Let Him Have It/Al’s Lads

Let Him Have It
The true story of Derek Bentley (Christopher Eccleston), hanged, aged 19, in the 1950s after a controversial decision holding him responsible for the murder of a police officer. Despite a history of mental illness, and with the court accepting that he did not actually pull the trigger, Bentley was still sentenced to death – on the basis that his ambiguous cry of ‘let him have it!’ caused his young accomplice to fire the fatal shot. The release of this film focused attention on the case once more, and Bentley eventually received a posthumous pardon.
Al’s Lads
Set during the height of the mob culture of America in the 1920s, a young Englishman Jimmy (Marc Warren) and two of his friends find themselves recruited into working for the mobster Al Capone. On discovering that Jimmy has a powerful uppercut, Capone’s henchman Georgio puts Jimmy’s name forward for a boxing match and under the wing of boxing coach Boom Boom (Richard Roundtree). However, Jimmy is told to throw the fight (which he is reluctant to do), his two mates are implicated in the kidnapping of Capone’s son, and Jimmy is having an illicit affair with Georgio’s girlfriend. Can the trio get out of all this hot water alive?