On paper you could hardly get more banal than this. Salesman Alec Guiness, single, orphaned, friendless, no siblings, fortyish, is diagnosed with a terminal illness and, a lifelong milquetoast, decides to blow his savings on a holiday at a top-class hotel. Like I said, banal. BUT, as I've also said on this site several times previously it's all in the wrist and J.B. Priestley has supplied a fine screenplay and Alec Guiness, Beatrice Campbell and Kay Walsh act the bejesus out of it. True they have half-decent support from the likes of Ernest Thesiger, Moultrie Kelsall, Sid James and others but the three leads really stand out. There's also a double twist in the tail that moves it firmly into the bittersweet category. One to cherish.
Review of Last Holiday
