Alexander Korda was married to actress Merle Oberon (whose career he helped establish) from 1939 to 1945.

Ever patriotic where his adopted country was concerned, Alexander Korda refused to produce The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) because it reflected badly on British soldiers and made some of them appear willing to aid the Japanese enemy.

Although his leftist philosophies were often curbed by his domineering producer brother Alexander, Zoltan Korda did provide something of a corrective to the racism inherent in some of the British imperial films by producing and directing the sensitive anti-apartheid drama Cry, the Beloved Country (1951), featuring a young Sidney Poitier.

Vincent Korda's distinguished career as art director-production designer included a diverse variety of films beyond those he did with his brothers: Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942), Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949), produced by Alexander Korda and David O. Selznik, David Lean's Summertime (1955), and the war film The Longest Day (1962). He won an Academy Award for The Thief of Bagdad (1940), the first of four art direction nominations.

Vincent Korda is the father of author Michael Korda, whose many books and articles include Queenie, a fictionalized bio of his aunt Merle Oberon. It was made into a TV movie in 1987, with Kirk Douglas as a character based in part on Alexander Korda. Michael Korda also wrote Charmed Lives, a nonfiction history of his illustrious family.

Georges Perinal won an Academy Award for his color cinematography on Korda's The Thief of Bagdad. In addition to his many films for Korda, he is also known for his cinematography on Jean Cocteau's The Blood of a Poet (1930), Rene Clair's A nous la liberte (1931), and Charles Chaplin's A King in New York (1957).

One of the second-unit camera operators on the film was Jack Cardiff, who later achieved renown for his stunning cinematography on Black Narcissus (1947, an Oscar® winner), The Red Shoes (1948), and The African Queen (1951) and as director of Sons and Lovers (1960) and Death on the Nile (1978).

Miklos Rozsa had his first international successes working on the films of fellow-Hungarian Korda. He went on to become one of the top composers in Hollywood, receiving 17 Academy Award nominations for scoring and songwriting (often multiple times in the same year) and winning three times: Spellbound (1945), A Double Life (1947), and Ben-Hur (1959).

Although never a major screen presence despite his performance in The Four Feathers, John Clements was one of the most distinguished and prolific actor-managers of the British stage. He was knighted in 1968.

Ralph Richardson's acting career spanned more than 50 years, encompassing acclaimed stage performances in everything from Shakespeare to Pinter, a number of TV appearances, and nearly 80 films. In addition to his highly acclaimed work in Great Britain (for which he was knighted in 1947), he made a mark in such American films as The Heiress (1949, earning a Supporting Actor Oscar® nomination) and Long Day's Journey into Night (1962). He also played God in Time Bandits (1981). A collector of motorcycles and three-time Tony Award nominee, Richardson once said that the art of acting lay in keeping people from coughing.

C. Aubrey Smith was one of Hollywood's most enduring character actors and supporting players, the very essence of the long-faced, distinguished stereotypical Englishman. Already over 50 when he began his film career in 1915, his amazing longevity and ability to convey his specific type of stock character in a wide range of stories carried him through more than 100 pictures up to his last, at the age of 85, Little Women (1949). When he wasn't busy standing up for the Empire in such films as Clive of India (1935) and The Four Feathers, he could be seen supporting the likes of Katharine Hepburn (Morning Glory, 1933), Jean Harlow (Bombshell, 1933, and China Seas, 1935) and Irene Dunne (The White Cliffs of Dover, 1944).

June Duprez, as the lovely Ethne, later starred as the Princess in Korda's The Thief of Bagdad.

Future Prime Minister Winston Churchill was present as a reporter at the battle of Omdurman, the climactic battle in this movie.

Famous Quotes from THE FOUR FEATHERS

GENERAL FAVERSHAM (Allan Jeayes): I don't mind telling you, Doctor, I'm worried about him. I can't understand the boy. I send him to the best Army school in England, spend half me time telling him about his famous ancestors, and what do you think? I found him this morning reading a poetry book. Shelley of all people! So I want you to help me lick this boy into shape, make him hard.

GENERAL BURROUGHS (C. Aubrey Smith): Immediately, one of my [men] came to me shaking. Absolutely shaking! I said, what's wrong? "I'm afraid to face those guns, sir." I said, would you rather face me? Hmm! He took one look at my face and off he went. Ten minutes later he was shot to pieces at the head of his men. As a soldier should be, eh?

FAVERSHAM: There's no place in England for a coward.

HARRY (John Clements): We've discussed it so often. The futility of this idiotic Egyptian adventure. The madness of it all. The ghastly waste of time that we can never have again.

HARRY: I believe in our happiness. I believe in the work to be done here to save an estate that's near to ruin. To save all those people who've been neglected by my family because they preferred glory in India. Glory in China. Glory in Africa.

ETHNE (June Duprez): You were not born free, Harry, nor was I. We were born into a tradition, a code which we must obey, even if we do not believe. And we must obey, Harry, because the pride and happiness of everyone surrounding us depends on our obedience.

HARRY: The man who tries to cheat his fate is more than a coward, he's a fool as well.

DR. HARRAZ (Henry Oscar): Why worry? Be a coward and be happy.

DR. HARRAZ: A mad race, the English.

DURRANCE (Ralph Richardson): You've always got some confoundedly cold-blooded reason for doing nothing.

Compiled by Rob Nixon