Film review Let Him Have It On the night of November 2 1952, policeman, PC Miles was shot dead. Two boys from South London

English GCSE Coursework

Let Him Have It

On the night of November 2 1952, policeman, PC Miles was shot dead. Two boys from South London stood accused of his murder. The verdict in court and the sentence passed upon 19 year old Derek Bentley was to be extremely controversial, even more than the crime. This was the case that shocked the nation.

From the moment the opening credits appear in their sequence, you know that this is a sad and curious opening in the sense that the music, which gets louder and louder, is harrowing and almost sad. The fact that the music gets louder and louder only draws in more attention from the viewer towards the film. Also, the colour of the credits – black and white gives the viewer a mood of sadness, with the black background and hard white bold letters. The music however is harrowing and sad, whilst also giving a slightly sinister feel. Near the end of these credits, there are crashing sounds in the background which lead to the opening scenes.

The opening scene is initially not targeted towards the viewer’s feeling sympathetic towards Bentley because there are many close-ups of scenery on fire and people confused. These are all sad shots but it is only until you hear someone calling out Derek that the real sympathy ensues. The viewer is then shown a small boy crushed under the rubble – he goes by the name of Derek as his name is repeated towards him by what can only be his father who repeatedly says “Derek, Derek, your going to be all right son”.

After this, we then see an extreme close-up of a boy from a side-view who looks out whilst in the background we hear the name Derek being called to by other boys. It takes over 10 seconds for Derek to respond and he follows. This is a perfect example of how the director, Peter Medak wants Derek to be portrayed which is important because it shows that Derek is a follower and not a leader, simply because of his illness and the fact that he is ‘slow’. As the camera moves along, following Derek and his ‘friends’ we then see the boys trashing and burgling a house. During this we see Derek standing still as the boys around him trash the place. Then we hear a man shout outside the house prompting the boys to run out leaving Derek alone in the house – who does not fully understand what is going on around him. The man comes into the house with a torch in his hand and questions Derek into what he is doing, but Derek just stands there shaking. The man questions him again and shines the torch onto Derek’s face. We then witness Derek’s first epileptic attack of the film as there are three in total. The director portrays this in a very powerful way as Derek’s eyes roll back and he stumbles backwards onto the ground shaking violently. The camera then slowly zooms into Derek’s face whilst we hear the man say “What’s wrong son”.

Halfway through this particular scene the sad music that was in the credits begins to play, outlining that Derek Bentley was not normal and that in many ways he wasn’t right for the world around him.

Moving on, arguably the reason Bentley was hanged, an important character in the film is of course Christopher Craig. His portrayal by the director is crucial, simply because the director shows us how it was possible for Derek to be influenced so easily by someone who was two years younger than him – a sixteen year old.

In the first scene that Christopher Craig features in, which is the scene in the classroom, we see a mischievous group of children. The director outlines which boy Christopher Craig is by using cinematic devices, a close-up shot of Craig’s face from the front, we then here a boy call out the name ‘Chris’ repeatedly, Craig turns and it is here that we see the first of many smiles in the film etched on his face. We then witness the first sign that Craig is a lot like Derek, in the sense that he is not your average teenager, but for different reasons. Maybe this is so because in the next scene we see him brandish a gun from under his desk. Some other boys across the classroom brandish their pistols as well but Craig goes one step further by pointing his gun to the classroom ceiling. It is evident by some of the facial shots of the other children across the classroom, who have a look of bemusement, that the director is implying that no one expects him to pull the trigger – but just like we see later on in the film on the rooftop of Barlow & Parker’s, Craig does what nobody expects of a sixteen year old and pulls the trigger. This provokes a loud bang and small pieces of rubble from the ceiling drop. This scene shows how Craig is a character that lives on the edge and in some sense does not think of the consequences to his actions.

He treats the gun like a toy, which ultimately leads to Derek Bentley’s demise.

This is a preview of the whole essay

He treats the gun like a toy, which ultimately leads to Derek Bentley’s demise.

