Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Richard Chatten 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.

GManfred I liked this version better than the 1939 British version but it is still very hard to swallow. The novel is famous and so are the film versions, but I thought that "The Four Feathers" is the height of escapist entertainment. Not for a minute did I buy the premise of a dishonored soldier redeeming himself by such preposterous acts of heroism and gallantry. In any case, this one is more exciting and absorbing than the later version in that the battle scenes and location shots were staged better, and the actors were more suited to their roles. I especially mean casting Richard Arlen as Harry Faversham. He was better by far than John Clements, who even at the end of the film still seemed like a weakling, whereas Arlen never did. He seemed more conflicted than cowardly. This '29 version has affirmed my belief that remakes are inferior to originals - even if this was twice filmed previously.

bkoganbing 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.

fallingwater32 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.