The Flemish Farm (film)
Encyclopedia
The Flemish Farm is a 1943 British
war film, based on an actual war-time incident. Released during the war, and used as a propaganda
tool to support the allied war effort, the film begins with the caption:
The film score, by Ralph Vaughan Williams, is an orchestral piece in 7 movements, entitled The Story of a Flemish Farm
and was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra
, conducted by Muir Mathieson
and Belgium
, the remains of the Belgian Air Force
are bottled up near the Flemish coast, and billeted at a farm
in the Flemish countryside. Ordered by their government to surrender, the commander gives orders that the regimental colours be honorably buried, rather than surrendered to the invaders. The few pilots with serviceable aeroplanes fly to England to join the Allied airforces, while those remaining are forced to surrender.
Six months later, after fighting in the Battle of Britain
, Jean Duclos, now a squadron leader
, is persuaded by a fellow officer to return with him to retrieve the colours. The latter is killed before he can leave and Duclos persuades the authorities to parachute
him into Belgium. He contacts his former commanding officer, now living as a civilian in Brussels
and secretly operating a resistance group feeding intelligence to the Allies. Duclos then returns incognito to the farm, where his late colleague's wife and child still live. She is initially unwilling to reveal where the colours are buried, believing that they aren't worth dying for. But she relents and the colours are retrieved.
Duclos must now travel through several hundred miles of dangerous and heavily guarded country to reach neutral Spain, from where he returns to England. On his return, the colours are paraded and formally re-presented to the Belgian Air Force.
Clifford Evans
- Squadron Leader Jean Duclos
Jane Baxter
- Tresha
Wylie Watson
- Flemish farmer
Philip Friend
- Fernand Matagne
Ronald Squire
- Hardwicke
Brefni O'Rorke
- Minister
Mary Jerrold
- Mme Duclos
Charles Compton - Ledoux
Irene Handl
- Frau
, formerly of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
in North Devon
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
war film, based on an actual war-time incident. Released during the war, and used as a propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
tool to support the allied war effort, the film begins with the caption:
- The following story is based on an actual incident, but for security reasons real names have not been used. The co-operation of the Belgian Government and of the Air MinistryAir MinistryThe Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
is gratefully acknowledged.
The film score, by Ralph Vaughan Williams, is an orchestral piece in 7 movements, entitled The Story of a Flemish Farm
The Story of a Flemish Farm
The Story of a Flemish Farm is an orchestral suite by British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, written as the score for the 1943 film The Flemish Farm - a wartime drama set in occupied Europe, and written when Vaughan Williams was 70....
and was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
, conducted by Muir Mathieson
Muir Mathieson
James Muir Mathieson was a Scottish conductor and composer. Mathieson was almost always described as a "Musical Director" on a large number of British films.-Career:...
Plot
In May 1940, as German forces sweep across FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, the remains of the Belgian Air Force
Belgian Air Force
The Air Component, formerly the Belgian Air Force, is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces. Originally founded in 1909, it is one of the world's first air forces, and was a pioneer in aerial combat during the First World War...
are bottled up near the Flemish coast, and billeted at a farm
Farm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
in the Flemish countryside. Ordered by their government to surrender, the commander gives orders that the regimental colours be honorably buried, rather than surrendered to the invaders. The few pilots with serviceable aeroplanes fly to England to join the Allied airforces, while those remaining are forced to surrender.
Six months later, after fighting in the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
, Jean Duclos, now a squadron leader
Squadron Leader
Squadron Leader is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. In these...
, is persuaded by a fellow officer to return with him to retrieve the colours. The latter is killed before he can leave and Duclos persuades the authorities to parachute
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
him into Belgium. He contacts his former commanding officer, now living as a civilian in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and secretly operating a resistance group feeding intelligence to the Allies. Duclos then returns incognito to the farm, where his late colleague's wife and child still live. She is initially unwilling to reveal where the colours are buried, believing that they aren't worth dying for. But she relents and the colours are retrieved.
Duclos must now travel through several hundred miles of dangerous and heavily guarded country to reach neutral Spain, from where he returns to England. On his return, the colours are paraded and formally re-presented to the Belgian Air Force.
Cast
Clive Brook - Major LessartClifford Evans
Clifford Evans
Clifford Evans was a Welsh actor. As a conscientious objector he served in the Non-Combatant Corps in World War II.During the summer of 1934 he appeared in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Open Air Theatre in London....
- Squadron Leader Jean Duclos
Jane Baxter
Jane Baxter
Jane Baxter was a British actress. Her stage career spanned half a century, and she appeared in a number of films and in television.-Early life:...
- Tresha
Wylie Watson
Wylie Watson
Wylie Watson was a British actor. Among his best known roles were those of "Mr Memory", an amazing man who commits "50 new facts to his memory every day" in Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film The 39 Steps, and wily storekeeper Joseph Macroon in the Ealing comedy Whisky Galore!...
- Flemish farmer
Philip Friend
Philip Friend
Philip Wyndham Friend was a British film and television actor.-Filmography:* Inquest * The Midas Touch * Pimpernel Smith * The Day Will Dawn * In Which We Serve...
- Fernand Matagne
Ronald Squire
Ronald Squire
Ronald Squire was an English character actor.Born in Tiverton, Devon, England, he spent his early acting career in Liverpool repertory theatre in light comedy roles, before moving on to films...
- Hardwicke
Brefni O'Rorke
Brefni O'Rorke
-Filmography:* The Ghost of St. Michael's * Love on the Dole * This Man Is Dangerous * Jeannie * Cottage to Let * Hatter's Castle * The Black Sheep of Whitehall...
- Minister
Mary Jerrold
Mary Jerrold
Mary Jerrold was a British actress. She was married to actor Hubert Harben and mother of celebrity chef Philip Harben.-Selected filmography:* The Great Defender * Jack of All Trades * Return to Yesterday...
- Mme Duclos
Charles Compton - Ledoux
Irene Handl
Irene Handl
-Life:Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the daughter of an Austrian banker father and French mother. She took to acting at the relatively advanced age of 36, and studied at the acting school run by the sister of Dame Sybil Thorndike...
- Frau
Locations
One scene was filmed on Chelfham ViaductChelfham Viaduct
Chelfham Viaduct is a railway viaduct built in 1896-7 to carry the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway across the Stoke Rivers valley. Designed by L&B engineer, FW Chanter, and containing over a quarter of a million Marland bricks, its eight arches - each wide and high - meaning that the -long...
, formerly of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
Lynton and Barnstaple Railway
The Lynton & Barnstaple Railway opened as an independent railway in May 1898. It was a single track narrow gauge railway slightly over long running through the rugged and picturesque area bordering Exmoor in North Devon, England. Although opened after the 1896 Light Railways Act came into force,...
in North Devon
North Devon
North Devon is the northern part of the English county of Devon. It is also the name of a local government district in Devon. Its council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth...