he shouts "Let him have it" and then Christopher starts to live his gangster dream by shouting everywhere, killing a policeman and jumping off the roof to avoid being caught.

Although it is a true story, we have to admit that is also very convincing due to the outstanding performance of the star and to a really well written script, which makes the film very moving and sometimes shocking as well.

"Let him have it" is not only a drama but it is also a thought-provoking issue film about capital punishment and the British justice system. This film claims justice is not perfect, it does make mistakes and everybody who believes in death penalty should see it so they can have second thoughts about killing a man, perhaps an innocent man.

Omar T.