Derek Farr Movies

In this WW II propaganda film, a German doctor, highly praised by his Nazi employers, finds it increasingly difficult to support the oppressive, increasingly brutal movement. At first he does nothing as his friends are persecuted and his wife becomes increasingly enamored with the party's misguided philosophies. Eventually he enlists the aide of an engineer and creates a secret radio station where he broadcasts condemnations of Hitler and prays for a "better" Germany to arise out of the ashes of his ruined country. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Steed and Emma investigate when several top British horticulturists suddenly vanish. It's all part of a master scheme to take over the world -- and the instigator may very well be from out of this world. As indicated by the title, the Avengers ultimately find themselves at the mercy of a carnivorous plant. Written by Philip Levene, "Man-Eater of Surrey Green" made its first American TV appearance on August 25, 1966. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After rescuing Jenna (Sally Knyvette) from the hostile natives of Cephelon, Blake (Gareth Thomas) must evade Servalan (Jacqueline Pearce) long enough to deliver much-needed medical supplies to the scientist Ensor (Derek Farr) on the planet Aristo. Alas, Blake is too late: Ensor has died. Fortunately, Blake and his comrades have "inherited" Ensor's high-tech computer Orac, which -- less fortunately -- serves up a future vision showing the utter destruction of the Liberator and its crew. And on this "cliffhanger" note, the first season of Blakes 7 draws to a close. "Orac" originally aired on March 27, 1978. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This British spy thriller concerns the theft of valuable aircraft secrets by enemy agents. Laurence Olivier plays a firebrand test pilot who falls under suspicion when several planes disappear. Costar Ralph Richardson steals the film as a seemingly befuddled secret service operative assigned to the case. Despite its topicality (the film was made in 1939, when Europe was bracing itself against the possibility of war), Q Planes is played with the tongue-in-cheek bravado of a "Boy's Own Paper" tale. Q Planes was released in the US as Clouds over Europe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Plot to Kill Roosevelt was released in the US under the less inflammatory title Conspiracy in Teheran. The fact-based storyline takes place during the Teheran Conference in the waning days of WW2. As Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin try to agree on the world's course after the end of the war, British news correspondent Pemberton Grant (Derek Farr) gets wind of a plot to assassinate the American president. The villains are representatives of an international armaments cartel, who can't afford to have peace declared. Racing against time, Grant endeavors to prevent the assassins from dynamiting Roosevelt's car. Even though the audience knows the outcome, there's thrills aplenty in The Plot to Kill Roosevelt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The presence of Peter Lorre assured a modicum of American business for the British meller Double Confession. It all begins when the wife of Jim Medway (Derek Farr) turns up dead. Since the evidence points to murder, the embittered Medway does his best to pin the "killing" on his wife's lover, Charlie Durham (William Hartnell). But as Scotland Yard inspector Tenby (Naunton Wayne) finally proves, appearances are deceiving--if not downright fraudulent. Lorre's role is largely peripheral, but he does supply a few moments of genuine menace. Filmed in 1950, Double Confession was based on John Garden's novel All on a Summer's Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this newsroom drama, a workaholic editor refuses to take a vacation with his wife. Instead he remains in his office and deals with a series of fascinating stories. They include: four children tossed out of their home, a woman accused of euthanasia, an alcoholic journalist's search for an atomic scientist, and a tragic plane crash. Unfortunately, the editor's wife was supposed to be on that plane. Fortunately, something caused her not to board it. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A man recently gone AWOL from the Army (Derek Farr) is arrested in a store robbery that occurred while he was shopping. With help from a beautiful lawyer (Joan Hopkins), he must prove his innocence. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide

Liv Ullman portrays a female pope -- based on a long-held rumor that the papacy was held by a woman between the reigns of Leo IV and Benedict III -- in this rambling saga directed by Michael Anderson. The British version of the film has been cut, not only removing twenty-one minutes of the film but also an entire contemporary framing story. In the full version, a modern-day woman evangelist, played by Ullman, who feels an affinity to the legendary Pope Joan, pays a visit to her psychiatrist (Keir Dullea). Searching through her past lives to see whether she is the reincarnation of Pope Joan, the film then flashbacks 1000 years to pick up Joan (Ullman in an earlier incarnation of her character) undergoing a succession of trials and tribulations. Joan then meets up with and becomes the mistress of Adrian (Maximilian Schell), a monk with an artistic bent. After the death of Charlemagne when roving bands of Saxons are raping women and ransacking the countryside, Joan flees the country by cutting her hair short and dressing like a man. Together Joan and Adrian escape to Greece. In Greece, Joan's street-corner preaching draws the attention of Pope Leo IV (Trevor Howard), who is impressed by her impassioned rendering of the Gospel. Still disguised as a man, Pope Leo, clueless as to her true sex, hires her as his secretary. From there, she rises up the ladder of the Roman Catholic Church, becoming a cardinal and then Pope Leo's successor. But then she becomes pregnant by a lover from her past (Franco Nero) and Joan must hide her delicate condition from the papal authorities and the rowdy masses. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The week-end in question is anything but quiet for the protagonists in this witty British comedy. Derek Farr stars as Denys Royd, who joins a group of relatives for a weekend hunting party. Upon arriving at their cottage, Royd and company discover that the shelter has literally none of the necessary comforts: doorways are too low to be entered without causing damage to the forehead, the plumbing is virtually nonexistent, etc. Even worse, the Jacobean hunting restrictions in the region forces the family to resort to poaching. And as if this isn't enough, the recently married Royd can't seem to shake irksome distant cousin Miranda Rute (Barbara White), who harbors a crush on him. Quiet Week-End was based on a play by Esther McCracken, who'd penned the earlier Derek Farr vehicle A Quiet Wedding. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Roland Pertwee and his son Michael Pertwee penned the stage play The Paragon, and then Michael adapted the play for film. Curiously, the central characters in the story are father and son: a baronet, and his deceased war-hero offspring. The grief-stricken baronet builds a memorial to his son's honor--whereupon sonny boy turns up very much alive, and very much of a jerk. The drama (or rather, melodrama), arises from the father's efforts to preserve the honor of the family name. This is another of director Lance Comfort's compact, compelling film noir-ish programmers of the 1940s. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The British The Dam Busters is the story of the development and utilization of the "bouncing bombs" in World War II. Michael Redgrave stars as Dr. Barnes Wallis, who developed these unorthodox explosives. Wallis' invention is put to practical use during the British raid on the Ruhr Dams in Germany. Most of the film is devoted to the two years spent in creating the bombs and training the pilots; the final sequence is a special-effects masterpiece, even allowing for the obvious models standing in for the dams. Adapted by R.C. Sherriff from both Guy Gibson's book Enemy Coast Ahead and Paul Brickhill's The Dam Busters, this film was Britain's biggest box-office success of 1955. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide