This one makes one long for the days when the sun never set on the British Empire! It is ironic that the "coward" who leaves his regiment must prove himself the most courageous person of all. We watch the film aware that the unquestioning obedience to authority that is likely to find us dead on a foreign battlefield is the norm here. Conscientious objection only gets you a white feather -- emblem of a chicken! How Vietnam changed our perceptions! What I noticed particularly about this one was the powerfully depicted battle of Omdurman. The film demonstrates the defensive efficacy of massed rifle fire, a lesson that our Civil War also imparted, but one not grasped by the generals who send boys to war until the machine guns of the Western Front in WW I mowed down thousands of British troops with a few sweeps of the field. The scope of the battle scenes in "Four Feathers" rivals the battle scenes in Keyton's "The General," Eisenstein's "Alexander Nevsky," and John Huston's "Red Badge of Courage." They capture everything but the smell.
Review of The Four Feathers
