Waste of time

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Being something of a pacifist, Harry Faversham (Anthony Steele) has the misfortune to be born into a staunchly military family with all the expectations of an overbearing father (Michael Hordern) weighing down on his shoulders. Harry toes the line to please his dad, but when the old boy pops his clogs, he swiftly resigns his commission. As a consequence, he receives a white feather (the symbol of cowardice) from each of his best friends (Laurence Harvey, Ronald Lewis, and an out-of-place Ian Carmichael) on the eve of their departure to war in the Sudan. Harry awards himself a symbolic feather on behalf of his fiancée (Mary Ure) whose disappointment is clear. Harry determines to make his former friends take back their feathers, which is the signal for much derring-do to begin (hurrah!).The tale of the four feathers is the epitome of the schoolboy adventure yarn with heroic soldiers blinded in battle, heroic soldiers captured by the fuzzie-wuzzies (not nice, I can tell you!), heroic cowards braving forehead-branding and boot polish to go deep under cover in darkest Africa, and pompous old boors endlessly recounting their role in the battle of Balaclava back in the Crimean. It should really be boredom-proof, but the sad truth is that this version comes perilously close to inducing that state at times. The film is practically a word-for-word remake of the 1939 version – and even makes scandalously wholesale use of the earlier version's battle scenes – which means it probably came across as a bit staid back in 1955, but looks positively creaky today.Anthony Steel isn't a particularly convincing hero: at thirty-five he's playing a twenty-five year old who somehow looks forty-five, but the problem is more in the lack of sympathy Steel creates for his character. His Harry Faversham is the sort that sits in the corner and speaks when he's spoken too, and is therefore a little too bland to be a dashing hero, despite his acts of heroism. And exactly what sort of reaction did he expect to receive when he resigned his commission? Doesn't trotting off to the desert to regain his honour in the eyes of his friends and fiancée simply negate the strength of character required to resign in the first place? A young Laurence Harvey fares better as Faversham's upper-crust chum who suffers sun blindness when hiding from the fuzzies, and would arguably have been better suited to the leading man role. Ronald Lewis has practically nothing to do, while Ian Carmichael, on the cusp of his comedy career, comes off as a plummy-voiced twit.The film isn't awful by any standards, but it really could have benefited from fifteen minutes being pruned from its running time, and a little more fire in young Faversham's belly.

Sweeping new adaptation plenty of idealism ,heroism, friendship, redemption and overwhelming battles. It's a great classical British imperialism adventure , a genuine ripping yarn picking up several images and with some stirring action of the quite better 1939 version . This fifth rendition about known story by A.E.W. Mason concerns on a British young officer named Harry Faversham (Anthony Steel). Resigning from Army , he's rejected by his father-in-law (James Robertson Justice) and his engaged fiancée (Mary Ure), branded a coward and sent four white feathers by his friends( Ronald Lewis, Laurence Harvey, Ian Carmichael) . Determined to save his honor he heads to Sudan campaign against Derviches who previously (thirteen years before) had murdered General Gordon in Karthoum. There arrives the expedition of help commanded by General Wolsey and Kitchener for stifle the rebellious Sudan's tribes ruled by 'the Madhdi', the ¨expected one¨(events developed in ¨Khartoum¨film-1966- with Charlton Heston and Laurence Olivier, directed by Basil Dearden).The Madhi along with Arab tribes had besieged Khartoum(1884) and vanquished General Gordon . Faversham disguised himself as native will save his friends from certain death and he will retrieve the lost honors.This spectacular adventure detailing the epic feats of a brave hero, contains noisy action,idealism, romance, unlimited courage, breathtaking battles and impressive landscapes. It's a typically polished British and packs enthusiasm of imperialist arrogance with standard issue heroics. Anthony Steel as stubborn officer is fine , Laurence Harvey as his best friend is convincingly played and Mary Ure as his girlfriend is enjoyable. Special mention to James Roberson Justice as swagger general Burroughs . Solid performances all around and excellent plethora of secondaries as Christopher Lee, Ferdy Mayne, Michael Hordern, Geoffrey keen among them. Sensational battle scenes staged by thousands extras though partially taken from former film. Evocative cinematography with superb Technicolor camera-work reflecting the late 1800's and spectacular African landscapes by cameraman Edward Scaife and Osmond Borradaille for exterior photography in Sudan and interiors filmed in Shepperton studios. Rousing and impressive musical score by Benjamin Frankel. The motion picture is professionally directed by Zoltan Korda and Terence Young with imagination and fair-play . Other adaptations about this famous story are : the ancient and silent take on filmed in 1915, 1921, and 1929 directed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper with Richard Arlen, Fay Wray and Clive Brook ; the classic rendition by Zoltan Korda(1939) with John Clemens, Ralph Richardson and Jane Duprez ; and for TV(1978)with Beau Bridges, Jane Seymour and modern rendition with Heath Ledger , Kate Hudson and Wes Bentley

