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 that Furnoy (Alan Hale) is responsible for Leigh's murder, the four boys journey back home to present the evidence that their father was innocent.
The New York Times' Frank Nugent enjoyed the film. In his May 7, 1938 review, he describes the film as “A globetrotting, melodrama , a beau-gestive piece directed by John Ford, who loves to stab the murk with a revolver spat. It has been energetically told, compactly presented, and can be relied upon to keep the Roxy pleasantly occupied… the players are uniformly in excellent fettle…”[1]
Mae Tinee from the Chicago Daily Tribune observes "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."[2]
However, Variety says the film "starts out as exciting melodrama, promising interesting romantic and adventurous...finishes as a piece of disappointing entertainment."[3]
