The Four Feathers (The Criterion Collection)

To the modern eye, certain elements and attitudes on exhibit in Zoltan Korda's 1939 adaptation of "The Four Feathers" may appear dated. That's to be expected, really, and shouldn't discourage any real movie lover from appreciating this British epic of unlikely heroism. Once you get past a rather heavy handed beginning--there is much pointed discussion about what makes a man, bravery versus cowardice, and the supreme glory of British imperialism--a terrifically outlandish, but spectacularly entertaining, adventure starts to unfold. With sweeping desert vistas, gorgeous British estates, spectacular battle footage, and impressive location shooting--this is really a film begging for a Criterion restoration as the previous DVD presentations were relatively underwhelming. The film boasts Oscar nominated cinematography, and it deserves to be appreciated and admired for the spectacle that it truly is!

The story revolves around Harry Faversham (John Clements), a British officer who resigns his commission on the eve of his unit being dispatched on an African campaign. Filled with a lifetime of horror stories by his overbearing father and his military cronies, Harry has never aspired to a soldier's life. He took the post to please his father, but upon his death--he feels no need to follow through with the commitment. Branded a coward by his three best friends and his fiancee (he receives a symbolic feather from each), Harry must come to terms with his own self-doubt. Embarking on a ridiculously convoluted scheme, Harry sets off to Africa to prove his manliness and worth to those that turned their backs on him. To say that Harry's journey is rather implausible is an understatement, but it's easy to get swept up in the tale as a straight-up adventure. It's a big, bold, and rousing tale of perseverance and determination.

There have been a number of adaptations of this narrative, most recently a 2002 update with Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson, but (to my mind) this is easily the definitive version. Incredibly impressive visually by 1939 standards, the film holds up very well as a true epic. This classic deserves to be re-discovered by modern audiences, and I'm hoping the Criterion release will make this possible. If you love the big budget spectaculars, you might be surprised by how effective this film is. Great use of Technicolor, fabulously dramatic score, a truly massive cast, and terrifically orchestrated battle sequences--if you haven't caught this one, it comes highly recommended. KGHarris, 8/11.

Preliminary Criterion Specs:
New high-definition digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the
Blu-ray edition)
Audio commentary by film historian Charles Drazin
New video interview with David Korda, son of director Zoltán Korda
A Day at Denham, a short film from 1939 featuring footage of Zoltán Korda on the set
of The Four Feathers
* Theatrical trailer
* PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Sragow

Thank god I gave this movie another chance! A few years ago I watched this film on a local public television station. The print they showed, however, was old and worn, with hundreds of lines and specks marring every scene. Also, the color was so badly faded that it almost looked like it was filmmed in black and white.

But reviewing the film on a newly restored and enhanced print was nothing short of a revelation. It was frequently gorgeous to look at, and the high quality of the print allowed me to focus on the story. Many of the scenes were filmmed on location in the Middle East, which greatly added to the appeal of the movie (in American epics of the thirties, even the Crimea and India ended up looking like the Mojave Desert for obvious reasons--reminds me of the funny scene in the second Austin Powers movie, where Austin casually remarks while driving down a road that is clearly on the California coast, "Isn't it amazing how much the coast of England looks like California?").

In 1939, the British film industry still lagged far behind the American film industry in technical proficiency. Alfred Hitchcock, who left England in 1940 to work in the US for the next 25 years, managed to succeed despite the studio shortcomings, but even in his British films of the thirties the gap in sound and basic photographic techniques is all too apparent as we watch the films of that time. One of the great achievements of Producter/Director Alexander Korda (his brother Zoltan directed THE FOUR FEATHERS while Alexander produced and owned the studio that made the film) was making the first films in Great Britain that rivaled the technical (as opposed to cinematic) accomplishments of Hollywood. THE FOUR FEATHERS holds up admirably with most of the big budget films made in Hollywood in 1939. The color is perhaps not as vivid as in GONE WITH THE WIND or THE WIZARD OF OZ, but it nonetheless is quite good for the time. And this film is thoroughly convincing as an epic. Thousands and thousands of extras were used, but unlike Hollywood, where whites were made up to look like Native Americans, Asian Indians, or Arabs, the extras in THE FOUR FEATHERS clearly hailed from one or another part of Africa or the Middle East.

The cast is solid, but two performances stand out. C. Aubrey Smith made a career out of playing bombastic and self-important British Colonels or Generals. And he never performed that role better than in this film. But the best performance was by the always spectacular Ralph Richardson (does anyone else find a stunning physical resemblence between him and Kevin Spacey?). No one ever stole a scene from Ralph Richardson. Even in small roles he could dominate the action. Tragically, his film opportunities rarely took advantage of his gigantic talent. His technique and voice were the equal of Olivier and Alec Guinness, yet he never quite matched their film success. He did, however, manage to excell on the stage. In this regard, Richardson's career mirrored that of John Gielgud, whose screen career was equally paltry compared to his stage successes. Apart from THE FOUR FEATHERS, my favorite Ralph Richardson performances are an amazing film version of A LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT and Q PLANES (AKA CLOUDS OVER EUROPE). His character in the latter was the direct inspiration for "John Steed" in THE AVENGERS on TV in the sixties.

Now for the scary news. This marvelous film is being remade starring Heath Ledger (from A KNIGHT'S TALE--medieval history reborn as an MTV inspired movie) in the Ralph Richardson role and Wes Bently (from AMERICAN BEAUTY) in the John Clement role. Kate Hudson from ALMOST FAMOUS takes the female lead.

There are films that are classics since the day they are released. This film is one of those. Zoltan Korda shows his elegance and skills presenting us a typical adventure.

Based on the novel by A. W. E Mason, it is the story of young Harry Faversahn born and raised to follow the military life like all his ancestors. Pity that his father is an obssesed of the glories of the Empire, and that his friends bored the child telling stories about battles, slaughters and Baklava (the scene with C. Aubrey Smith explaining the battle with a pineaple and some walnuts is one of the best in the story of cinema).

But Harry is a good boy so he joins the army, trains all day and even has time to conquer beautiful Ethne. With that Harry decides to leave the army, but good things do not last forever, so in the evening of his engagement party his regiment is call to arms. To Egypt to fight against the wicked Egyptian rebels. But Harry refuses and so his former best friends send him three feathers, a sophisticated way to call him a coward. But the fourth, ah! the fourth one is the most terrible of all because is Ethne who gives it to him.

So our hero is an outcast, nodoby loves him, nodoby cares for him. And Harry proving that after all he is a Favershan embarks to Egypt to save his comrades. Disguised as a mute native he saves them all. Crosses the dessert, saves Durrance (who is in love with Ethne too), saves Willoughby and Burroughs from a dreadful prision and evidently gives back each of the four feathers.

The locations and the scenes are espectacular. But also the dialogues. The cast is superb, and propbaly you will end watching the film while humming Rule Britannia.

No adaptation done after has ever reached its level so do not waste your time with others. This is the version.

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