The enduring appeal of The Four Feathers and the type of adventure story it represents is evident in the number of times it was filmed prior to this (1915, 1921, 1929) and in the remakes that were made since: Storm Over the Nile (1955), co-directed by Zoltan Korda, who also produced with brother Alexander (uncredited); a 1977 TV version with Beau Bridges as Harry and Jane Seymour as Ethne; and the most recent version, in 2002, starring Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson.

The same year as this version was released saw similar movies with imperial adventure themes: Gunga Din (1939), starring Cary Grant, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and Victor McLaglen as British soldiers in India with Joan Fontaine as Fairbanks's fiancée; and Beau Geste (1939), with Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston and Susan Hayward. The latter movie had an earlier silent version (1926, with Ronald Colman) and two later ones (1966 and a British TV miniseries in 1982). It was also spoofed in The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977). Gunga Din was recently remade as an animated feature.

In an interview, Marty Feldman said it was really The Four Feathers he was thinking of when he made his parody The Last Remake of Beau Geste.

Other films have depended heavily on stories of the British army fighting the heathen hordes at the farthest fringes of the empire, a plot device that has apparently long outlived the importance of the United Kingdom as a world power, e.g., The Charge of the Light Brigade (1898, 1912, 1936, 1968) and Zulu (1964).

The British imperial adventure, of which The Four Feathers is considered a prime example, has been spoofed a number of times, most notably in the "Flashman" novels of George MacDonald Fraser, one of which was made by director Richard Lester into the satirical film Royal Flash (1975), starring Malcolm McDowell and Alan Bates.

The true historical backstory of The Four Feathers Ð the struggle between British Sudanese governor Gen. Charles Gordon and the Muslim leader known as the Mahdi Ð was the basis for Khartoum (1966), with Charlton Heston as Gordon and Laurence Olivier as the Mahdi.

Location footage from this film was recycled for use in a number of movies, including Zoltan Korda's remake of the story, Storm Over the Nile, Zarak (1956), Master of the World (1961), and East of Sudan (1964).

Many of A.E.W. Mason's novels, several with historical settings, were adapted to film. He lived until 1948, long enough to see most of the movies based on his work, including the Korda-produced Fire Over England (1937) and The Drum (1938). His mystery novel At the Villa Rose was filmed nearly as often as The Four Feathers: in 1920, twice in 1930 (in English and French versions), and again in 1940.

by Rob Nixon