Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1938


Four Men and a Prayer

Buy Four Men and a Prayer now from Amazon

First, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.

Wikipedia article




'Four Men and a Prayer' is a 1938 American adventure film directed by John Ford and starring Loretta Young, Richard Greene and George Sanders.

Plot



After Loring Leigh (C. Aubrey Smith), a British Army Officer, is cashiered in India following accusations of dereliction of duty, he summons his four sons Geoffrey (Richard Greene), Wyatt (George Sanders), Christopher (David Niven), and Rodney (William Henry) to meet him in their family home. Leigh reveals he has been framed, but before he can explain any more he is murdered. With what little they know, the four boys immediately set out to discover the truth. The boys split up and travel to South America, India, and Egypt to gather evidence and restore their father's honour. During their travels, Geoffrey's girlfriend, Lynn (Loretta Young), continuously appears in the same locations as Geoffrey and his brother, Christopher.

First, Geoffrey and Christopher encounter Lynn in Buenos Aires where they witness a mass murder of townspeople that were in a war with the government, while Wyatt and Rodney are in India.

Later, Geoffrey and Christopher run into Lynn in Alexandria while they are reuniting with Wyatt and Rodney to confront Lynn's father, Martin Cherrington (Berton Churchill) who they believe is the person responsible for their father's death. Then they discover that Lynn had no idea of the situation and was not on her father's side about his contribution to being a major arms dealer, but it is also discovered that her father had no part in the death of the boys' father.

Once they discover the real person responsible for Leigh's murder, the four boys journey back home to present the evidence that their father was innocent.

Reception



The response to 'Four Men and a Prayer' was mixed. Mae Tinee from the Chicago Daily Tribune said "there's nothing like a good melodrama for grinding new grooves in the old thinking machine, and 'Four Men and a Prayer' is a right pert groove grinder."Tinee, Mae. "'Four Men and a Prayer' Tops in Melodrama: "FOUR MEN AND A PRAYER."." 'Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963),' May 14, 1938, p. 13. However, Variety said the film "starts out as exciting melodrama, promising interesting romantic and adventurous...finishes as a piece of disappointing entertainment."Flin. "Film Reviews: Four Men and a Prayer." 'Variety (Archive: 1905-2000)' Apr 27 1938: 22.

Cast



* Loretta Young as Miss Lynn Cherrington

* Richard Greene as Geoffrey Leigh

* George Sanders as Wyatt Leigh

* David Niven as Christopher Leigh

* C. Aubrey Smith as Col. Loring Leigh

* William Henry as Rodney Leigh

* J. Edward Bromberg as Gen. Torres

* John Carradine as Gen. Adolfo Arturo Sebastian

* Alan Hale as Mr. Furnoy

* Reginald Denny as Capt. Douglas Loveland

* Berton Churchill as Mr. Martin Cherrington

* Barry Fitzgerald as Trooper Mulcahay

* Claude King as Gen. Bryce

* Cecil Cunningham as Piper

References



Bibliography



* Eyman, Scott. 'Print the Legend: The Life and Times of John Ford'. Simon and Schuster, 2012.


Buy Four Men and a Prayer now from Amazon

<-- Return to movies from 1938



This work is released under CC-BY-SA. Some or all of this content attributed to http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1108312566.