Another important scene is the first time Derek and Craig meet, where we see Craig in a different light. His image and the way the director portrays him again shows the viewer a lot about his character. Craig has a typical criminal/gangster image that consists of an all black image. With a black hat and an overcoat, Craig looks more like something out of a gangster film rather than a sixteen year old. Again you cannot emphasise enough the fact that Christopher Craig is only sixteen years of age as this links with the rooftop scene. In the first scene featuring both Derek and Craig, we see Derek walking alongside a railway track and behind him you can see the all black image of Christopher Craig. We then here Craig call out “Derek”, the camera on Craig turns to a surprised Derek who has been in his room for two years yet the first day he comes out, somebody already knows his name. This sort of isolation is also important because it also contributes into how easily he was influenced by Craig because Derek hadn’t really interacted properly with different people. Moving back to the scene, he slowly turns around and sees Craig who has a smile on his face. As the two begin to talk, something the director shows us is how easily and laid back Craig is with his gun. He treats it like a toy when he is walking alongside Derek. In the next scene the director shows how easily Derek is brought into Craig’s posse. Again, Derek’s epilepsy and slowness contributes into how easily he becomes part of Craig’s world. Even, Craig himself says to Derek when they go into a café to meet Craig’s friends; the quote, “Welcome to the Underworld” which most definitely implied to the criminal underworld. In these scenes we see a cocky Craig who showboats and behaves like he’s a big man even though he is arguably the smallest out of his friends. Craig and his friends complete their gangster image by using profanity whenever they want to. The director includes this aspect of swearing, to Craig and his gang to give a sense of reality and to give a certain portrayal of Craig and his gang.

To make it brief there are other scenes in which we as viewers witness how the director portrays Craig’s influence over Bentley and other aspects, these include:

Craig and his brother change Bentley’s image by giving him a hat and jacket, which you could say made his joining of the criminal underworld official.

The fact that at times early in Bentley’s introduction to the gang, they taunt him because he doesn’t have a good image.

Seeing, his change in appearance, Bentley is told not to see Craig by his parents.

Craig’s introduction of guns to Bentley.

When, Craig catches a cab with Bentley we see how Craig is rude to the driver and we then see Derek’s second epileptic attack of the film. The music again is harrowing and almost sad as the director shows numerous extreme close-ups of Derek’s face. We also see a different Craig – as he shows genuine concern over his friend Derek which we don’t see often in the film. In fact we only see genuine sorrow and sympathy come from Craig towards Bentley, in this scene and just after Bentley is sentenced to death. Apart from these scenes, Christopher Craig is perceived as a sinister, cocky, sly and almost aggressive person.

In one scene, Derek is sent to buy pork chops but forgets what he is sent to buy. This may not have really happened but the director is trying to show to the viewers that Derek was intellectually challenged.

One of the most important reasons into why PC Miles was shot dead on the night of November 2 1952 was the fact that Christopher Craig was obsessed with guns but more importantly he was obsessed with the glamorous lifestyle of his criminal brother, Niven Craig. His sentence and imprisonment of twelve years in prison led to an emotional collapse in Craig’s character as the director shows. In one scene, Derek comes by Craig’s house and calls Craig out but Craig simply swears and tells Derek to go away. We then see brief shots showing a red-eyed Craig in his nightgown with bleary eyes implying that he has been crying which shows that he has been affected, which will ultimately provoke him into the shooting spree which occurs on the rooftop of Barlow & Parkers. The director shows here how much Craig ‘worshipped’ his brother and how his imprisonment has affected him.

Everything above is just an introduction and is important because the director’s portrayal and use of cinematic devices was not enough to fully explain why Derek Bentley was hanged – which is not the actual main subject of this essay but it contributes to how the rooftop scene and courtroom scene were shown to viewers and how it was to be perceived.

The director lets us know when the build-up to the rooftop scene is about to begin, this is more or less the moment Derek puts his hat on whilst looking in the mirror. The music here is harrowing and tense as the camera zooms in on the worried reflection of Bentley’s face. Once Derek leaves his house the harrowing music begins again, we see that it is dark outside and gloomy. Derek walks up the road with the ‘college boy’ and due to the fact that Derek is silent throughout all of this shows that although he is ‘slow’ and has epilepsy he knows who he is walking to and why. When they meet with Craig and another friend, the director shows close-ups of Derek and Craig’s face to build up suspense. Then Derek gives the keys to the butcher’s to Craig, again the director outlines how Derek is a follower and not a leader. When they realise that the butcher is still in his shop, the director shows the frustration in all of their faces, but none more so than Craig. This is most likely because that night, Craig maybe hadn’t meant to kill but he certainly had the intention of doing something stupid because of his brother’s imprisonment. After seeing this Craig immediately makes a plan to down and check out a place but his friends want nothing do to with it, this definitely angers Craig – who swears and tells them go. The director shows Craig’s anger by using close-up shots on his face. Whether Bentley stayed with Craig after that was out of friendship, his disease or just fear, we don’t know. All we know is that he followed Craig and signed himself a death wish.

