THE FOUR FEATHERS (1939) on DVD
by Andre Soares
Directed by Zoltan Korda, brother of legendary film producer Alexander Korda, The Four Feathers (1939) is considered by many to be one of the best examples of the Sun-Never-Sets (in the British Empire) film genre, alongside Michael Curtiz’s The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936) and George Stevens’s Gunga Din (1939).
The picture stars stage actor John Clements (1910-1988) as a British army officer accused of cowardice because he resigns from his post right before a battle against Egyptian rebels. The demoralized officer later attempts to regain his self-respect by disguising himself as an Arab so he can secretly help his former comrades.
The Four Feathers is not quite what one would call a politically correct — or a historically fair and accurate — motion picture, yet it stands as a classic of the "imperialist" genre. (It’s worth remembering, however, that the flag-waving The Four Feathers is a 1939 production, the year World War II began.)
Others in the cast are June Duprez, Ralph Richardson and that irrepressible British gentleman of countless movies of the 1930s, C. Aubrey Smith.
The Four Feathers Region 1 DVD (U.S. / Canada / U.S. territories) release date: April 15, 2005
- Picture: Full frame, 1.33:1
- Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
- Color
- Closed captioned
- 115 minutes
List price: US$14.95.
A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release.
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