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Allan Jeayes, Amid Taftazani, C. Aubrey Smith, Clive Baxter, Derek Elphinstone ...( see more  see more... ) , Donald Gray , Frederick Culley , Hal Walters , Henry Oscar , Jack Allen , John Clements , John Laurie , June Duprez , Norman Pierce , Ralph Richardson , Robert Rendel

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 ...( read more  read more... )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

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74% liked it

2,193 ratings

Unrated, 115 min.

Directed by: Zoltan Korda

Release Date: August 3, 1939

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DVD Release Date: April 19, 2005

Stats: 74 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (74)

  • garyX
    November 1, 2007
    garyX
    A young man is pressured into military service by his overbearing career military father but resigns on the eve of a campaign to retake the Sudan. Branded a coward, he sets off to redeem himself and his name. Although filmed many times, Zoltan Korda's version of A. E. W. Mason's ...( read more)classic tale of honour, self-sacrifice and derring-do is still the definitive one. John Clements heads up an fine cast, particularly Ralph Richardson, and the early colour photography still looks impressive today; the glorious African landscapes and flora and fauna makes a great backdrop to the epic battle scenes. The film does not go into detail about the context of the conflict, simplifying it into good guy versus bad guy but it never pretends to be a political commentary; it's simply a classic old school ripping yarn.
  • organgrinder136
    June 3, 2007
    organgrinder136
    i'm glad i watched this...... just so i remember to never watch it again. it was incredibly dull. i didn't think much of the acting. the battle scenes were just a mess and confusing. you couldn't tell what was going on in them. there was a total lack of excitement. with no good a...( read more)cting and no quality script....... the time just dragged on and on
  • codyfranklin2
    January 15, 2009
    codyfranklin2
    The best film version of this story. It's from the Korda brothers so the production is top notch. It's a early color film that is just beautiful. The only problem I have is with the basic story, and this implies all versions. The main character is branded a coward for not wanting...( read more) to go to war, so in turn he goes through hell to prove he is not a coward. The problem is their are hundreds of easier ways he could make this up to his friends and he chooses the most outlandish and impossible ways to prove himself. Still a good film though.
  • theodossian52
    June 20, 2009
    theodossian52
    More British stiff upper lips with added deeds of derring-do. A ripping yarn.
  • Ghw12158
    October 18, 2008
    Ghw12158
    good stuff from the BEST year in Hollywood 1939
  • freakzzziqah
    January 22, 2008
    freakzzziqah
    This movie is a classic!
  • hugonar
    November 2, 2007
    hugonar
    Classified as a classic = Interested.
  • davebeal9
    August 30, 2007
    davebeal9
    Excellent. A movie from a different age with different values, where duty, honour, loyalty and self-sacrifice still mattered. Enough said - watch this.
  • butaworm
    August 4, 2007
    butaworm
    I love the music to this movie, and especially hearing Sarah Nicolls play the theme! (good memories!)
  • mateandpartner
    April 20, 2007
    mateandpartner
    A white feather is the symbol of cowardice in the British army...

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The Four Feathers Trivia

  • Which actress turned down the role of Mary Jane Watson in Spiderman (2002) to act in the film The Four Feathers?  Answer »
  • he was the lord of dogtown, and there he bacame a knight, who was apart of the Four Feathers who hated 10 things about....someone  Answer »
  • Which actor dueled with lances and won the girl's heart, hated ten things about Julia Stiles, fought patriotically for our country, and found his way back from the desert to return four feathers?  Answer »
  • In the movie 'Four Feathers' what did the feather signify?   Answer »
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