A British Army officer resigns, burning his last-day summons to war in the Sudan. Accusing him of cowardice, his girlfriend and three friends give him white feathers. To gain redemption, he ... Read allA British Army officer resigns, burning his last-day summons to war in the Sudan. Accusing him of cowardice, his girlfriend and three friends give him white feathers. To gain redemption, he shadows his friends to save their lives.A British Army officer resigns, burning his last-day summons to war in the Sudan. Accusing him of cowardice, his girlfriend and three friends give him white feathers. To gain redemption, he shadows his friends to save their lives.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
- Man
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaStorm Over the Nile (1955) re-used a lot of the battle sequences from this movie, which did not lend themselves very well to the cropping necessary to achieve the width of the CinemaScope ratio, nor did their comparative fuzziness blend well with the new footage.
- GoofsWhen Capt. Durrance feels the face and head of the dead soldier outside his tent, the corpse moves his head, lifting and turning it.
- Quotes
Harry Faversham: In England, the white feather is the mark of a coward.
Dr. Harraz: Ah, I see. Then why worry? Be a coward and be happy.
Harry Faversham: No, Doctor. I have been a coward, and I wasn't happy.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits prologue: In 1885 the rebellious army of cruel dervishes enslaved and killed many thousands of defenceless natives in the Sudan, then laid siege to Khartoum. The scanty garrison's heroic commander, General Gordon appealed for help from England - but no help reached him.
- ConnectionsEdited into Storm Over the Nile (1955)
- SoundtracksAuld Lang Syne
(1788) (uncredited)
Lyrics by Robert Burns, music traditional
Heard during the departure of the Regiment
June Duprez is the scornful woman, pretty as a picture in the only feminine role. Uncharismatic British actor John Clements is only adequate as the man who receives the "four feathers" and must redeem himself--but Ralph Richardson has the most memorable scenes as the sun-struck soldier who loses his helmet under the blazing sun and is blinded. Many gripping scenes as the hero undertakes a long journey to the Sudan.
Handsome Alexander Korda production rightfully deserves its ranking as a screen classic of 1939, but I have to say it's not without its faults as far as the structure of the story goes.
First of all, too much time is spent on hundreds of extras in battle scenes that become repetitious after awhile and interrupt the flow of the story and what is happening with our hero. Furthermore, the actor chosen for the "stiff upper lip" role of Haversham is John Clements, and much of his performance is too stiff to come alive. A more appealing and charismatic actor from that era would have sufficed and made the story stronger. Thirdly, there's a hint of incredibility in the tale of a man who would go to such extremes to regain his honor and go on a mission in which he would be reunited with the very men who scorned him. A bit much in the realm of credibility, but it does make a good story.
Summing up: Good adventure tale in which C. Aubrey Smith has one of his most memorable character roles as a stuffy "Colonel Blimp" type of career soldier recounting his favorite war tales.
- Doylenf
- May 12, 2001
Details
- Runtime2 hours 9 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1