A.E.W.Mason's THE FOUR FEATHERS was published in 1902. An early talkie
based on it was made in 1929 (in which appeared Fay Wray, the star four
years later of King Kong). The classic version (awarded four stars - the top
rating - in Halliwell's Film Guide) appeared in 1939, starring John
Clements, Ralph Richardson and C.Aubrey Smith.
Andrew Lycett in his RUDYARD KIPLING (p. 555) mentions that Kipling met
Mason in Egypt in 1929, and remarks of THE FOUR FEATHERS that "in its
depiction of blindness set against a backdrop of a British campaign against
the Mahdi in the Sudan, [it] had obvious similarities to [Kipling's] THE
LIGHT THAT FAILED (1890)." He points out that Mason had several other points
of contact with Mason (both born in 1865, both published by Macmillan, etc
etc). It seems highly unlikely that Kipling would have used Mason's title
for anything published by himself after 1902; and I know of no kipling
publication before that date which bears that or any similar title. So I
think the Library of Congress catalogue has confused the two books.
Yours ever
George Engle
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