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The Four Feathers

Play trailer Poster for The Four Feathers 1939 1h 55m Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
When English soldier Harry Faversham (John Clements) attempts to leave military service just before an expedition to the Sudan, he is presented with feathers, symbolic of his cowardice, by other officers, including his friend Captain John Durrance (Ralph Richardson). In an attempt to restore his honor, Faversham goes undercover as a mute native, and has a chance at redemption when he rescues the blinded Durrance from the heat of battle. Will his act of courage result in forgiveness?
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The Four Feathers

Critics Reviews

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Otis Ferguson The New Republic All being done in color, this was more difficult than is usually the case; and more the pity that anything so handsome should be thrown away on such naive hokum. May 7, 2024 Full Review Cinelandia Staff Cinelandia Four Feathers is a success, difficult to overcome. [Full review in Spanish] Sep 1, 2022 Full Review MFB Critics Monthly Film Bulletin It is all magnificently staged and produced, and the Egyptian scenes are beautifully photographed, but the film is much too long and is in need of some ruthless cutting to tighten up patches that definitely drag. Jan 22, 2018 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The rousing yarn is a classic British imperialist adventure story. Rated: B Nov 3, 2011 Full Review Rob Vaux Flipside Movie Emporium Exceptionally well-made swashbuckling, though its ethos is appalingly outdated. Rated: 4/5 Dec 9, 2005 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 4/5 Jun 19, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Christopher B "The Four Feathers" has been brought to the silver screen several times during both the silent and talkie era. Zoltan Korda captures the desert strikingly similar to "Lawrence of Arabia" and that in and of itself says a lot! The technicolor is gorgeous and the colors, especially the British uniforms, really pop and create a striking contrast to the scenery. While the film clocks in at 115 minutes, this is truly an epic worthy of its commercial and critical success! John Clements gives a realistic and solid performance as Harry Faversham the coward turned hero at the heart of the film. There are so many talented cast and crew and it really shows and qualifies as a beautiful and poetic Classic! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/19/22 Full Review Audience Member I love this film of heroism and redemption of one man; an exciting adventure film of sacrifice and the love of honor. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review david f This is billed as a classic anglophilic epic, and while it mostly is, as a movie it is not quite up to the high standards set by Hollywood the same year - 1939. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member The film has a wildly implausible plot and a painfully dated pro-imperialist mindset. If you can get past those two major obstacles it's pretty well-made, with good location footage and action scenes, and Richardson's performance is impressive. Celebrating the British Empire's conquests doesn't really do it for me as entertainment, though. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Definitely the best version of this epic story. A visually impressive, sweeping epic that is impressive for the time period. The acting and pacing are not the best but when given consideration for the times this is a very impressive film. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member The premise and entire plot of this movie worked perfectly for me. I was almost brought to tears three different times while watching The Four Feathers because I was so connected to the main character. I totally identified with his struggle early on in the film, and admired his selfless turn as the film went on. The battle scenes were ambitious to say the least. Considering this is back in the day when these large scale army scenes are all real people it's quite a sight to see. However some of the shot selection wasn't great because it kind of showed off the empty spots on the battlefield. And the actual fighting was a tad lackluster considering the length of some of the battle scenes. The makeup and hair was bad. This is back in the day when it made more sense to throw some dark makeup and a cheesy mustache on a white guy rather than casting an actual Middle Eastern actor. The beard on the main character might have been the closest to looking authentic, which was good because he's on screen a lot. The other problem with The Four Feathers was the cast. Several of these actors delivered poor performances. I was surprised at the bad line delivery and kept thinking how this could be better with a few upgrades in the cast. It wasn't across the board, and even the weaker ones had moments that worked. There were even times when I thought "Maybe it's just the script making this dialogue seem so clunky." Despite all this, the emotional journey that the story took me on covers a multitude of sins. I recognize its flaws, but they didn't make the experience unbearable. If anything the imperfections just frustrated me because I feel like it could have been a favorite film with some tweaks. I never thought The Four Feathers was terrible and I would like to watch it again, or even check out the remake. I'll probably even recommend it to others. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Four Feathers

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Movie Info

Synopsis When English soldier Harry Faversham (John Clements) attempts to leave military service just before an expedition to the Sudan, he is presented with feathers, symbolic of his cowardice, by other officers, including his friend Captain John Durrance (Ralph Richardson). In an attempt to restore his honor, Faversham goes undercover as a mute native, and has a chance at redemption when he rescues the blinded Durrance from the heat of battle. Will his act of courage result in forgiveness?
Director
Zoltan Korda
Producer
Alexander Korda
Screenwriter
R.C. Sherriff
Production Co
London Film Production
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 23, 2017
Runtime
1h 55m
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