The First and the Last is a 1919 play by the British writer John Galsworthy. It was based on a short story published in 1917. It was staged successfully in the early 1920s by Basil Dean featuring the actors Owen Nares and Meggie Albanesi.^[1] In 1937, it was adapted by Dean for the film 21 Days, which was not released until 1940, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh.^[2]

Burt Lancaster and Harold Hecht also procured the filming rights in 1948, hoping to produce the movie through their film production company Norma Productions.^[3] The film was to star Marlon Brando and Meg Mundy before it fell through.^[4]

In 1933 a radio adaptation in Czech První a poslední directed by Josef Bezdíček) was broadcast on Czech radio.^[5]