The Four Feathers (United Artists) (1939)

i and he must off to war, or through some other type of brave and noble achievement uphold the unsullied family honor. His very soul may rebel, but this type of he prepared to lead his forces across the Hellespont, the uncer- WtHz ■rfU'H&uxirSdttteeSaui r._- a JJ_ 'rl_’ n„l.. _ rl* _£ iL. Jr / But Adds There’s Only a Flip of the H eart Between A W^hite Fe a ther an d the Con^ressiona 1 Med al • • • “W; HO’S a coward!” But who is brave? The passing years, which are throwing into further distance the traditional braveries of heroic men of the past, may be leading to a new kind of bravery. Certainly, the idea of smashing to smithereens no less than ten thousand suits of armor and re¬ maining hale enough to drink a toast of ale, as did the Mighty King Richard, or of holding at single rapier’s point a whole troop of the finest French fusi- leers, as did the musketeer D’Artagnan, is as remote today as the idea of a brace of high- button shoes doing the shag. Things were fairly simple then, but today they are not, and the increasing complexity of modern life is causing such continual wear and tear that one hardly knows where to look for bravery, or how to recognize it when it appears. Not long ago in the lounge of one of the more exclusive clubs in New York City, four men of In the case of Harry Faversham, about whom the Korda picture revolves, he had inherited the tenderness and sweetness of his beautiful mother, and this inheri¬ tance had been responsible for traits which were in violent op¬ position to those of his in¬ domitable, self-confident martinet father, who was the last of a long line v of fighting ancest ors. Psychologists agree that tenden¬ cies toward fear are frequently traceable to inhibitions which are fostered in early youth and are almost subconscious. On the contrary there have been recorded instances where men who have been “born to the purple” and reared in an at¬ mosphere of peace and effortless luxury, ease and idleness, have rebelled against both heredity and environment, and have sought rather than avoided hazardous adventures, despite the potential threat to life and liberty. Men who are dominated by a too active or vivid imagination middle age met by an appoint- he could never remember going ment that had taken six months into action with out the most m the making. Each of these devastating apprehension, and me " roame d t * le W01 'ld an( J the conviction that this was cer- sailed its seven seas in search of tain to be his last battle—one adventure, and each had found it wh j c h must inevitably result in —in separate spheres of activity, his death or critical injury. He to be sure, but in fields that were ad d e d most emphatically that in closely related. Friends of many eac b instance he had sworn that years’ standing, they had planned he was definitely through with this rendezvous by letter and fighting as soon as this particular cable, for their next meeting j 0 b W as ended might be years ahead. Similar fears were confessed One was a grizzled soldier of by the correspondent, especially fortune, a man who had over the whe n he was located on battle years fought for many causes in fronts> trying for cam era shots many lands, and although he and facing death at any moment, might rightly be termed a “mer- The exp i orer dreaded and antici- cenary — he had nevertheless pa t e d the ever-present possibility chosen this as his life work be- 0 f tropical diseases, or starvation cause of the thrills which it of- on the Po ] ar waste s, while the fered rather than for its mone- author recalled innumerable oc- tary rewards. casions where death seemed just The second man was a veteran around the corner and he was newspaper correspondent who shamelessly “scared.” had seen and reported many wars These sea soned adventurers all — had been with Roosevelt in agreed that they were cowards euba, Lawton in the Philippines in t h e generally but incorrectly with the Allies during the World accept ed definition of the word. War, and had just returned from Lj v ir>g in an an almost constant, Spain for a brief visit to his a tmosphere of danger they had na jL\ ve ... , „ experienced desperate fear — The third was an explorer of .. blue f un ks” as one of them renown who had suffered the icy termed it—yet each had known blasts of the Polar regions, and t h a t his activities must almost — braved disease and hardship dur- j nvariab ly lead him into perilous ing expeditions in Africa, South situations . B ut each had again and Central America. He had and aga j n sought new adven- plumbed the depths of two oceans tures , not only cheerfully but in submarines and made flights eagerly. In unanimous agree¬ ing the stratosphere, bailing out ment that the divid i ng i ine b e- twice when motors failed and tween cowardice and high cour- landing on strange terrain, un- age measured no more than a ln Jured. hairsbreadth, they contended that The fourth was an author of both the brave man and the international fame who frankly craven experienced fear, but A