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"There is something going on in the organization that is very undesirable and might lead to serious consequences," reads a note that the ill-fated Victor Dean wrote to his superior just before he took a fatal fall down the metal staircase at Pym's Publicity Ltd. These darned suspicious circumstances lead Pym to hire Lord Peter Wimsey to determine whether Dean's death was an accident or murder or eh, what? Ian Carmichael returns in his signature role as Dorothy L. Sayers's aristocratic sleuth in this characteristically impeccable 1973 BBC miniseries. The chaotic advertising agency is a ripe setting for intrigue (Sayers herself worked in a prominent London ad agency in the 1920s). Wimsey has a high time masquerading incognito as the firm's new copywriter, as well as the mysterious costumed Harlequin, a ruse he adopts to obtain information from the notorious socialite Dian de Momerie (Bridget Armstrong), whose lovers (Dean, among them) all come to bad ends, and whose den of iniquity is fronted by Major Milligan (Peter Bowles, of To the Manor Born), a drug dealer who corrupts bright young things.

Among the pleasures of a Wimsey mystery is his panache with the niceties of our English tongue. At one point he observes, "Truth in advertising is like lemon in three measures of meal. It produces a suitable quantity of gas with which to blow out a mass of crude misrepresentations into a format the public can swallow." Let's see Nick Charles or Columbo wrap his tongue around that one. --Donald Liebenson ... Read more

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What it lacks in grandeur, this 1978 TV version of The Four Feathers makes up for in fidelity to A.E.W. Mason's classic novel. By cannibalizing the superior 1939 production for epic shots and sequences, this modest adaptation draws attention to its meager production values, relying heavily on casting and chemistry to compensate. That it succeeds, more or less, in capturing the essence of Mason's grand adventure is largely due to the appeal of Beau Bridges and Jane Seymour in the prime of their early careers. (Bridges's film career was gaining momentum; Seymour would rise from here to the similarly romantic Somewhere in Time.) Bridges is the shamed soldier Harry Faversham, transcending cowardice by rescuing his closest friends during Britain's bloody campaign in 1870s Sudan; Seymour is his beloved back home, torn between Harry and the seemingly braver Jack (Robert Powell). TV veteran Don Sharp provides tepid direction, while screenwriter Gerald DiPego would continue his prolific career for decades to come. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Skip this one, get the original!
Over half of this movie consists of scenes taken from the original 1939 classic film directed by Zoltan Korda. Even those scenes can't disguise the remake's network TV-movie quality. Beau Bridges is generally a good actor, but he is terribly miscast on this film. Go rent both versions of The Four Feathers and see it for yourself!

Great movie, but poor transfer
This is my favorite version of the book. The romance between Jane Seymour's Ethne and Beau Bridge's Harry is the key to the story here which is the way it should be. The story (of course) is also solid. However - this is DVD sports an iffy transfer that seems to have been taken from some shoddy elements. The sound also is iffy in parts. I love this movie though so I had no hesitation in picking up this DVD.

A bit to Predictable
The story line was interesting and intriquing at first but than it became to predictable. It also seems a bit far fetched that each man that gave him the white feathers, for what they took as pure cowardice, were all in such dire needs of rescue. How could he be there at the exact time they were in need and be the only one who could take over the feat of saving them from their eventual demise. The ending was to much of a predictablility. If I were the man, even if I am a woman, I don't think I would want to see the girl again, the girl he was in love with betrayed him and also gave him a white feather for cowardice. The one thing that I did get from the movie was how a parent can take something that a child finds interest in, being a soldier, setting up strategy for wartime, as witnessed in his childhood playtime, and making it seem inferior. He seemed to not be able to reward his child's imaginings but almost to compete with them. This in turn tainted the boys interest and replaced it with fear or negative energy. The movie only touched on this at the beginning and at the very end. This was what made the movie worthwhile to me. Also I like Jane Seymore as an actress and she is quite beautiful in this film. Beau Bridges does a good job in his role, seemed different as compared to other films I have seen him in.

Better in some ways than the 1939 Version
First let me say that this movie DOES NOT use footage from the original. This is a rumor that has been spread for some reason and it is incorrect ... It does depict the fuzzy wuzzies in a very realistic light and their assault on the british square is quite good. They really look the part and they are actually bounding which as any good reader of kipling knows they did quite well,, "The Bounding Beggars!" Their hair really fits their nick name to ;)

