Ralph Richardson saw the "fuzzy wuzzies" and instead of legging it back to camp to warn his men, decided to climb a high rock to get a better look, but why? Then he suffered from sun-stroke. But it developed far too quickly looking false. If he was on that rock for a long period, we were given no sense of that. Pity really because that is the only flaw in a very fine flim, just too contrived.
share[deleted]
[deleted]
If all you guys think this version is contrived, what do you think of the immense drivel of the 2002 version?
share[deleted]
But wouldn't the rocks (especially the large flat rock face he climbed on) be significantly hotter than the desert floor?
Seems to me that could've contributed to the sudden sickness.
Last Movie I Watched:
The Four Feathers (1939) - 10/10 - See it!
I just saw these postings and think that you've all 'missed' the reason that Richardson's character became blind. Overcome by sunstroke (no doubt due to his helmet having fallen off) he fell face up, his eyes still open in his unconscious state. The sun destroyed his retinas....nothing to do with the climate, just the sun's rays. Think of how we are all warned not to look directly at the sun in the midst of a solar eclipse.
shareYes good point.
shareEinsteinfile is right, I was told by a medical student that that was a realistic result of falling face up unconscious, one's eyes can be open while unconscious.
Whether he could have been overcome by the heat so quickly, that is another matter, but I suppose given the uniforms they wore and that it could have been the hot/dry season, that too is reasonable.
I've watched this version of "The Four Feathers" many times when it's been on TV, and also other versions of A E W Mason's story. I was never convinced by Richardson's very fast collapse, apparently within minutes of losing his helmet. He seemed to start suffering within a minute or two. It would have been more convincing for him to have stumbled and fallen off the rocks, losing his helmet in the process and knocking himself out. I can accept that his open eyes would be damaged by the sun.
The other slightly implausible incident was the hostages being able to undo their shackles with a file that wasn't much bigger than one I've got for finger-nails. Then the two British officers pass it on to the other prisoners; I'm not sure how many were shackled, but it must have been a pretty tough file!
Still, the 1939 version is the best I've seen of this film, and even in 2007 it makes good viewing.
I watched the 1939 version last night and I was amazed that the producers/director would 'allow' so many prisoners to be shorn of their shackles with one little file.
shareHaving watched TFF last night, it seems that Richardson is already feeling done in by the heat even before he starts climbing the rocks. Also, he has no water canteen. One shouldn't muck about in the Sudanese desert without water. And I'm not sure how much time is supposed to pass. There are no dissolves, but maybe the insert of the sun is a Kordaesque way of signifying time passage.
shareI totally agree with all your points, Marlburian.
shareGood explanation. The doctor near the end basically says this. In the 2002 remake, I recall the character was blinded because his face was right next to a gun when it went off, and the muzzle flash/gunpowder burned his eyes. That is easier to follow which is probably why they made the change.
shareJust watched TFF on DVD with the commentary. There was a scene shot that was supposed to precede Durrance's sunstroke. Several soldiers in camp are playing cricket(!) without wearing their helmets and a sergeant upbraids them for going bareheaded. But the scene was cut after a preview.
"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is more than she ever did."
Since this thread is still alive after all these years, I just thought that I would wade in and ask if anyone else was curious as to why he wasn't severely sunburned in addition to the blindness and heat stroke (or, well, sunburned at all) after passing out face up in the desert, with his obviously unaccustomed British complexion?
share
Wow, I found completely the opposite. To me, this was the most effective sun stroke I've seen in a movie.
I've had one myself and it does take hold of you that quickly. Climbing the rocks uses up a surprising amount of energy compared with "just" marching through the desert. There is little preparation for a sunstroke. Minimal warning signs and then you start losing it.
You immediately know you are in trouble and start looking for somewhere you can safely rest.
This was acted very well. It isn't necessarily a panic but as it takes hold, you have diminished motor skills and you are simply trying to help yourself out of this before your legs go away and before you black out.
I found the attempt to regain his hat to be a nice touch. While you are suffering from this, your goals in life become stripped away to the very basics. He was unlucky to wind up on that rock facing up. I was saying he was dead at that point.
.
Having been there, I can attest to just how hot it is at midday, temps of 50-55c are not unheard of.
share