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The Four Feathers

Play trailer Poster for The Four Feathers 1939,  1h 55m,  Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 90% 10 Reviews Tomatometer 85% 2,500+ Ratings Popcornmeter
90% Tomatometer 10 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?

Critics Reviews

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Otis Ferguson The New Republic May 7, 2024
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. Go to Full Review
Cinelandia Staff Cinelandia Sep 1, 2022
Four Feathers is a success, difficult to overcome. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
MFB Critics Monthly Film Bulletin Jan 22, 2018
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. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Nov 3, 2011
B
The rousing yarn is a classic British imperialist adventure story. Go to Full Review
Rob Vaux Flipside Movie Emporium Dec 9, 2005
4/5
Exceptionally well-made swashbuckling, though its ethos is appalingly outdated. Go to Full Review
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Jun 19, 2005
4/5
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Audience Reviews

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Leia L Feb 9, 2019 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. See more
Han W Apr 19, 2018 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. See more
Finn M Mar 10, 2017 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. See more
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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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