Harry Faversham,the Public School Man's Public School Man,together with his whinnying cronies,is the future of his regiment.Handsome,dashing,heavy with hair oil and gleaming of teeth he seems destined to die futilely in battle in the corner of some foreign field that will remain forever England or at least until it's returned to its rightful owners a few years down the line when his remains will be ploughed up and thrown to one side. But HF is not a happy soldier,he only signed on to please his father,and once engaged to the daughter of a retired General he resigns his commission.At the very least he is guilty of not very good timing as his regiment is leaving at dawn for Africa and the assumption of his contemporaries and superiors is that he lacks intestinal fortitude. Anxious to prove his courage(I'm a bit hazy on this point.If he was that anxious to prove his courage it would have been easier to stay in the army)he makes his way to the Sudan (walked,hitch - hiked?I think we should be told)he proceeds to save the lives of his former chums who are undoubtedly the worst officers ever to put on a uniform. They may have ruled the roost at Eton or wherever,but they should have never been let out of their tent on their own. Cue an appalling performance by Mr L Harvey who wanders off into the desert on his own presumably to top up his tan and promptly ends up blinded by the sun.Did you miss that bit at Sandhurst Larry? Just as he is about to blow his brains out(I seriously doubt if he's that good a shot) HF pops up and wrestles the gun from his fingers. Disguised as a Dervish with speaking difficulties (don't ask - it would take too long)he eventually rescues all his old pals from fates worse than death and is reunited with his estranged fiancée.Floreat Etona. My grandfather as a boy read a book called "With Kitchener in The Sudan" which was full of nonsense like this.It inspired him and thousands like him to volunteer for the colours in 1914.He was lucky and worked as a medic on a troopship,but an awful lot of aspiring Harry Favershams were slaughtered wholesale,choked by gas,drowned in the mud or simply blown to bits on bloody battlefields. I can only assume this film was meant to be taken seriously even though by 1955 the Empire it celebrates was long dead.The term "Fuzzy - Wuzzy" was beginning to be frowned upon and only the Guards and Cavalry regiments had many officers like messrs Harvey and Steele. I don't profess to know what purpose was served by the making of "Storm on the Nile".At home the Angry Young Men were stirring,former colonies were ridding themselves of those they saw as their oppressors,the Cold War was under way.Bad times were just around the corner.Perhaps it was a plea for the return of war as a game for Gentlemen. Mr L. Harvey in a rather bizarre scene gets to read a speech by Caliban in braille and proves - if further proof apart from his "Romeo"was needed - that he was one of the biggest hams ever to grace the British Cinema.Mr A.Steele's limitations are cruelly exposed in even such a one - dimensional part as Faversham.The lovely Miss M.Ure is wasted as his fiancée.Only Sir Lancelot Spratt - sorry,Mr.J.Robertson Justice - is worth watching as her father,although his beard greys at rather an alarming rate. You can see the birth pangs of "Zulu" in "Storm on the Nile".If you can truly and honestly say you thought "Zulu" was a great film rather than a film about a great military action then you may find "Storm on the Nile" acceptable.If not,next time it comes on TV pop out to your favourite Indian restaurant and think about how the world has changed whilst drinking your Cobra" and waiting for your takeaway.

A lot of critics gave this movie a really hard time. I never read critical reviews until I've seen a film and I must confess that I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Maybe it did use footage from a previous shoot and there were certainly flaws. But all in all, this was a good schoolboy yarn. I liked the lengthy build up to the scenes in Sudan, it really helped set the scene and made you care about the characters. The plot lingered long enough to give the viewer a feel of the longevity of the piece. The plot was well moved along and there was suitable emotion shown. James Robertson Justice so often just barks out his lines and in this movie he....Well, just barked out his lines! A real shame. A small blemish on an otherwise enjoyable movie.