Four Men and a Prayer (1938)
Overview
The sons of a disgraced British officer try to clear his name.
Cast
Loretta Young
Lynn Cherrington
Richard Greene
Geoffrey Leigh
George Sanders
Wyatt Leigh
David Niven
Christopher Leigh
C. Aubrey Smith
Loring Leigh
William Henry
Rodney Leigh
Berton Churchill
Martin Cherrington
Alan Hale
Furnoy
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CinemaSerf
"Col Leigh" (Sir C. Aubrey Smith) summons his four sons to their family home to inform them that he has been dishonourably discharged from the British Army. In disbelief, the family convenes and the old gent insists on his innocence and says he has the proof. They all go to change for dinner but before they can meet again, a gunshot shatters the peace of their stately home and the colonel is dead. The older brother, barrister "Wyatt" (George Sanders) quickly concludes this was murder and together with his brothers "Geoff" (Richard Greene), "Chris" (David Niven) and the enthusiastic young "Rodney" (William Henry) sets out on an adventure that takes them from Britain to India, Argentina and Egypt on the trail of some illicit gun-runners and would-be revolutionaries. "Geoff", meantime is keen on the feisty and determined "Lynn" (Loretta Young) who, having been stood up by him twice, decides to rather usefully embroil herself in the family mystery too. At times, this is quite a tautly directed story of machiavellian proportions, but for the most part it's a rather disappointingly meandering drama that can't quite decide what it's trying to be. John Ford has assembled a strong supporting cast - Reginald Denny and Alan Hale feature amongst them - but there is just far too much verbiage and not enough action before an ending that is remarkably rushed and really rather weak. It's my kind of film and I did quite enjoy it - I just don't know that I'll ever remember it.
