The Four Feathers (1929)

Just perfect...

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This characteristically elaborate production from the people who later gave us 'King Kong' plainly took so long to make it was overtaken by the introduction of sound and wound up as Paramount's last silent feature, thus necessitating a Movietone soundtrack. No matter, it still gives Alexander Korda's definitive 1939 Technicolor super-production a run for its money as rip-roaring macho entertainment.There are a number of plot differences between this version and its successors which I'll put down to it probably being closer to A.E.W.Mason's 1902 novel, but it still gets most of the best-remembered moments into a trim 81 minutes. Cameraman Robert Kurrle keeps it looking good throughout, while the spectacular location work (including extraordinary footage of monkeys and hippopotami plunging into a river) is all one would expect of the team who gave us 'Grass' and 'Chang', with rousing battle scenes against a spectacular desert backdrop that easily bear comparison with Korda's version.George Fawcett is a forbidding Col. Feversham (sic), Fay Wray makes an appealing heroine, but like Clive Brook and Noah Beery Sr. (playing a slave trader) doesn't get much screen time, while William Powell as in most of his silent roles looks rather incongruous without a martini glass in his hand. Most of the weight of the film falls up on the broad shoulders of brilliantined Richard Arlen, who isn't terribly convincing as the scion of a long line of old military duffers, but is certainly adept at the derring do.

"The Four Feathers" is the oft filmed story of bravery and cowardice set in the 1860s in England and the Sudan in Africa. This version is significant as Paramount's last silent movie although it does have a synchronized music score together with sound effects.Four aspiring young officers, Harry Faversham (Richard Arlen), William Trench (William Powell), Jack Durrance (Clive Brook) and Castleton (Theodore Van Eltz) dream of glory on the battlefield for Queen and country. Faversham has doubts about whether or not he can live up to the family history of great soldiers. He is also about to marry Ethne Eustace (Fay Wray), the daughter of a Colonel.One evening, a message is delivered to Harry warning of an upcoming war. He tries to hide the message from the others but Trench accidentally finds it. Meanwhile fearing the upcoming war, Harry resigns his commission. The three friends brand Harry as a coward and each present him with a white feather signifying cowardice. Ethne, coming from a military background, also brands him a coward and presents him with a feather of her own.....hence the four feathers of the title.The last straw for Harry is when he visits his dying father General Faversham (George Fawcett) who has learned of Harry's actions. The old man dies believing his son to be a coward. Harry angered, vows to return each of the four feathers to their presenter.In disgrace, Harry flees to the Sudan where the aforementioned war is being waged. He wanders aimlessly about until he hears of a battle where Trench has been captured. Harry with the help of a young boy, Ali (Harold Hightower) and his monkey, sneaks into the prison where Trench is being held but is captured in the attempt.Later, the prisoners are brought to a slave market where the slave trader (Noah Beery) negotiates for the two white men (Harry and Trench). Harry with the help of Ali manages to free himself. The slave trader catches them and slays the young boy before being over powered by Harry. Harry and Trench escape and Harry returns Trench's feather to him.Harry learns of Durrance's valiant attempt to defend his isolated fort against hordes of attackers while wounded. He then slips through enemy lines in an effort to reach the fort and.............................Long time Paramount star Richard Arlen makes a dashing hero although it is a mystery to me as to how he manages to sneak into the prison and the fort respectively. A lot of people don't realize that William Powell had a productive career in silent before his Thin Man days. He turns in an excellent performance here as the second lead. Fay Wray has little to do as the love interest. Noah Beery, nasty as ever, gets the hisses for his slaying of the young boy.Is it me or does this film invoke memories of "Beau Geste" (1926)? Both have a prologue featuring the main characters as children, both feature the hero fleeing in disgrace, both have an isolated fort and both have large numbers of enemies attacking said forts from a desert. Just asking.

The popular A.E.W. Mason novel, the British version of The Red Badge Of Courage, got its third screen version from Paramount in 1929. Technology was winning a race with Paramount that year. Had The Four Feathers been done a bit later it would have included sound and we would have heard such folks in the cast as Richard Arlen, William Powell, Clive Brook, and Fay Wray make their talkie debuts. Sound Effects were added on however post production.Richard Arlen is our protagonist Harry Fevasham in this version. He's been brought up in a military family and it and England expects every Fevasham to do his duty. But Harry even as a juvenile questions whether he has the right stuff. When his regiment is called to the Sudan he resigns his commission. Four of his fellow officers send him the anonymous white feather and brand him a coward. His fiancé turns from him, his family disowns him.What to do but go to the Sudan and in your own way fight for the British Empire. Fevasham's adventures, incognito at first, make up the rest of the novel and this film.This version can hardly be compared to the one that Alexander Korda made for the British cinema in 1939. It has the one unforgettable advantage of being filmed in the Sudan at the actual battle sites at Khartoum and Omdurman. This one has some nice location shooting in California's Imperial Valley and earnest performances from the cast.Good thing this one was preserved. See how it stacks up against the many others filmed.

I am a HUGE Richard Arlen fan, so of course, did I ever love this one!!!! The filming is rather modern for that era and the emotion and action seem to be equally portrayed and well done by all. There doesn't seem to be the same kind of poetry and grand cinema "feel" in later movies, I am glad it was produced in this decade of film-making. I love Fay Wray, she is well-paired with Arlen. This story is one of personal discovery and courage despite great adversity and seemingly impossible odds. Richard Arlen comes to sound without one iota of hesitation* and does one of tha most memorable characters in his long career. Friendship, betrayal, redemption: Great stuff to put on the screen--fantastic story. *(This is one of the first pictures made after sound was available.) Exceptional Group of Classic Film Stars!! Hope I can find a copy for my Richard Arlen video collection.