Made during the second world war when people were really suffering the pain (not just remembering it), this low budget simple tale of high ideals and patriotism is more powerful than many a later battlefield re-enactment. A tense commando operation is blended with touching personal scenes such as a mother and son meeting in occupied territory but too afraid to recognize each other. All combine to bring home the horrors and heroism of the wartime experience in a way that truly tugs the heart strings. Listen for the musical score by famous English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.
9 Reviews
Tidy Drama.
rmax30482320 September 2012
Warning: Spoilers
It's early in the war and some of the Belgian Air Force pilots manage to escape in their Hurricanes to England, where they join the RAF, which needs all the pilots it can get.
However, they've left their regimental flag behind, buried somewhere on the grounds of a Flemish farm. Clifford Evans is dispatched to retrieve it after the Battle of Britain. Of course, Belgium by this time is occupied by the Germans, all of whom are brutal, humorless, and efficient.
Not much action but a good deal of suspense as Evans works his way through the Belgian underground and overground to find the flag and get it back to its proper place in England. People die, willingly, in his aid.
There are one or two poignant moments. One is when Evans first learns from his Commanding Officer in Britain that his best friend and colleague, Matagne, has been shot down and killed. Evans' response is wordless. He accepts a cigarette from his CO, stares at it, and it drops from his fingers.
Another touching scene has Evans meeting his mother in the park of a Flemish village after his return. The park is under surveillance by the Nazis, and the two can only sit on a bench pretending to ignore one another while speaking under their breaths. The old lady briefly touches his hand before leaving.
The acting is competent. There are no bravura scenes. And the direction is better than might be expected in a film made under war-time conditions in Britain. Clive Brook is giving himself up to be shot in order to save some hostages and as he walks to his doom at Gestapo headquarters he's followed by a noisy woman who chatters on about villagers who, she believes, may be Jewish communists. He tries to put her off, having intimations of mortality on his mind, but she persists in noisily following him. The dramatic music swells until we can no longer hear her complaints. It's a simple device, but it required some thoughtfulness on somebody's part.
It can be asked whether a flag is worth so much risk, so many deaths. It's a piece of cloth after all and the only value it has is the value we attribute to it. Historically, flags had practical functions. Amid the confusion and smoke of battle, flags provided rallying points for military units. But whatever a flag's current value in real life, in 1943, in the movies, it was a symbol for something else.
Rather neatly done.
However, they've left their regimental flag behind, buried somewhere on the grounds of a Flemish farm. Clifford Evans is dispatched to retrieve it after the Battle of Britain. Of course, Belgium by this time is occupied by the Germans, all of whom are brutal, humorless, and efficient.
Not much action but a good deal of suspense as Evans works his way through the Belgian underground and overground to find the flag and get it back to its proper place in England. People die, willingly, in his aid.
There are one or two poignant moments. One is when Evans first learns from his Commanding Officer in Britain that his best friend and colleague, Matagne, has been shot down and killed. Evans' response is wordless. He accepts a cigarette from his CO, stares at it, and it drops from his fingers.
Another touching scene has Evans meeting his mother in the park of a Flemish village after his return. The park is under surveillance by the Nazis, and the two can only sit on a bench pretending to ignore one another while speaking under their breaths. The old lady briefly touches his hand before leaving.
The acting is competent. There are no bravura scenes. And the direction is better than might be expected in a film made under war-time conditions in Britain. Clive Brook is giving himself up to be shot in order to save some hostages and as he walks to his doom at Gestapo headquarters he's followed by a noisy woman who chatters on about villagers who, she believes, may be Jewish communists. He tries to put her off, having intimations of mortality on his mind, but she persists in noisily following him. The dramatic music swells until we can no longer hear her complaints. It's a simple device, but it required some thoughtfulness on somebody's part.
It can be asked whether a flag is worth so much risk, so many deaths. It's a piece of cloth after all and the only value it has is the value we attribute to it. Historically, flags had practical functions. Amid the confusion and smoke of battle, flags provided rallying points for military units. But whatever a flag's current value in real life, in 1943, in the movies, it was a symbol for something else.
Rather neatly done.
British wartime propaganda with Clifford Evans
Leofwine_draca13 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
THE FLEMISH FARM is a British WW2 propaganda movie made contemporaneously with the war itself. The setting is, as the title would suggest, Belgium, where Allied forces send an airman into occupied territory in order to fight for the honour of the regiment. There's courage amid the chaos, and more than a little romance, and most of all this is a vehicle for actor Clifford Evans to display the depth of his acting talent, which is quite considerable. Evans is one of those faces who seems to pop up in British cinema over a two decade period (he had a notable role in Hammer's KISS OF THE VAMPIRE) and he certainly rewards the viewer with his presence here. The rest is typical, fairly watchable but too low budget to stand out.
"Just now a flag is a dangerous thing to have around"
hwg1957-102-26570421 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A Belgian pilot Jean Duclos who escaped to England returns to the titular Flemish farm to rescue his regimental flag. Based on a true story it had the potential to be a gripping film but turns out to be just average. The cast are fine, the settings and look are adequate but it just needed some more...... excitement. It does have an effective music score by the great Ralph Vaughan Williams to help the tension but all in all it is just watchable.
In it's favour it does have the luminous Jane Baxter as Tresha from the farm and a particularly moving scene with Mary Jerrold as Duclos' mother. There's also a very nice baby in it.
In it's favour it does have the luminous Jane Baxter as Tresha from the farm and a particularly moving scene with Mary Jerrold as Duclos' mother. There's also a very nice baby in it.
