By FilmInk Staff
Probably now best known as the father of fine actress and Woody Allen’s ex, Mia Farrow, John Farrow (pictured above with Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1957) was born in the inner western Sydney suburb of Marrickville in 1904, but eventually set off overseas to lead a truly unusual life. A military man and perennial traveller, he was also a Hollywood fixture, quietly plying his trade as a director on films like Hondo (starring John Wayne), His Kind Of Woman (with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell), and The Big Clock (which starred his wife, Maureen O’Sullivan) when the job was viewed more as a craft than an art.
Under-celebrated and little known, this Australian-born filmmaker (who won an Oscar for his work on the script for the 1956 Best Picture winner, Around The World In 80 Days) will now get his due courtesy of documentarians, Claude Gonzalez and Frans Vandenberg, who have spent the last ten years unearthing John Farrow’s story and scouring the globe for filmmakers, actors and cineastes who once worked with Farrow, or know of this enigmatic director. The pair have already interviewed various luminaries including Philip Noyce, Bruce Beresford, Ken Cameron, American film actress, Terry Moor, actor and television executive, Darryl Hickman, and American film critic, Todd McCarthy.
With the help of Aussie critical godhead, Margaret Pomeranz, Gonzalez and Vandenberg are set to launch an investment campaign to raise financing to complete the film, which would involve shooting in Hollywood with John Farrow’s children – Mia, Prudence, Stephanie and Tisa – who have already agreed to be interviewed for the film. “This is the first documentary to be made about John Farrow, one of Australia’s and Hollywood’s most forgotten filmmakers” said Margaret Pomeranz in an official statement. “An underrated film director of nearly 50 films, his life reads like an adventure story which has remained undiscovered for far too long.”
The trailer and investment campaign for the John Farrow documentary launched today at The Randwick Ritz.
As of 25 July 2019, what is the progress with this film?