scene from “Four Feathers” showing the British “square”, a formation of soldiers broken only once in history. General U. S. Grant at the Battle of the Wilderness, where a man of bravery knew a new kind of fear. cowardice, and what, courage?” envisage death, disaster or pain Not always in agreement on just ai-ound every corner and minor details, they all concur in this tendency breeds in them an the fundamental premise (as ex- habitual timidity which impels emplified in “Four Feathers”) them to avoid any conflict or that the bravest men are those situation which threatens even who, obsessed with fear, face the the vaguest danger. In direct dangerous situation or terrifying opposition is the stolid or stoical problems with which they are individual, the type we are prone confronted and, mastering their to admire for his fortitude under innate cowardice, lash themselves stress, his seeming immunity to on to courageous achievements. pain or mental disquiet. Other primary emotions such Then there is the type of man as love, hatred, anger, contempt, who dares any terror, faces ary sorrow and joy can, like fear, be danger, conquers every fear sim- successfully controlled through ply because he has been educated right thinking and inflexible de- to believe that it “is the thing termination. Obviously the ab- to do.” This is the direct result sence of fear does not necessarily of a combination of heredity, connote courage. Many men have tradition and early training, re¬ shown great daring, not because suiting in the irrevocable doctrine of inherent bravery - but rather that the greatest crime one can because of the fact that they commit is to lose poise, and to be were utterly devoid of imagina- guilty of any overt act of cow- tion, or perhaps were spurred on ardice which might bring dis- by blind rage or hatred. Anger grace to one’s family. Family not infrequently dissipates what tradition has always been an im- is ordinarily an habitual or cus- portant factor in the development tomary caution and a normal of courage. calculation of the possibly dire Usually, when a long line of consequences of some rash act, ancestors have fought for their with the result that a man will King, their God or their Coun- appear to be recklessly courage- try, this high standard must be ous, while in reality fear has maintained. The son of this been overridden by a temporarily present generation may be a stronger emotion. Caspar Milquetoast — a timid, Cowardice is not infrequently peace-loving soul who asks no the result of environment, early more than, that he be permitted training or, on occasion, heredity to lead his quiet life, indulging in some hobby such as raising roses or rabbits. HH m But implacable ^tradition calls man not infrequently proves be a bi-ave and conscientious soldier, and eventually wins cov¬ eted decorations which take their hallowed place with those others which have been pinned on the breasts of his illustrious fore¬ bears. He may have been a cow¬ ard at heart but pride of race has made him courageous in action. Inferiority complexes play an important part in inspiring cow¬ ardice, just as, contrariwise, a superiority complex tends to en¬ courage what may well be a mis¬ conceived assumption of bravery, an over-valuation of strength or ability to dominate a given situa¬ tion or triumph over an adver¬ sary. Granting that cowardice or fear are but states of mind, one cannot help but wonder just what were the thoughts, the fears, the doubts which assailed some of the world’s most redoubtable warriors on the eves of decisive battles—or what were the mental reactions of great leaders when they were called upon to make momentous decisions upon which might rest the rise or fall of nations. Here, indeed, cowardice at a crucial moment could alter the map of the world and bring death and disaster to countless millions. Permissibly, we may speculate on the doubts and hesitations which might possibly have con¬ fronted Alexander the Great as The Changing Times Call for New Kinds of Courage admitted that his journeys in search of material for his excit¬ ing novels had represented the only really interesting phases of his life work; for him the thrill of creating a “best seller” paled into insignificance when con¬ trasted with the excitement of a trek into Tibet, or an extended voyage in the South Seas on a lumbering and none - too - safe tramp steamer During an interchange of ex¬ periences, characterized by that brevity which distinguishes most men of action, the subject of per¬ sonal and physical courage was mentioned, with the conversation naturally veering to the reverse side and centering on cowards and cowardice. Here were four men to whom danger had been an almost daily occurrence, and yet each, frankly and without the slightest trace of shame, ad¬ mitted that they had many times experienced stark, terrible fear, the basic emotion attributed to “cowards,” even though they had not outwardly evinced their ter¬ ror by word or action. where the former conquered his fright, the latter succumbed to it and thereby