Flag Waver
malcolmgsw28 November 2016
This is a propaganda film made in 1942,at a time when people needed help to believe in a successful end to the war at a time when not a lot was happening.It has to be said that the best British propaganda films were those that poked fun at the Nazis.Those,like this film,which were deadly serious probably didn't hit the mark because they could not at that time show exactly what was going on as the audiences would have found it too horrific.As has been previously mentioned there is not a great deal of action.It isn't as good as One of our aircraft is missingt or 49th Parallel No doubt this film would have bolstered people's faith in our Belgian allies.
Flying the Flag
richardchatten4 November 2019
Only last night I saw people being coerced by the use of torture into treading on Christian icons and imported items being brought into 17th Century Japan being inspected for concealed crucifixes in Martin Scorsese's 'Silence'; and today I saw the significance still given to inspirational objects such as the Belgian flag that men (and women) were still prepared in the 20th Century to risk their lives to preserve and smuggle to safety.
Boasting an evocative title; although clearly made very quickly and cheaply in a variety of formats ranging from obvious back projection and models to beautiful sylvan location work - and with both Belgians & Germans mainly speaking in received English - the obvious sincerity lying behind this film and the moving music "specially composed" (as the credits put it) by Ralph Vaughan Williams makes the whole thing touching to watch. It's also doubly poignant to see the lovely Jane Baxter in a rare wartime role making one of her final film appearances.
Boasting an evocative title; although clearly made very quickly and cheaply in a variety of formats ranging from obvious back projection and models to beautiful sylvan location work - and with both Belgians & Germans mainly speaking in received English - the obvious sincerity lying behind this film and the moving music "specially composed" (as the credits put it) by Ralph Vaughan Williams makes the whole thing touching to watch. It's also doubly poignant to see the lovely Jane Baxter in a rare wartime role making one of her final film appearances.
...And on that farm, they hid a flag....
mark.waltz6 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This is all about the hidden Belgium Air Force flag that patriots long to get out of the country before the invading Nazis find it. The film covers preparation for the invasion (and ultimate take-over), the burial of the flag in a field, its re-discovery and how the freedom fighters manage to get it out of the country. The highlight of the film is the scene where the patriots utilize a dog to smuggle it across a river while one of them deals with a German guard while crossing a aqueduct. There are plenty of conversations concerning why saving the flag is so important, how and why the Belgians are willing to risk their lives to keep it out of the Nazi hands (it is simply a symbol of their independence) which becomes simple war-time entertainment. Filled with predictable reminders that there are many things we were fighting for, it all comes down to one word: freedom.
The Flemish Farm
craigiemark20 January 2008
This film was written and directed ? by my great aunt Jill Craigie,who sadly i never met.I would like to purchase this film,if possible on DVD,and would appreciate any information,as to where i can purchase this film.Kind regards,Mark Craigie.I see that an Ian has posted his view on the film from Australia,and wondered if he is my Uncle,who had a brother Malcolm(my father)and a sister Lynn,my Auntie.My great Aunt Jill was married to the labour politician Sir Michael Foot and lived in London up until her death.It would be nice to hear from any relative,however distant,to catch up on life and times of your lives.However,i understand some people may be reluctant,to disclose details of their private lives,but any input would be much appreciated.Again Kind Regards,Mark Craigie.
"Don't we all need some visible sign of our faith?"
morrison-dylan-fan28 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
After finding Don't Take It to Heart! (1944-also reviewed) to be a really interesting Fantasy Comedy,I was excited to discover on Talking Pictures free online catch-up service, a film by Jeffrey Dell that I had not heard of before, leading to me going down to the farm.
View on the film:
The first and only time they would work together, the screenplay by husband and wife Jeffrey Dell & Jill Craigie thoughtfully express the pressure Duclos (played by a chiseled Clifford Evans) comes under, when attempting to walk undercover in Belgium during the Occupation. Based on a real event during WWII, the writers cleverly make Duclos's attempt to retrieve a flag, be hoisted by Duclos's belief that raising the flag represents a symbol of freedom, and a clear, visible victory against the Nazis.
Working for the first of three times together, Jeffrey Dell makes his excellent directing debut by closely working with cinematographer Eric Cross, and pointing towards the Film Noir stylization they would later reach with The Dark Man (1951-also reviewed), via surrealist, winding camera moves of fellow British air corps members watching Duclos set off, expertly framed reflected long-shots, displaying Duclos fear of being caught, and what's secretly going on behind him, shattering into an inventive tussle caught in distorted shots, as Duclos crosses the Flemish farm.
View on the film:
The first and only time they would work together, the screenplay by husband and wife Jeffrey Dell & Jill Craigie thoughtfully express the pressure Duclos (played by a chiseled Clifford Evans) comes under, when attempting to walk undercover in Belgium during the Occupation. Based on a real event during WWII, the writers cleverly make Duclos's attempt to retrieve a flag, be hoisted by Duclos's belief that raising the flag represents a symbol of freedom, and a clear, visible victory against the Nazis.
Working for the first of three times together, Jeffrey Dell makes his excellent directing debut by closely working with cinematographer Eric Cross, and pointing towards the Film Noir stylization they would later reach with The Dark Man (1951-also reviewed), via surrealist, winding camera moves of fellow British air corps members watching Duclos set off, expertly framed reflected long-shots, displaying Duclos fear of being caught, and what's secretly going on behind him, shattering into an inventive tussle caught in distorted shots, as Duclos crosses the Flemish farm.
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