The Four Feathers
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Synopsis
This Technicolor spectacular, directed by Zoltán Korda, is considered the finest of the many adaptations of A. E. W. Mason’s classic 1902 adventure novel about the British empire’s exploits in Africa, and a crowning achievement of Alexander Korda’s legendary production company, London Films. Set at the end of the nineteenth century, The Four Feathers follows the travails of a young officer (John Clements) accused of cowardice after he resigns his post on the eve of a major deployment to Khartoum; he must then fight to redeem himself in the eyes of his fellow officers (including Ralph Richardson) and fiancée (June Duprez). Featuring music by Miklós Rózsa and Oscar-nominated cinematography by Georges Périnal and Osmond Borradaile, The Four Feathers is a thrilling, thunderous epic.
Picture 7/10
Zoltan Korda’s The Four Feathers gets a Blu-ray release from The Criterion Collection, who present the film in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on a dual-layer disc in a new 1080p/24hz high-definition transfer.
Problems do remain in the source, but I can’t say this was a surprise considering the film’s age. Scratches remain and do rain through fairly regularly, and film grain is a bit heavy but shouldn’t hamper one’s viewing. Colour separation is noticeable throughout, and there are red or green edges around most objects. Midway through I also noticed some red marks in one area and what look like reddish tram lines running through. Though it’s not in the best shape I was actually expecting worse.
What is stunning about the image, though, is that the digital transfer itself comes off just about perfect. I think what most impressed me was how it handles film grain: as mentioned it gets heavy in the film and had the potential to create a noisy mess but it’s handled perfectly and looks completely natural throughout. The image is also incredibly sharp with a stunning amount of clarity, and the film’s colours look wonderful but still retain that Technicolor look. Halos pop up in a few places but past this I didn’t notice any other issues with the actual transfer.
Ultimately it still shows its age but the digital transfer is a bit of a stunner.
Audio 6/10
For a 72 year old film the audio is surprisingly good if still unspectacular. Dialogue is clear and the track doesn’t present any background noise or damage. Music unfortunately doesn’t come off the same way and the score sounds a bit edgy and a little distorted. Cleaned up a bit but the audio also shows its age in a few places.
Extras 6/10
We only get a few supplements starting with an audio commentary by film historian Charles Drazin. The scholarly track follows the motions one would expect, covering the production, talking about the actors, examines some of the editing, and gets into detail about its location shooting. But Drazin keeps it unexpectedly engaging, especially when he gets into the politics of the time and Zoltan’s conflict in making fairly conservative films for his brothers that pushed the British ideals of the time, which he didn’t agree with. Drazin also offers some historical context for the film’s time period, talks about the many adaptations and the source novel. There’s some dead space and Drazin sometimes just states what’s going on on screen but it was an engaging and worthwhile commentary that those who enjoy the film may want to give a go.
Following this is a 23-minute interview with Zoltan’s son David Korda. Here Korda talks about his family, specifically his dad and uncles, and then moves on, simply focusing on his father and his work. It’s a very personal piece (especially when he gets into Zoltan’s hatred towards all of the wives Alexander had over the years) but very engaging, while offering some intriguing production information at the same time, specifically the issues that arose with the film equipment in the hot Sudan sun. Great addition.
Finally there is a promotional film from 1939 called A Day at Denham, which runs 10-minutes. The film basically gives a tour of the London Films studio in Denham, moving from wardrobe, to the sets, the accountants, and even the studio’s own power station. There’s some behind-the-scenes footage from the set of The Four Feathers, which was being filmed at the time this was shot. Intriguing little short offering a glimpse into the inner workings of the Kordas’ studio.
The disc then closes with a 3-minute theatrical trailer.
The release also comes with an insert which contains a fairly lengthy essay by Michael Sragow who writes about the film and the Kordas’ careers, making for a decent read.
And unfortunately that’s it. I figured Criterion might include another film version of the story but alas that’s not the case. Just a few simple supplements that are at least worthwhile.
Closing
The print shows its age but Criterion still delivers us a strong and highly stable transfer. The supplements are good and interesting, but still feel a little slight.
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