The genesis of The Four Feathers goes back before the history of film to the ill-fated 19th century exploits of the British in the Sudan. After a long career in the military, Gen. Charles Gordon was made governor of the Sudan by the government of Egypt, and he worked to suppress a rebellion there. Although the British eventually decided the defense of the Sudan was not in the best national interest and urged the Egyptian government to abandon the region, Gordon remained and did his best to quell the disturbance. In 1885, the city of Khartoum fell to Arab forces and Gordon was killed. This is the historical prologue that begins the film.

Three years after the defeat at Khartoum, Anglo-Egyptian forces made a push to take the Sudan back from the successors of the Mahdi, the Arab leader who had captured it. British forces under Lord Kitchener were sent to the Sudan and at the Battle of Omdurman (the Arab command center) were successful in routing the rebel forces. This second campaign in Africa is the setting for the major events of The Four Feathers and the exploits of Harry Faversham.

British author A.E.W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason was born in London in 1865 and published his first of more than 20 books, the novel A Romance of Wastdale, in 1895. In 1902, he published a highly successful novel set during the British military exploits in North Africa several years earlier. Taking as its central plot point the traditional symbol of cowardice, the white feather, Mason spun the tale of a man who must prove himself to four people, each of whom has given him a feather. This novel, The Four Feathers, was first filmed in 1915. Two more versions followed; a 1921 production directed by Rene Plaissetty and starring Harry Ham and Cyril Percival and the highly successful 1929 remake with Richard Arlen, William Powell, and Fay Wray. Since the story was a tried-and-true property, it was picked up by producer Alexander Korda for its first sound version.

Hungarian-born Alexander Korda began in motion pictures in 1916, working first in his homeland, then Austria and Germany, and then in Hollywood, where he remained until 1930. After a brief sojourn in France, he settled in England, a country he came to love. In a short time, he became to the British film industry what such men as Sam Goldwyn and David O. Selznik were to America - a highly successful independent producer who turned out prestige productions. Korda founded his own company, London Films, and although he continued to direct pictures throughout his career (including the internationally successful The Private Life of Henry VIII, 1933, an Oscar®-winner for star Charles Laughton), he made his greatest mark as producer, sometimes employing his brothers Zoltan and Vincent as, respectively, director and production designer/art director.

Korda initially met with legal difficulties in acquiring the rights to the novel. In 1937, he announced that Robert Donat would play the lead. Shortly after, Paramount Pictures, producer of the 1929 version, announced they would not sell their rights to the property. It has not been documented how this dispute was settled.

To adapt the story to screen, Korda brought in R.C. Sherriff, best known up to that time for the screenplay for The Invisible Man (1933). Additional dialogue was provided by Lajos Biro, chief writer and story developer for Korda's London Films, and Arthur Wimperis, who had done much dialogue and scenario work on several previous Korda productions.

According to a news item in Variety in June 1938, writer Alec Waugh, who worked as assistant art director and set dresser on two previous Korda productions, went to the Sudan to do research prior to the production's location work there, but he is not credited with working on this film.

by Rob Nixon