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Tuesday, September 1, 2020

FOUR MEN AND A PRAYER (1938)

Uncharacteristic John Ford film gets off to good start with a double prologue that promises a neat variation on THE FOUR FEATHERS, the oft-filmed tale of a ‘cowards’ revenge in British India.  Here, the disgraced soldier is Dad (court-marshalled Colonel C. Aubrey Smith*) and avenging angels his four gallant sons (debuting Richard Greene; George Sanders; David Niven in a breakthru perf; William Henry).  Dropping everything to come home upon hearing that Dad has been dishonorably discharged, they’re greeted by the Colonel and all the exculpatory documents needed to prove his innocence.  But only briefly as Dad suicides . . . or is it murder?  And with all the evidence stolen, it’s up to the boys to find the missing papers and clear Dad’s name (their name, too!), globe-hopping to get to the bottom of things.  So far, so good.  Unfortunately, this is also where the film proper begins with the tone abruptly switching from tall tale & derring-do to comic roughhouse & romantic folderol as Greene’s girlfriend, Washingtonian adventuress Loretta Young, joins the hunt. And while George Stevens pulled off just this sort of Screwball Adventure in GUNGA DIN/’39, he had the solid base of a Hecht/MacArthur story to work with.  Here, the tone wobbles with Young toggling between larky courtship and deadly serious South American Revolution massacres.  With a big, shiny supporting cast even in small roles and strong production values, you have to wonder what producer Darryl F. Zanuck thought he had here.  For Ford, a ‘job of work.’  For Niven, a chance to be dapper, brave, flirtatious, and show off his Donald Duck quacking.  And for hunky Richard Greene, a showcase for his smooth chest.

DOUBLE-BILL: *Next year, C. Aubrey Smith would star as the doubting Granddad in the best of all possible FOUR FEATHERS/’39.  OR: A late Ford silent, similar in name only, FOUR SONS/’28, a brotherly WWI saga that aims for tears.  (see below)

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