David Farrar Movies

Writer/director Neil Jordan's debut feature is a tense thriller played out amid the violence in Northern Ireland. Stephen Rea stars as Danny, a saxophone player in a traveling band who witnesses the brutal murders of the manager of the band (who is involved in some extortion payoffs) and a deaf and dumb girl, who has seen the killing of the manager. After observing these cold-blooded executions, Danny becomes obsessed with hunting down the killers. His obsession develops into a murderous rage so intense that he ends up becoming as heartless a killer as the people he is trying to find. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The Webster Boy is a case of a weak script and strong actors combining for a mediocre tale about a love triangle. John Cassavetes is Vance Miller, an American with a serious gambling addiction who is just through with serving time and ready to finally go back to England. His objective is to find his long-lost love Margaret (Elizabeth Sellars) and try to start life over with her. When he does find Elizabeth, she is happily married to Paul (David Farrar) and is the mother of fourteen-year-old Jimmy (Richard Sullivan). As Vance upsets the apple cart trying to win Elizabeth away, young Jimmy faces taunts at school and a sadistic school master -- and doubts as to who his real father might be. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Romance, treachery, intrigue and spiritual awakenings abound in the Biblical film adaptation of Solomon and Sheba. Trouble begins between two brothers when poet Solomon (Yul Brynner) is chosen to be next in line to the throne by King David of Israel. His warrior brother Adonijah (George Sanders) is livid when Solomon becomes king. While Israel prospers under Solomon, Sheba (Gina Lollobrigida) conspires with the Egyptians to topple Israel. She is ambitious and seductive and finally gets Solomon to fall in love with her. When a pagan dance ritual turns into an orgy, the people turn against Solomon when the Temple of Jehovah is struck by lightning. After the righteous Solomon has fallen from the grace of God, Sheba renounces her pagan Gods and converts to Judaism. A cast of thousands depict the raging battle between the Israelites and the Egyptians. Directed by King Vidor at the cost of five million dollars, production was delayed when the original choice for the role of Solomon (Tyrone Power) died during the making of the film. Many scenes had to be redone with his replacement, Yul Brynner. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The off-spring of the legendary British bandit dons his father's tights to help save his countrymen from the tyrannical rule of an evil aristocrat. Unfortunately, the "son" is a sham and after several unsuccessful attempts to stop the nasty nobleman, the merry men decide to send for Robin's real son. Imagine their surprise when they discover that Robin, Jr. is a she! Still the men rally around her and the imposter. Together they successfully defeat the evil-doer and the country is again safe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The still-controversial L'Affair Dreyfuss of the late 19th century is the focal point of I Accuse! Jose Ferrer (who also directed) stars as French Army captain Alfred Dreyfus, who is chosen as the fall guy for a major military scandal for no other discernable reason than his Jewishness. Wrongly accused of treason, Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and shipped off to Devil's Island. Friends and family members, bolstered by the support of novelist Emile Zola (Emlyn Williams), force a retrial, to no avail. When their mistake and subsequent coverup is revealed, the Army tries to save face by offering Dreyfuss a pardon, even though they will not rescind their accusation of treason. Left with no alternatives, Dreyfuss accepts, returning to France in disgrace. Only the confession of the genuine traitor enables Dreyfuss to clear his name and have his rank restored. Many of the facts of the case that had been glossed over for legal reasons in 1937's Life of Emile Zola are herein presented on film for the first time. The screenplay for I Accuse! was adapted from the Nicholas Haasz' book by Gore Vidal, who manages to make several allusions to America's own McCarthy-era "witch hunts". ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Widely regarded as one of the best and most intelligent British war dramas of the 1950s, The Battle of River Plate is the story of Britain's first significant naval victory in WW2. John Gregson heads the cast as Captain Bell, skipper of the Exeter, one of several vessels engaged in pursuit of the "indestructable" Geman battleship Graf Spee. Taking refuge in the neutral harbor of Montevideo, the Graf Spee is covertly protected by the Uruguayan government. Eventually, however, German captain Langsdorff (Peter Finch) is faced with a difficult decision: either stand his ground and fight a losing battle against the Exeter and its sister ships, or scuttle the Graf Spee and save the lives of his crew. Battle of the River Plate was released in the US as Pursuit of the Graf Spee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