merited the “white feather” which has become the symbol of cowardice. There have been many novels written which have taken for their basic theme the cowardice of some man or men, but it is doubtful if there has ever been a more .powerfully human docu¬ ment than A. E. W. Mason’s “Four Feathers,” which Producer Alexander Korda has just trans¬ lated into a thrilling and absorb¬ ing motion picture bearing the same title, and which is being distributed by United Artists. "Four Feathers” places strong emphasis on the indisputably es-j tablished fact that many who have introspectively convinced themselves that they are cowards have eventually conquered their fear, and this conquest of self has eventuated into the highest type of courage. Ij Psychologists have devoted much time and study to the prob-j lem. “What actually constitutes John Clements, C. Aubrey Smith and June Duprez (above) consider the “Four Feathers” of cowardice. (Below) The steel worker of today must face awesome dangers without fear. is not inconceivable that even Richard the Lion Hearted may quailed in the solitude of his tent, haunted by his doubts the eve of each great battle. We can even visualize the in¬ trepid General Grant, disturbed and perhaps affrighted by the possibilities of failure, as he pre¬ pared for the battles of Shiloh and The Wilderness. The leaders of the World War faced grave responsibilities, and none could have escaped the har¬ rowing thoughts that errors of judgment, tactical mistakes or blunders in action would result in the sacrifice of thousands of lives, and strategical losses of in¬ calculable value. And it is well to consider that there is no fear quite so appalling as that which has to do with the lives of many others, rather than with just one’s own. On the battle fronts of this same war were millions of rank and file soldiers, recruited from many countries, and directed by officers, many of whom had been hastily trained and were almost wholly unversed in the deadly business of practical warfare. Among these men and officers both there must unquestionably have been a certain percentage of cowards — cowards both in thought and action. But the great majority, although perhaps quailing inwardly with the knowl¬ edge or belief that death would inevitably overtake them sooner or later, followed orders faith¬ fully, some with dogged courage, some spurred on by emotional frenzy, some under the hypnotic spell of patriotic fervors, while still others were motivated prin¬ cipally by a pride which trans¬ cended their fears. Relentless war demands and develops many brave men and women other than those who wage open battle in the front line trenches, in the air, on the high seas or in the ocean’s, depths in submarines. Of these none must be possessed of more stalwart courage, steadier nerves and an absolute fearlessness in the face of desperate danger than the unsung and unhonored heroes who, in disguise, invade the enemy lines and penetrate to the very heart of the country with whom their nation may be at war. It is far easier to face the charge of a battery of machine guns, standing shoulder to shoul¬ der with battling buddies, than to be serving your country as a spy, alone in enemy territory, relying solely upon yourself and deprived of the inspiration and esprit de corps which comes from the reassuring presence of fel¬ low-fighters. Detection for the spy means death or, even worse, torture; success usually offers but meagre rewards. In the Alexander Korda pic- turization of Mason’s “Four Feathers,” which will be seen in full Technicolor, the regeneration of the leading character (Harry Faversham) in the eyes of his three closest friends and in the heart of the woman he loves is achieved through a series of daring exploits in the Sudan. Each of these friends has sent him a white feather as a silent but contemptuous reminder that they consider him a coward, and to these three feathers is added a fourth which he plucks from the fan of his fiancee. Believing himself to be the craven that circumstances seem to indicate, he sets out deter¬ minedly to conquer his cowardice, disguising himself as a native, and makes his way up the Nile into hostile territory. How Faversham, in the face of great¬ est danger, achieves his purpose makes for one of the most excit¬ ing and enthralling pictures ever to be brought to the screen. The production has been staged with careful precision as to accuracy in locale and general detail, many sequences having been filmed in the Sudan. The inspired blending of tense drama, romance and thrilling action makes “Four Feathers” a fine contribution to screen entertainment. The sensational subject of courage and cowardice is absorbingly treated with exciting text, eye-commanding art and layout in this full-page newspaper feature mat. It's an easy plant in your local newspaper and a swell break for your showing of "Four Feathers." Don't fail to offer it to your editor! Order the complete 8-column mat direct from Exploitation Dept., United Artists Corp., 729—7th Ave., New York City. Price, $1.50.