21 Days (or 21 Days Together) is a quick, to-the-point romantic thriller (is that a genre?) about a young man who comes back from his failed attempts at farming, only to kill a man accidentally, and then turn to his older brother for help. His brother, it just so happens, is a very successful lawyer who is vying for a position as a judge in the British high court. However unlikely this set-up, the film utilizes the disparity between the brothers to investigate issues of class, morality, and the justice system to pleasing results.
I forgot to mention that the film is also a love story. Larry Durrant (Lawrence Olivier) is a young, aimless gent who has just returned to his hometown to find his girl, Wanda (Vivian Leigh), and start life over. He meets her on the street, they go out for drinks, and then return to her place. But when they get there, a surprise awaits: a man who claims to be Wanda's husband tells Larry that if he wants her, he'll have to pay. A fight ensues, Larry accidentally kills the man and then dumps him in an alley that night. However, on his way back home, Larry runs into a homeless man, who engages him in conversation. Larry drops his gloves, the homeless man picks them up, and is then picked up himself, suspected of committing the murder.
Meanwhile, Larry turns to his brother Keith (Leslie Banks), a man of supposed high moral scruples but also one who exhibits a noticeable amount of arrogance and entitlement. Keith, though he looks down on his brother, decides to help cover Larry's tracks, and when the homeless man gets picked up for the crime, Keith sees the perfect opportunity to allow Larry's escape.
But what about the homeless man? Larry and the man connected on that fateful night, as the man confessed to having lost his self-respect -- he actually stole money off the dead body. Why did he do it? The money was not his and he should not have taken it. However, the man admits that the incident oddly helped him regain his self-respect. By taking the money, the homeless man realized that it was wrong, that it was beneath him, thereby restoring his self-respect.
Larry, having empathized with this man, sees that he cannot let the man take the blame. Keith tries to convince Larry that the man will not be convicted as there is a lack of evidence, but the man does not help his case when he decries that he is guilty of stealing the money and that it is his opinion that he should suffer. Therefore, Larry decides to ignore Keith's advice, and if the man is convicted of murder, Larry will turn himself in after the 21 days between the arrest and the jury's decision.
Larry and Wanda spend the next 21 days as if they are the last they will ever spend together. Though they plan to marry and be together forever, Larry seems to know that he will have to turn himself in. When, at the end of the 21 days, the man is found guilty, Larry leaves Wanda to go to the police.
The thematic crux and climax of the movie is the scene in which Keith tries to stop Larry from turning himself in. Keith would rather the homeless man take the blame, because if Larry were to confess, Keith's chance of scoring the position as judge would be ruined. In this one moment, it is clear who the morally superior of the two men are. One is completely willing to sacrifice himself to do the right thing, and the other is willing to do the wrong thing in order to save himself.
By giving us this moment, the film points out the contradictions in society and the justice system. On the surface, Larry and the homeless man are lower class petty thieves, and Keith is not only an upstanding citizen, but a man who holds power in distributing justice. However, though they may have been thieves in the past, Larry and the homeless man are men who think about what is right and are willing to suffer for their wrongdoings. Meanwhile, Keith is shown to be morally weak -- he is willing to cheat and lie in order to get ahead.
What is the film saying about the classes, then? Do the poor stay poor because they are too self-sacrificing? Do the rich climb the ladder because they are inherently self-serving, no matter the consequence?
The film ends happily, and yet we cannot shake the questions that are presented to us by the end. For whom does Lady Justice grant salvation?
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