An 18-month-old baby disappears in London. The parents, US embassy worker David Knight and his wife Julia Arnall, are panic-stricken. Detective David Farrar tries to locate the child, but clues are scarce. At the last possible moment, Farrar rescues the infant from a grueling fate and collars the kidnappers. This nail-biting film is filled to capacity with many of Britain's top supporting players, including Thora Hird, Everley Gregg, Joan Sims, Shirley Anne Field, Joan Hickson, Dandy Nichols, Mona Washbourne, Barbara Winsor and George Woodbridge. Released in the US by Republic, under the title Tears for Simon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this production from Benedict Bogeaus and RKO Radio, Robert Ryan stars as a fugitive from justice who hides out in the Far Eastern teak plantation managed by Barbara Stanwyck. As the two fall in love, Stanwyck comes to believe in Ryan's innocence. Upon the arrival of doggedly determined security officer David Farrer, Ryan and Stanwyck escape into the treacherous Burmese jungles. Like many of Bogeaus's productions of the 1950s, Escape to Burma was directed by Allan Dwan. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anna Neagle is so overpoweringly good in Lilacs in the Spring (aka Let's Make Up!) that a times it's easy to forget that her co-star is Errol Flynn! Based on Glorious Days, a play by Robert Nesbitt, the film offers Neagle in four different characterizations. Suffering a concussion while serving in WW II, service performer Catherine Beaumont (Neagle) imagines herself to be Nell Gwynn, and still later fancies herself to be Queen Victoria (both of these historical personages had been played by Neagle in previous films). Finally, Catherine conjures up memories of her own mother Lillian Grey (also Neagle), who married song-and-dance man John Beaumont (Errol Flynn) during WW I, then nearly lost him when he "went Hollywood." Though he'd been having an overabundance of personal problems, Errol Flynn conducted himself with utmost professionalism throughout Lilacs in the Spring, delighting co-workers and movie audiences alike. The film was a hit, prompting a second, less-successful Anna Neagle-Errol Flynn pairing, King's Rhapsody. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Night Without Stars was adapted by Winston Graham from his own novel. David Farrar stars as Giles Gordon, a blind, disillusioned Briton who whiles away his time on the French Riviera. Gordon falls in love with Alix Delaisse (Nadia Gray), the widow of a legendary French resistance leader. The romance encounters turbulence when it appears that Alix is involved with criminal activities. Regaining his sight in an operation, Gordon pretends that he's still blind, the better to find out whether or not Alix has been lying to him. When he's satisfied that she's been truthful all along, he begins gathering evidence to entrap the genuine culprits. American musical comedy star June Clyde makes an amusing appearance as a pixillated party girl. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Obsessed was based on the William Dinner-William Moray play The Late Edwina Black, which also served as the film's original British title. The play had a cast of four: a Scotland Yard inspector, a schoolteacher, the schoolteacher's illicit lover, and his late wife's housekeeper. The film expands the cast list somewhat, though most of the dramatic weight is carried on the shoulders of the four protagonists. When Gregory's (David Farrar) wife dies of arsenic poisoning, suspicion immediately falls upon Gregory, his mistress Elizabeth (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and housekeeper Ellen (Jean Cadell). It's up to the Inspector (Roland Culver) to determine the guilty party -- a difficult task, inasmuch as the three suspects work overtime casting doubts on one another. Released in the U.S. by United Artists, Obsessed was copyrighted under the name of Stuart Scheftel, then the husband of star Geraldine Fitzgerald. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cage of Gold was a rare non-comic effort from Britain's Ealing Studios. Jean Simmons stars as Judith, who awakens the morning after her wedding to discover that her new husband has deserted her. Later on, she is told that her husband is dead. After a period of mourning, Judith remarries--only to be subjected to blackmail by husband number one. It's all a racket, of course, but Judith doesn't go to the police until it's almost too late. Featured in the cast of Cage of Gold as a slimy smuggler is Herbert Lom, who later gained worldwide fame as Inspector Dreyfus in the "Pink Panther" comedies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1948, "The Archers" -- the writing and directing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger -- had completed The Red Shoes, one of their greatest international successes, but it had yet to be released when the Rank Organization, doubting the commercial appeal of the picture, severed ties with the team and Powell and Pressburger signed a new deal with Alexander Korda's London Films. Their first project for Korda, The Small Back Room, was a dramatic change of pace, a thriller set in London in the midst of World War II. Sammy Rice (David Farrar) is explosives expert who works with British military intelligence as part of a ragtag munitions research team studying new ways to defuse enemy weapons and improve allied arms. While he's brilliant on the job, Rice is a troubled man with an artificial leg that causes him chronic pain and an appetite for alcohol that stands between him and those around him, especially his girlfriend and secretary Susan (Kathleen Byron). Rice's latest project is finding a way to defuse a new German bomb that's cleverly disguised as a children's toy, but Rice finds himself battling his superiors when Waring (Jack Hawkins), an unscrupulous businessman who has been pressed into service with the explosives team, and his colleague Professor Mair (Milton Rosmer) begin lobbying the Army to purchase a new weapon that Rice feels is both ineffective and dangerous. Despite excellent reviews and a fine cast that includes Cyril Cusack, Sidney James and Robert Morley in a cameo appearance, The Small Back Room was a box office disappointment on its original release, and it appeared in edited form in the United States under the title Hour of Glory, though later video releases allowed Americans to see the film in its original British cut. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide