This novel's story was adapted in several films with all films retaining much of the storyline.[3]
In the 1929 silent version, a square of Highlanders is broken, but saved by Feversham and the Egyptian garrison of a besieged fort. Set in the 1880s, its great moment comes as wild hippos in a river attack the Dervishes pursuing Feversham.
The films each feature a British square broken in a dramatic battle sequence. This is mentioned in the novel in a battle in which the square recovered. The various film versions differ in historical context.
The 2002 version starring Heath Ledger is set during the 1884–85 campaign. The British infantry square was broken in the battle of Abu Klea, and the British are forced to retreat. Critics complained the film did not explore the characters, and had historical inaccuracies in uniform dress. The central battle is accurately portrayed in the film Khartoum (1966). The Muslims called Dervishes or The Mahdi are the same, as are the geographic settings of Britain, Egypt and the Sudan.
The various film versions are as follows:
| Year | Title | Country | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | Four Feathers | USA | J. Searle Dawley | Black-and-white, silent. |
| 1921 | The Four Feathers | UK | René Plaissetty | Roger Livesey appeared in a minor role. Black-and-white, silent. |
| 1929 | The Four Feathers | US | Merian C. CooperLothar MendesErnest B. Schoedsack | Richard Arlen, Fay Wray, Clive Brook. Black-and-white, silent. |
| 1939 | The Four Feathers | UK | Zoltan Korda | Starring Ralph Richardson, John Clements, C. Aubrey Smith, June Duprez. Considered the best of the film versions,[4][5][6] this was lavishly filmed in colour in many historical African locations. |
| 1955 | Storm Over the Nile | UK | Terence Young, Zoltan Korda | Starring Anthony Steel, James Robertson Justice, Ian Carmichael, Ronald Lewis, Michael Hordern. A low-budget remake in CinemaScope, using much of the location footage shot for the 1939 film and the same script – one of the few instances in which this was done (see Shot-for-shot for other examples). |
| 1978 | The Four Feathers | UK | Don Sharp | Starring Robert Powell, Simon Ward, Beau Bridges and Jane Seymour. Completely remade for a new generation (although several scenes were inserted from the 1939 version, e.g. the troops boarding the train in London, a panorama featuring dhows on the Nile, the British Army on parade). |
| 2002 | The Four Feathers | US | Shekhar Kapur | Starring Heath Ledger, Wes Bentley, and Kate Hudson. Made by an Indian director, this version takes a revisionist stance on the novel's themes of masculinity, empire, and the clash of modern Western civilization with an ancient Islamic culture. Unlike earlier versions, this bases its big battle scene on the 1885 Battle of Abu Klea (thirteen years before Omdurman). The script calls for the actors portraying British soldiers to wear anachronistic scarlet tunics. The film also depicts a British loss at Abu Klea instead of a victory. |
