Background
Farrow, John Villiers was born on February 10, 1906 in Sydney, Australia. Son of Joseph Rushmere and Lucy (Villiers) Farrow.
Farrow, John Villiers was born on February 10, 1906 in Sydney, Australia. Son of Joseph Rushmere and Lucy (Villiers) Farrow.
Educated in Australia, England and Continent. Doctor of Laws, Loyola.
He was originally a writer: of stage plays and. from 1927, of movie scripts, including Ladies of the Mob (28, William Wellman); Wolf Song (29, Victor Fleming); A Dangerous Woman (29, Rowland V. Lee); Seven Days' Leave (30. Richard Wallace); Woman of Experience (31, Harry Joe Brown); and, years later, with S. J. Perelman and James Poe, for Around the World in 80 Days (56. Michael Anderson).
In addition, Farrow was a Roman Catholic convert who wrote books about Thomas More and the papacy as well as some novels.
Such condescension hardly shows in Farrows movies, and whatever the indignity of writing Tarzan Escapes (36, Richard Thorpe), it was then that Farrow met his wife, Johnny Weissmullers Jane. Indeed, he seems one of the more engaging, enterprising, and critically neglected of entertainment directors. (There are enough tales of famous temper and eccentricity to help one understand later Farrows.)
It may have been the writer in him, or the Australian Wykhamist, but his films invariably pick on novel settings or plots, managing to lift routine products through ingenuity and freshness. The lack of authenticity or thrill in Botany Bay ill befits an Australian. But Two Years Before Mast. Blaze of Noon. The Big Clock. Alias Nick Beal Where Danger Lives, His Kind of Woman. Bide, Vaquerol, Hondo, and Back from Eternity are films that do not fit readily into any genre, and that are worth staying up late for. Farrow never scorned adventure movies, or missed a chance to add an extra imaginative character to them. The Big Clock and Alias Nick Beal are thrillers with a serious interest in evil. Hondo is a Western with rare emphasis on psychology and atmosphere. While His Kind of Woman is a comedv thriller that admirably exploits Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price, and Raymond Burr.
Farrow generally showed special interest in his players and in turn won better-than-usual performances. In his early days he used Boris Karloff well in West of Shanghai and Invisible Menace, and Ann Sheridan in She Loved a Fireman and Broadway Musketeers. As well as directing Veronica Lake in her debut (Sorority House), he worked often with Alan Ladd and Rav Milland—the latter in California. The Big Clock, Alias Nick Beal, and Copper Canyon. Above all, he tickled Charles Laughtons wandering fancy for The Big Clock. and subjugated John Wayne in Hondo.
Member of advisory board Mount St. Mary’s College (Los Angeles). Has served in Merchant Service, United States Marine Corps, Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy. Clubs: Royal Irish Yacht (Ireland).
Member of the board regents Loyola University Holder of ancient manrial rights of Burlingham in Norfolk, England.
Quotes from others about the person
His daughter Mia Farrow (by his marriage to actress Maureen O’Sullivan) has said that “He was very friendly with the Jesuits, and the house was always filled with priests; to some extent he looked down on Hollywood."
Married Maureen O’Sullivan, September 12, 1936. Children: Michael Damien Villiers, Patrick Joseph Villiers, Maria de Lourdes Villiers, John Charles Villiers, Prudence Ann Villiers, Stephania Marguerita Villiers, Theresa Magdalena Villiers.