Regular Price $14.98

Starring: John Clements,  Ralph Richardson,  C. Aubrey Smith,  June Duprez,  Allan Jeayes, 
Directed By: Zoltan Korda, 
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Release Date: 1939-08-03
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Format: Closed-captioned,  Color,  DVD-Video,  Full Screen,  Subtitled,  NTSC, 

Editorial Reviews and DVD Information about The Four Feathers

Amazon.com
Some movies you just have to love. Oh, they may be well, even beautifully, made; wonderfully cast and stirringly acted; uplifting in theme and noble in motive. That's fine. In fact, that's great. For that, you admire them. But you love them because they are perfect distillations of a mood, of a moment in the history of filmmaking, of a breed of imagination that, like the best of fairy tales, transcends the tides of taste and empire, and certainly of political correctness.

Consider The Four Feathers, produced in England in 1939, at Alexander Korda's London Films studios, where a family of Hungarian expatriates aspired to exalt their newly adopted country, its history and traditions, and also to out-Hollywood Hollywood. With this film, they realized both ambitions, in spades.

A.E.W. Mason's novel of stiff-upper-lip honor and valor had already been filmed three times (and at least that many remakes have followed, superfluously). This is the only version that matters. On the eve of the British army's departure to reconquer the Sudan, a young lieutenant descended from a long line of military heroes resigns his commission and is tendered a white feather--the symbol of cowardice--by each of three brother officers. From his fiancée's plume he plucks a fourth, then fades out of their lives... to embark, a year later, on a private quest that will carry him down continents and through unimaginable sacrifice to hard-won redemption.

John Clements (who never had much of a film career) is excellent as the tormented Harry Faversham. But it's Ralph Richardson, as Harry's romantic rival John Durrance (wonderful names!), you'll cherish--he and that spitting image of the Duke of Wellington, C. Aubrey Smith, whose blustery recollections of the Crimean War strike a satiric yet affectionate keynote. Directed by one Korda brother, Zoltan--who shot spectacular sequences in the Sudan--and exquisitely designed by another, Vincent, The Four Feathers is a Technicolor milestone, and its music score is an early triumph by one of the Kordas's legion of Hungarian-expatriate helpmates, Miklos Rosza. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews for The Four Feathers

better four feathers
A classic genre film of subsection Empire: pieces of it show up in Westerns, Costume Picture and so on: blind in the desert, called a coward by his fellow officers, saved by a bloke in disguise, BASHIBAZHOUKS. SEE IT.The Four Feathers

great movie
sorry to say that the vhs movie did not work in 3 of my machines. The tracking was off. Had to ship back to vendor.The Four Feathers

The Four Feathers
A fairly good version, although rather stilted in execution. The best of the remakes is the Alexander Korda production starring Anthony Steele and re-titled, "Storm Over the Nile", which, unfortunately, is not available. RHThe Four Feathers

The Four Feathers
Without doubt a film far before its time! Excellent in alll departments, particularly the crowd scenes and the battle charges! A difficult time for British interests in the Middle East durung that period.
John Clements played his part with care, understanding, and an outstandingly gifted portrayal of a so called coward turned hero!
Ralph Richardson also showed us his acting skills with a great performance of a somewhat naive but highly patriotic British military Officer. King and country before anything.

Marvellous scenes in pre-second world war Britain together with the post-Kitchener era in the Sudan!

This film should have won the Accademy Award for that year 1939
The Four Feathers

A beautiful up-to-date film

Many a time I saw the cover of this DVD; the faces of the 3 leading characters, notably the stunning beauty of June Duprez, and the rich colour of the film shots somehow misled me to think this as a modern movie.

Finally I watched this 1939 classic - a breathtakingly beautiful film, both in terms of the cinematography and the natural flow of the plot. The combat scenes were real and visually capturing - they would not pale compared with its modern counterparts.

To top it all, the story was simple and enchanting. Four feathers were given to Harry Faversham for his apparent cowardice to withdraw, in the last minute, from his regiment which was set to battle in Egypt. To prove his own worth, he would go to Egypt, disguise himself and did courageous deeds to these 4 people so that they would take the feathers back and reinstate his reputation and courage. This is a story about noble characters, not only for Harry but also for his fellow officers.

What follows were as exciting as it was captivating. I like the ending most - the one courageous deed he did for his wife (the graceful June Duprez) proved to be the perfect comic twist for this otherwise heavy film. Highly recommend it!The Four Feathers

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