simple is better
Although this modest TV movie lacks the big budget and huge numbers that make up the 2002 cinematic version of the A.E.W. Mason novel, it is nonetheless superior in terms of casting and storytelling. The strength of the casting is self-explanatory. As for the storytelling, it is more straightforward and stays closer to the focus of the novel - a young man trying to prove his courage to others after evading the call of duty. Whereas the recent theatrical adaptation goes off into tangents, such as showing audiences the harshness of the Sudanese slave trade and desert climate, this TV movie takes these realities as a given and prefers to concentrate on the European characters instead of the African ones. I personally prefer this TV movie because it gives much more attention to the relationship between a proud soldierly father and a son who never wanted to follow the family tradition. In sum, a simple but effective visual treatment of a basically simple story of bravery, romance, and coming of age.
However, the DVD has less than ten tracks, picture quality that is not really enhanced, and some rather poor sound quality. I watched the DVD with headphones and heard slight hissing that one would expect from a dated VHS recording. For these technical reasons, I can't give full stars to this DVD recording. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A delightful satire of the Cold War
One of my favorite comedies from back when I was a kid (and they used to show old films like this on broadcast TV...) One of those rare instances in which a sequel to a cult film is still fun enough to make it on its own merits, despite losing the original lead actor. This is the followup to the kooky Peter Sellers classic, "The Mouse That Roared," returning us to Duchy of Grand Fenwick, an eccentric European backwater that makes Lichtenstein seem like the Ottoman Empire. Sellers is gone, but the farce remains, as the Grand Fenwickians inadvertently enter the Cold War space race, with the US, USSR and UK all falling over themselves to try and either control or subvert the tiny country's absurdly rickety space program. There are fine character bits, with Ron Moody and Margaret Rutherford starring, respectively, as Grand Fenwick's prime minister and queen, but what makes this film an enduring classic is how deftly it satirizes the already-farcical propaganda wars between America and the Soviet Union (that Great Britain really factored in as a "player" in the Kennedy-era Cold War is a quaint, Bond-ian affectation...) A genuinely funny film that stands on its own dramatically, but which is also a priceless snapshot of the times it was made in. Recommended!

Even funnier than "The Mouse That Roared"
I bought this movie based on reviews I read here on Amazon.com and wasn't disappointed. I watched "The Mouse That Roared" first and thought it was funny, but in my opinion this movie is even better.

Magaret Rutherford is great as the clueless Grand Duchess, I wish there was more of her in the movie.

Ron Moody does a great job as the prime minister who is hung up on getting running hot water for his bathtub at any cost.

There was a small take off on Dr. Strangelove that I liked. Two ex-German scientists one for the US and one for the USSR give their boss a Nazi salute before catching themselves.

I had some good laughs throughout the movie. If you liked "The Mouse That Roared" I'm sure you'll like this movie.

"It's not that kind of privvy council, your majesty."
A superior sequel to "The Mouse That Roared" where Prime Minister Bobo (a manic and hilarious Ron Moody)cons both Russia and the USA into sending Grand Fenwick space research funds and equipment that he can recycle into a plumbing system for the castle. Then the scientist from the first movie actually heads for the moon in a Jules Vern-ish Victorian space ship using the Grand Fenwick wine crop as rocket fuel. Lester and Shenson made this film right before they teamed for HARD DAYS NIGHT and the dry British wit is very apparent. Margaret Rutherford even says a line that John Lennon would say in HDN.

cute, funny,... but where's MARGARET RUTHERFORD??
First off, I must say that while I am a fan (albeit, not a huge one) of "The Mouse that Roared," I bought this movie SPECIFICALLY for Margaret Rutherford. I figured that with her name FIRST in the cast list, that she MUST be the star of this picture. That couldn't be further from the truth. I would guess that her screen time, literally, is about 3 minutes, with perhaps about 5 lines. What a disappointment. I discovered the great Dame Rutherford in the four Miss Marple films from the '60s (Murder, She Said, Murder at the Gallop, Murder Most Foul, and Murder Ahoy [my personal favorite]), and couldn't wait to see a film from the same time period as the Miss marple series.And while the movie was cute, and it certainly had its moments (Terry-thomas is ALWAYS great), my poor little heart was broken to find Margaret Rutherford in only a few scenes. AND, don't you HATE it when the trailer has scenes in it that are NOT in the movie? MORE scenes of Margaret that must have been cut! So, if you're a HUGE fan of "The Mouse that Roared", you'll love this film. MGM went all out with their transfer. The colors look fantastic. But if you're buying this because you're a fan of Miss Rutherford as I did, you'll probably be more than a bit disappointed. Why don't you buy "Blythe Spirit" instead? She is absolutely PERFECT in THAT movie.

Don't let the title fool you!
This is one great movie. I take it as a spoof of the former Great British Empire, now reduced to a "Duchy" compared to it's Uncle, Sam. Dame Margaret Rutherford is wonderful as the befuddled "Duchess" who really has no clue as to whats going on. Now, what does that remind you of, hmmmm? And to boot, it has Terry Thomas. Fans of British humour will love it. It is a "niche" movie, of course, but what a niche!! Buy it!! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A hidden Gem
I recently found "Jane and the Lost City" by accident at my local video rental shop. I thought it looked junky and camp so I rented it. What I got instead was a super mellow rendition of the world war two daily mirror comic strip "Jane" which basically concerned the lead character Jane and her cohorts the Colonel and Tombs the butler "confounding the Nazi's at every turn" by pure dumb luck. During this process Jane keeps getting her clothes torn off (to lingerie level) by a variety of unlikely means. In other words, a very silly operation. The film is so mellow that if you need something to go to sleep in front of this will do nicely, allowing you to wake up occasionally and see more lingerie and hear more silly dialogue. I watched "Jane" twice in 24 hours and liked it very much. Very good trash indeed. ... Read more