Let Him Have It

The Derek Bentley Case has been an uneasy blight on the British legal system since the early 1950s. Two young, frightened boys were caught by police trying to break into to a building. One of the boys had a gun. When the policeman reached out to the youth to turn over the gun, his friend shouted ...more

1991's Let Him Have It is a stylish example of British film's tradition of social realism and class consciousness. Based on the 1952 trial and execution of Derek Bentley, a 19-year-old retarded boy who was the victim of circumstance and gullibility, the film is as concerned with society's corruption of innocence as with the injustice of the British legal system. The accomplished debut performance from Christopher Eccleston gives the film emotional weight, and Tom Courtenay, who made his name in ...more