The Four Feathers is a 1939 British war adventure film directed by Zoltan Korda. The film is based on the 1902 novel of the same name by A.E.W. Mason. It stars John Clements, Ralph Richardson, and June Duprez.
Director: Zoltan Korda
Production Company: London Films
Distributor: United Artists
Cast: John Clements, Ralph Richardson, C Aubrey Smith, June Duprez
US Box Office: Unknown
Film Format: Technicolor
Genre: War, Adventure, Epic
Release Date: April 2, 1939 (UK); August 4, 1939 (US)
Plot Summary: In 1895 British Lieutenant Harry Faversham’s (John Clements) regiment is sent to Sudan to fight in that Mahdist War. Due to his own cowardice, Harry resigns from the Army shortly before his regiment leaves. To show their disapproval, his three friends John Durrance (Ralph Richardson), Peter Burroughs (Donald Grey), and Thomas Willoughby (Jack Allen) each give Harry a white feather symbolizing cowardice; Harry’s fiancee Ethne (June Duprez) also expresses her disapproval. To save his honor and to show his courage, Harry secretly travels to Sudan to save the lives of each of his friends.
Production: In the late 1930s, Alexander, Vincent, and Zoltan Korda (three brothers who were Hungarian filmmakers living in England at the time) decided to produce an adaptation of the 1902 novel The Four Feathers by British writer A.E.W. Mason. The novel was about a British soldier who bravely saves his friends after being accused of being a coward. The Four Feathers had previously been adapted three times as silent films, in 1915, 1921, and 1929. The Korda brothers produced the film through London Films, their independent studio in England. For their version of The Four Feathers, Alexander served as producer, Zoltan was the film’s director, and Vincent was the art director. Alexander (who frequently directed) chose not to be the director because his previous two films, The Private Life of Don Juan (1934) and Rembrandt (1936), had failed at the box office, and another expensive film he worked on called I, Claudius was abandoned midway through production. He thought that it would be better to focus on producing and let his brother direct the film.
In 1937, Alexander Korda publicly announced that Robert Donat was going to be the leading man for The Four Feathers. Paramount Pictures, who owned the rights to the novel and produced the 1929 version, subsequently refused to sell the film rights to Korda. Korda eventually reached a settlement with Paramount and was able to purchase the rights, though Donat was no longer working on the picture by this time. Instead, Korda decided to cast John Clements in the leading role of Harry Faversham. Clements had previously worked with the Korda brothers on several films, including Rembrandt (1936) and Knight Without Armour (1937). Clements and Ralph Richardson (Captain John Durrance) had previously starred together in the drama film South Riding (1938), also directed by Alexander Korda.
In mid-to-late 1938, the Korda brothers began production on The Four Feathers. Alexander and Zoltan Korda decided to shoot the film in Technicolor, and were very focused on maintaining historical accuracy, despite the considerable expense. Zoltan Korda hired Brigadier Hector Campbell as the military Technical Advisor on the film. Korda had Campbell drill the actors the same as 1890s British soldiers would have been drilled by their commanders. Many of the desert and battle scenes were shot on location along the East Bank of the Nile River in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, where battles during the Mahdist War were actually fought. Several local Sudanese extras who worked on the film had witnessed the actual battles, forty years ago! Interior scenes and the scenes set back in London were shot at Denham Studios in Buckinghamshire, England.
Fun Facts and Trivia: Footage from several of the battle scenes from The Four Feathers were later reused for the 1955 film Storm Over the Nile, a later adaptation of The Four Feathers novel that also directed by Zoltan Korda. As Storm Over the Nile was filmed in the CinemaScope format, the scenes from The Four Fathers had to be cropped and widened, which made them look noticeably fuzzier and grainier than the newly shot footage. Leslie Phillips, who was later known for playing several roles in the British Carry On film series and for voicing the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter films, was an extra in The Four Feathers. He was about fourteen at the time and played a school boy in one of the crowd scenes in London. On set, director Zoltan Korda was generally a stickler for historical accuracy, but with one notable exception. As the crew was about to shoot the ballroom dance scene, Korda objected to the fact that the officers were wearing blue uniforms. Even though he was informed by the technical advisor that blue uniforms would have been the proper dress for officers at a private party, Korba thought that red would look better in Technicolor, so he forced the crew change the uniform colors.
Reception: The Four Feathers was released on April 2, 1939 in the United Kingdom and on August 4 of that same year in the United States. In the US the film was distributed by United Artists, which frequently distributed foreign and independent films. The Four Feathers was one of the most popular films in Britain that year, but it was not a big box office hit in the United States. In 1955 Zoltan Korda co-directed a remake of The Four Feathers called Storm over the Nile with Terence Young. At the time of its release, The Four Feathers received generally positive reviews from critics. The critics at the British Monthly Film Bulletin gave the film a mostly positive review. They were impressed by the film’s scope and beautiful technicolor cinematography, but thought that it was too long and that some scenes dragged on.
In retrospect, reviews for The Four Feathers have been largely positive. Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress thought that Korda’s The Four Feathers was the best adaptation of the novel. The critics at the British magazine Time Out agreed with Hanke. Time Out spoke positively about the performances of the cast members and film’s cinematography. Critic Michael Sragow gave the film a very positive review, complimenting the tone and aesthetic, and he stated that the film was, “next to Lawrence of Arabia (1962), the most harrowingly beautiful of all desert spectaculars.”
Why You Should See It: The Four Feathers is a great classic adventure film. The cast members all give strong performances. John Clements does a good job in his leading role. As required for the part, the character starts off rather unlikeable but eventually becomes an admirable hero by the end of the film. C Aubrey Smith is also memorable, and often quite funny, in his supporting role as an elderly retired British Officer. The technicolor cinematography by Georges Perinal looks great and is quite beautiful. The film in general is a very impressive production, massive in scope with a lot of money and effort clearly put into it. The Four Feathers is also very patriotic and has a good message about the importance of courage.