As they reach the outside of Barlow & Parker’s, the music begins, more repetitive than before and getting louder. Craig whispers to Derek to climb the gates, the camera then goes to a long-shot showing them climb the gate, one by one. Whilst this is going on, we here voices in the background and then the camera shifts to the living room of another house, where a girl is looking out of the window directly at Craig and Bentley. She calls out to her mother and lets her know. The director shows and portrays it the way he thinks a person would react to this and it is well done. As they have climbed over they go round to the back of the factory and discover a long pole going up to the roof, which the camera follows. Craig is just about to climb but sees Derek, who is starting to become nervous. Craig questions him into whether he’s ‘chickening’ out as well but Derek snaps out of it and tells him to go first. Once they are at the top we already know that the police have been informed after the husband of the woman in the house goes to the phone box and calls them. We see many medium shots of the two of them at the top, and Craig trying to break in one of the doors. In the background, the sound of the sirens echoes and Craig runs to the edge of the building and sees the police cars that have arrived. Derek however hasn’t got a clue and has to look at Craig to determine what is going on. The camera then zooms in on Craig’s face as he says ‘it’s the bogies, there here for US’.

They both quickly run behind a wall and get prepared for what is about to face them, but Craig gets his gun out. Derek’s face here is zoomed in at a close-up shot and the shock on his face is stunning. PC Fairfax meanwhile has reached the top of the roof unarmed, but why would he need to be armed – for some teenagers?

Bentley tells Craig to put it away and then try’s to force him. The director shows us this behind the wall because what happens after that only leads to sympathy for Derek who tried to stop Craig but ultimately couldn’t. Craig overpowers Derek as the moving camera which is shaking shows. PC Fairfax then makes his move and grabs Derek leaving Craig behind the wall with a gun. Derek warns Fairfax but Fairfax tells him not to move. The moment of truth though, is the words that were the reason Derek Bentley was hanged. Behind the wall, Craig pumps himself up; the director shows this in a powerful way by an extreme-close up of him with the gun to his face and breathing heavily. Fairfax has moved nearer and says in a playful voice ‘give it up son, you’re surrounded’.

Craig then emerges from behind the all and says ‘get back copper’, pointing the gun to Fairfax. Fairfax thinks this is a joke and you can see in his face that he is surprised and tells Craig to put that thing down.

For 10 seconds, there are switches between the different faces in the camera and then finally, it lands on Derek Bentley, the camera zooms into his stressed face and stops at an extreme close-up and he shouts ‘Let Him Have It Chris’.

How he says this and how it is portrayed is definitely in my opinion, more of a pleading sense than anything. After everything the director shows before this, we as viewers know how he says this and why. The fact that Derek tried to stop Craig from using the gun before hand shows how the director try’s to show that this is why Derek Bentley said what he said. Literally, half a second after this is shouted out by Bentley, Craig fires and hits Fairfax in the shoulder. Something that is also very important is that the director also try’s to show that even if Craig heard those words and misinterpreted it, it wouldn’t have changed anything because before Craig appeared from behind the wall, we saw him pumping himself up. He knew what he was going to do – whether he had the intent of killing anyone, well, only one person knows that. Back to the scene, Craig then goes on a firing spree and shoots into the sky three or four times. Fairfax however, is clutching his shoulder and seems to be struggling to breathe, due to the fact that he is wheezing, but he recovers and pins Derek up to a wall. We then see a medium shot of Fairfax from the side holding Derek against the wall, searching for a gun. Derek meanwhile, in accordance to the film is lost for words. Derek is told that he is under arrest, now this is where there is controversy, simply because PC Miles was shot roughly eight minutes AFTER Bentley was arrested. This tells us that the charges against Bentley are unusual seen as incitement that consists of ‘egging’ on someone into doing something is hardly true. The bottom line for this particular controversy is that Derek Bentley was under arrest when PC Miles was shot.

