Four Men and a Prayer

Attempting to clear their father’s name, four men (Richard Greene, George Sanders, David Niven, and William Henry) uncover a conspiracy.

Four Men and a Prayer is a workable adventurer thanks largely due to the talented cast.

Despite receiving only third and forth billing respectively, George Sanders and David Niven are a joy to watch, exuding charisma and carrying the film with ease, especially Niven, who gets all the good lines. Lead Richard Greene isn’t bad, just not as charismatic as Niven or Sanders. The very American William Henry is the weakest link here, as the film could have been called “Three Men and a Prayer” and been all the better for it.

Top-billed Loretta Young is as good as she can be in a ridiculous part. The script has her cheerfully tagging along with the titular brothers, only to witness a massacre that drives her to hysterics, then, minutes later, act as if it never happened. Her character doesn’t have an arc, so much as a roller coaster.

Director John Ford does his best to gloss-over the script’s convoluted, and often forced, plot. Though some of the dialog is rather stale, Ford compensates by speeding up the delivery, thus giving the audience very little time to think. While this does make things a bit confusing at times, it beats boring any day, and the combination of Niven and Sanders more than compensates.

The film’s big weakness however, is the lack of a big villain. John Carradine has a memorable turn as a vicious general, but there’s no real central antagonist, which leads to a somewhat anti-climatic third act. Not a total-let down, but definitely a missed opportunity to make Four Men and a Prayer a bit more memorable.