Rent The Four Feathers Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental

Rent The Four Feathers (1939)

3.7 of 5 from 77 ratings
1h 50min
  • General info
  • Available formats
Synopsis:
Harry Faversham (John Clements), born into a distinguished military family, automatically joins the army with three close childhood friends - Durrance (Ralph Richardson), Willoughby (Jack Allen) and Burroughs (C. Aubrey Smith). Quickly feeling that he is unsuited to the army life, and newly engaged to Ethne (June Duprez), he resigns his commission, only to be accused of cowardice by his friends. Each sends him the traditional white feather in contempt; the fourth is plucked from Ethne's fan. Realising the disgrace he has brought to himself and his family, Harry sets out alone to the distant war to redeem himself...
Actors:
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Christopher Cozier,
Directors:
Producers:
Alexander Korda
Writers:
A.E.W. Mason, RC Sherriff, Lajos Biró, Arthur Wimperis
Studio:
ITV
Genres:
Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama, Romance
Collections:
10 Films to Watch if You Like: King Kong, A History of Cricket Films, Films to Watch If You Like..., Getting to Know..., Introducing a British Film Family, People of the Pictures, Remembering Leslie Phillips, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Cannes Palme d'Or Winners, Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1939, Top Films
BBFC:
Release Date:
17/03/2003
Run Time:
110 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • Cast biographies
  • Interactive menu
  • Scene access
BBFC:
Release Date:
01/09/2014
Run Time:
115 minutes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 1.0, English LPCM Mono
Subtitles:
English
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
Colour:
Technicolor
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
  • A Day at Denham Newsreel Film
  • Archive 1975 Interview with Ralph Richardson
  • Image Gallery

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Reviews (1) of The Four Feathers

Colourful adventure. - The Four Feathers review by Steve

Spoiler Alert
02/02/2024

This spectacular historical epic from AEW Mason's popular Victorian novel arguably trumps golden age Hollywood on its own terms. This is among the great action adventures of the thirties. The attitudes to the empire and class are dated, and probably misguided, but purely as an example of cinematic storytelling, it is a masterpiece.

John Clements plays a young officer from an aristocratic family with a tradition in the British military. He brings shame upon the ancestral name when he resigns his commission just as his unit leaves to join Kitchener's army in Sudan. Three of his comrades send him the white feather of cowardice. The deepest cut is when his beloved fiancée (June Duprez) does the same.

 So the maligned civilian travels to Africa to heroically save his friends in the war against the Dervishes. Much of this now provokes memories of Ripping Yarns, and is unintentionally comical, especially when Ralph Richardson, suddenly entirely blind in the desert from sunstroke, still leads the charge against the anti-British uprising.

Yet, it will take a hard heart not to be roused by all this ill-advised bravery and sacrifice. The action was actually shot in Sudan in splendid Technicolor. There's a huge, elaborate production with a fine score. Clements and Duprez lack personality, but the cast is spirited. This premiered the day after Britain declared war on Germany. Its impact must have been immense.

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