Director: Basil Dean
Release Date: December 1937
On 16 July 1937 the Uxbridge and West Drayton Gazette reported that ‘The usual call for Basil Dean’s production “First And The Last” [later renamed ’21 Days’] of “on the set at 9.30” was altered on Friday to “on the dock at 6.30 a.m.”, when the unit took location scenes aboard the famous Thames pleasure steamer, “Royal Eagle.”‘ The report continued that ‘The unit, with over one hundred extra players, assembled in the very early hours by the Tower of London, and were aboard by 7 o’clock. First shots were taken from the steamer’s upper deck, with the Tower Bridge opening to allow the steamer to pass, as a background. Valuable co-operation by the Port of London Authority and the Governor of the Tower of London enabled detailed arrangements to be made for the bridge’s opening at exactly the right moment. Every time the great cantilevers are opened it costs £10, so that one mistake which would have made it necessary for the “Royal Eagle” to turn and repeat the manoeuvre would have meant a bill of £30. But thanks to Basil Dean’s expert handling of this scene all went well, and the shots were secured the first time through.’
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The legal setting for this film is established with the delivery of trial news in Spring Gardens at the southwest corner of Trafalgar Square.
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Laurence Olivier exiting Bow Street Magistrates' Court.
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Olivier exiting Bow Street into Broad Court.
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Olivier heading for a telephone box in Broad Court.
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Olivier and Vyvian Leigh board the 'Royal Eagle' at Tower Pier for the trip to Southend.
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Tower Bridge opens to let the ship through.
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Following extensive location shots at Southend the boat arrives at Greenwich Pier where daytrippers alight.
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Greenwich Pier and more trial news.
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At the end of their trip Olivier and Leigh sit by the Tower Pier sign.