After some more firing by Craig which is persisted at shooting at police officers, we hear someone coming up the stairs of the factory, a group of policeman. They try to break the door down and PC Miles volunteers to take it down. He takes the run up which ends his life and bangs the door down emerging onto the rooftop. The moment the door hits the ground Craig emerges from behind the wall and fires. We do not know whether he fired to kill or fired to scare but the camera focus then slows and we see PC Miles get hit square on the side of his head. He hits the ground with a thud and Craig recovers behind the wall. The camera stays fixated on the dead police officer, blood trickling out of his head and then switches between the reactions of those who nearest, this includes,

Fairfax – shocked, Derek – stunned and the police officer nearest to PC Miles who reacts with anger. The camera focuses on this officer who grabs a stick and throws it angrily at Craig who laughs. Craig again emphasises the fact that he is only sixteen and brings up his trauma of his brothers imprisonment. We then see Fairfax who asks for a gun and goes after Craig as we approach the end of the rooftop scene. Craig has run out of bullets by now after his random ‘cowboy’ shots into the sky whereas PC Fairfax now has a full barrel and the camera shows him approach Craig who can’t understand why his gun isn’t firing. Every step Fairfax takes toward Craig, Craig moves back. The camera slowly follows both of them, using silence. The fact that there is silence more or less, builds a lot of suspense and it is quite dark. It is here that once Craig reached the end of the roof and climbed above a railing that Craig then did something which only he knows what intent he had for it. Jumping off gave him injuries that consisted of a broken back and arm (according to the film). Whether he did this in an attempt to end his life or whether it was a scapegoat, this was definitely the actions of a guilty person. The camera then zooms down on Craig’s face as he says he wished he was dead. He may or may not have meant this but this did not really matter because his actions that night cost Bentley his life. Even if Craig was just sixteen, he was aware of what he was doing and that was getting revenge for his brother. But he did not need to involve Derek but this is why there is sympathy towards Bentley throughout the film, because he was not always capable.

Before I begin my analysis on the court room scene, it has to be said that the decision about Bentley to be hanged had been most likely decided before the trial began in my opinion, because as far as the court was concerned, a police officer had been killed and someone had to pay. Craig couldn’t fully pay but Derek could so they used him as their dummy, their way out.

As I said, in the above paragraph, I believe the only testimonies worth analysing are Craig and Bentley’s. Firstly, one of the many things that the director does very well is the way he wants viewers to perceive both Craig and Bentley. For instance, Craig is wearing a sling and has smug smirk on his face because he wants to go to jail. He wants to be like his brother and knows he can’t get the death penalty. The sling creates sympathy but compared to his thuggish acts on the rooftop, he doesn’t win anyone over in my opinion. As for Bentley who has bruises and patches on his face – this shows that while Craig was lying in hospital resting, Derek was beaten whilst under arrest. One thing is for sure; throughout the trial Derek looks confused and scared. When he comes to testify, Derek is asked questions that he doesn’t fully understand, and under the time limit that is given by the interrogating lawyer and biased judge, Derek Bentley didn’t stand a chance. When being asked questions, Derek’s answers are short which reflect his intelligence. Not only are his answers short but they are also slow due to mental disability which again creates sympathy. When Derek is struggling to answer, he looks around for help, the camera switches from his sister to the rest of his family and friends. When Derek gets tense and cannot answer a question, the music gets louder and louder, more harrowing than before with the addition of the violin. This shows the real pressure that Derek is under and for someone of his mental capabilities, it is ultimately too much too bare.

Again, throughout Craig’s testimony, he has a small smirk and knows that he will get prison time but not death. The verdict, which is given to Craig, is a meagre ten years – which prompts him to put on a big smile. The verdict given to Derek is death, via hanging. A huge inward gasp from the audience and Derek in the courtroom creates sympathy. This is shock for anyone associated with the trial.

Bringing this essay to a close, the hanging scene is by far the most powerful scene of the film, simply because it is quick and almost scary but realistic.

Derek Bentley was a victim of British Injustice and did not deserve to die and it is as simple as that.