{"id":49091,"date":"2020-06-20T12:14:13","date_gmt":"2020-06-20T19:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=49091"},"modified":"2020-11-27T12:15:45","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T19:15:45","slug":"four-men-and-a-prayer-1938","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=49091","title":{"rendered":"Four Men and a Prayer (1938)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;If dad&#8217;s evidence was so important that they had to murder him, we&#8217;ll be running the same risk.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Poster-210x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"210\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-49093\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Poster-210x300.jpg 210w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Poster-90x128.jpg 90w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Poster.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA disgraced British colonel (C. Aubrey Smith) falsely accused of issuing an order responsible for 90 deaths in India shares what he knows with his four sons &#8212; Geoffrey (Richard Greene), Wyatt (George Sanders), Christopher (David Niven), and Rodney (William Henry) &#8212; and is then promptly murdered. The brothers, secretly accompanied by Greene&#8217;s love-interest (Loretta Young), set off across the globe to investigate, and soon discover their father was a pawn in illegal arms dealings.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alan Hale Films<\/li>\n<li>Amateur Sleuths<\/li>\n<li>Barry Fitzgerald Films<\/li>\n<li>David Niven Films<\/li>\n<li>Falsely Accused<\/li>\n<li>George Sanders Films<\/li>\n<li>John Carradine Films<\/li>\n<li>John Ford Films<\/li>\n<li>Loretta Young Films<\/li>\n<li>Military<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>Siblings<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nJohn Ford was contracted to direct this highly uneven adventure sleuth flick toggling between scenes of romantic comedy (which handsome brother will Young end up with?) and the murderous slaughter of innocent civilians in South America. To its credit, the film is atmospherically shot by Ford and DP Ernest Palmer, and the script goes in continuously unexpected directions &#8212; but the tonal shifts (especially given the gravity of the subject matter) are simply too jolting to stomach. Young&#8217;s performance is a stand-out: she, along with her innovative costumes and hats, emerges as the true heroine of the film. Also of minor note is Sanders <u>not<\/u> playing a cad for once, and the truly weird inclusion of Niven speaking like a duck with an Asian servant (?!). <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.tcm.com\/this-month\/article\/182375%7C0\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer.html\">Ford apparently claimed of this film<\/a>, &#8220;I didn&#8217;t want to do that picture, and I raised hell, but I had it under contract. I made it but I didn&#8217;t see it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Loretta Young as Lynn Cherrington<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Young.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Young-1024x651.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"407\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49094\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Young-1024x651.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Young-300x191.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Young-128x81.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Young-768x488.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Young-1536x976.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Young.png 1641w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ernest Palmer&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography2-1024x617.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"386\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49095\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography2-1024x617.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography2-300x181.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography2-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography2-768x463.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography2-1536x926.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography2.png 1667w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography4.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography4-1024x635.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"397\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-49096\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography4-1024x635.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography4-300x186.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography4-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography4-768x476.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography4-1536x952.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Four-Men-and-a-Prayer-Cinematography4.png 1647w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s worth a one time look. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0030150\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/75527\/four-men-and-a-prayer#articles-reviews?articleId=182375\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;If dad&#8217;s evidence was so important that they had to murder him, we&#8217;ll be running the same risk.&#8221; Synopsis: A disgraced British colonel (C. Aubrey Smith) falsely accused of issuing an order responsible for 90 deaths in India shares what he knows with his four sons &#8212; Geoffrey (Richard Greene), Wyatt (George Sanders), Christopher (David Niven), and Rodney (William Henry) &#8212; and is then promptly murdered. The brothers, secretly accompanied by Greene&#8217;s love-interest (Loretta Young), set off across the globe&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=49091\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49091"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55306,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49091\/revisions\/55306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}