Mr. Drake's Duck
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Val Guest
Douglas Fairbanks
Yolande Donlan
Jon Pertwee
Wilfred Hyde-white
Reginald Beckwith
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In 1942, English gentlemen and ex-U.S. Naval officer Donald Drake marries American canteen waitress Penny, after which the couple move to the Green Acre farm in Sussex, England, a delapidated property left to Donald by an uncle. Although they lack the experience to run the farm, Donald and Penny settle into a routine with the help of copious farm handbooks and experienced farmhand Reuben. One day months later, the couple decides to expand the farm and Donald signs a loan with local bank manager Mr. Boothby. In town, Penny's curiosity is piqued by a local farm auction where she mistakenly buys five dozen ducks. The next day, Donald, frustrated by the all the bureaucratic forms required for the farm expansion, insists Penny accompany him on a tour of the farm while he names everything from farmland to pigs by its required form number. When a truck delivering the ducks interrupts the tour, Donald attempts to send the vehicle away, forcing the scatterbrained Penny to explain her mistake. Upset about the money Penny has wasted, Donald refuses to speak to her and Penny, in turn, refuses to speak with him. The next day Donald orders odd-job man Higgins to stop work on the kitchen electricity and plumbing and begin building the new duck pen. Meanwhile, Penny, who is preparing breakfast, attempts to apologize by writing "I'm sorry" on Donald's hard-boiled duck egg, the first from the ducks. Donald, spotting the apology before Penny returns from the kitchen, writes "me too" on the same egg. When Penny discovers the egg on her plate, she and Donald reconcile, crack the egg and discover the yolk is green. Their breakfast is interrupted by a visit from Mr. May of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, who delivers a required quarterly report. May notices the egg yolk and requests to take the egg with him for research. Later at the Animal Poultry Health Research Station, the egg goes through a battery of scientific tests. Back on the farm, Donald asks Higgins to finish the kitchen repairs, although he has not completed the duck pen. Soon after, Boothby arrives to inspect the farm and May delivers another form to Donald. May and Donald are shocked when hundreds of Army personnel invade the property with trucks and tanks. Captain White and an attending sergeant explain that the duck egg yolk contains uranium, an element both the British and American governments spend millions of dollars to produce each year. Until it is discovered which duck has produced the uranium egg, everyone is prohibited from leaving the farm. Although the incoming military personnel have orders to respect the property, the tanks and soldiers ruin the gardens and fields and Penny and Donald quickly lose patience with the intrusion. Because recent security scares have made the uranium egg a top priority, both the Royal Navy and Air Force send reinforcements, further crowding the farm. That night, the ducks are heavily guarded and the next morning all are awakened by the sound of a bugle, the signal to start "Operation Chickweed," the procedure for handling a possible uranium egg. Having divided the ducks into lots of twelve, the guards find one egg emits a strange sound and excitedly rush the egg in a locked box to an inspection station. Once the uranium egg-producing duck is isolated, news of the situation makes headlines throughout the world. With representatives from all the world's nations present, the duck is operated on but dies in surgery without exposing the secret of the uranium egg. When the military finally withdraws, the farm is in shambles. All appears to be returning to normal, when Higgins begs Donald and Penny to inspect his work in the kitchen, and they discover water spurts from the stove instead of the sink. When a departing sergeant picks up a freshly laid egg and taps it, the egg emits the strange sound, prompting the sergeant to conclude that they examined the wrong duck and orders the return of all military personnel. Penny and Donald's adventures with the military then begin again.
Director
Val Guest
Cast
Douglas Fairbanks
Yolande Donlan
Jon Pertwee
Wilfred Hyde-white
Reginald Beckwith
Howard Marion-crawford
Peter Butterworth
A. E. Matthews
Tom Gill
John Boxer
Gilbert Davis
Ballard Berkeley
Roger Maxwell
Harry Fowler
Bruce Belfrage
Raymond Rollett
Freddie Bradshaw
Frank Phillips
Richard Littledale
George Merritt
Arthur Hill
Ben Williams
Danny Green
Crew
Daniel M. Angel
Bruce Campbell
Joan Carpenter
Maurice Carter
Jack Cox
Adam Dawson
Douglas Fairbanks
George Fowler
Harry Gillam
Val Guest
Julie Harris
David Langdon
Philip Martell
Ian Messiter
H. C. Pearson
Adele Reynolds
Sam Simmonds
F. Williamson
Adrian Worker
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The film's opening and closing credits vary in order. Mr. Drake's Duck, a British production shot in England, was made with American financing and released in London in February 1951. A August 11, 1951 Showmen's Trade Reviews states that the London release print length was 86 minutes, while the American print length was 81 minutes. According to a August 30, 1951 Hollywood Reporter news item, the film had its American premiere on August 30, 1951 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the site of the United States's largest atomic energy center at that time. Although the film's plot bears some similarities to the CBS television series Green Acres (1965-1971), including the name of the farm, the two were unrelated.
