The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

I was fortunate enough to obtain a video of 'Four Horsemen ' recently and having read about it many years ago, I was intrigued to see whether it lived up to the legend. Considering it was made 80 years ago, I was quite astonished at the quality of this film, in terms of acting,direction and photography.To our modern eyes, the 'special effects'may,of course, seem a little quaint, but there is no denying that as an anti-war film, it stands alongside 'All Quiet on the Western Front' and 'Grande Illusion', and it has lost little of its power to move. The development of the character of Julio is a 'tour de force' of acting by Valentino and his celebrated tango in one of the murkier establishments of Buenos Aires realistically conveys the dissolute atmosphere of the cafe society of the period. My copy of the film was the tinted version with a (non-vocal) soundtrack added, which included tango music played by an apparently unsynchronised band ! To keen students of cinematic history, this film is a 'must-see'- indeed,I know of no contemporary films which comes close to matching it.

This is surely a visually magnificent film to watch, especially if you get to see a copy of the tinted Photoplay restoration with a great score by Carl Davis.

It strikes me however that few commentators here seem to bother about the very nasty portrayal of German people in this film. Despite its claims for universality, condemning WWI in general and not just a single nation (or class for that matter) involved in it, the image of the Germans is no different from the wartime propaganda huns as portrayed by Erich von Stroheim and others. They appear as arrogant, cold, ugly, brutal, grotesque, greedy, militaristic idiots, who even in peacetime in a civilian/family setting march in line and click their heels all the time. Julio's three cousins are portrayed as bespectacled, mischievously grinning jerks who obey their father's commands as if he was an army officer, even as children. They are even shown reading Nietzsche's Zarathustra and it's appraisals of the warrior man as if it was some kind of a bible. A race of villainous, natural born warmongers, it seems. Now this can hardly be the basis for an honest anti-war-movie. Compare this portrayal to the very different, more human and sympathetic image of German people in John Ford's FOUR SONS and of course ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Despite the now-campiness of these scenes in question I find them still quite offensive and hard to watch, even given that most silent movies made heavy use of strong contrasts and stereotyping. I guess in 1920 the anti-German resentments in the US were still very strong, which even caused D. W. Griffith to absurdly switch a German refugee family in post-war Berlin into a polish refugee family in ISN'T LIFE WONDERFUL - as late as 1924!

All this shift from anti-war-intentions to merely anti-German clichés somewhat betrays the "message" of the movie, which admittedly comes across quite rhetorical and pretentious in the first place, and is indeed one of the movie's weakest and most dated points. It just seems to be tagged onto the Valentino adultery romance story for mere dramatic effect (as in the vision of the Apocalyptic Horsemen and the final graveyard scene). But overall the war theme doesn't really stand in the center of the movie.

Rudolph Valentino's breakthrough role as Julio is in some ways his best, and it's a shame that this film isn't better known to day--it has yet to be released on DVD. (Is its being relatively unknown due to its being set during World War One, a war that was soon to be eclipsed by an even worse conflict?)

The story begins in Argentina on the plantation of the slightly grotesque but fascinating Madrigal the Centaur who, with the cruel partiality of Tennessee Williams' Big Daddy, openly favours his half French grandchildren to his half German ones (referring to them as "glass-eyed carrot topped sharks"). A few years later we see him carousing with his grandson Julio, the latter in full gaucho regalia, in a disreputable café (the setting of the rightfully famous tango sequence and where Valentino treats his female partner with that distinctive mixture of suaveness and brutality that characterized many of his later roles). The Great War intrudes on everyone's lives and both families, even though they have made their home in the new world feel drawn to take sides. With regard to the conflict itself, the film takes a anti-war if not entirely neutral stance (the French are generally honourable whereas the Germans behave like, well, sharks).

A large part of the film is devoted to the decline in fortunes of Madrigal's French son-in-law after he returns to France with his family, but the most memorable portions of this part of the film are Julio's wooing of Marguerite, the unhappy wife of a much older man and Julio's reluctant entry into the war. Initially he continues his wastrel life in Paris as an artist of sorts, as indifferent as Rhett Butler to the war around him, but eventually he finds himself drawn into the conflict, not because he is anymore convinced that the war is for a good cause as that, with the casualties mounting up every day, he simply feels too ashamed to continue living his soft life as a lounge lizard. The ending relies heavily on Dickensian coincidence but is devastating nonetheless.

A few quibbles—the stranger who appears occasionally to share his dire forebodings is not quite as annoying as the preachy meddler in Blood and Sand but is still somewhat intrusive. (On the other hand I liked the imagery of the four horsemen which was all the more effective for being used sparingly and must have been particularly impressive on the big screen). Also, the film contains an extremely cringe-inducing example of comic relief—Julio's mother, to cheer up her son in the trenches, sends him his monkey in a miniature soldier's uniform, complete with helmet, bringing to this modern viewer's mind Precious, the gin-swilling orangutan nurse of the whacked out NBC soap opera, Passions. However, these are minor objections and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is one of the best films of the silent era.

Besides being a worthwhile and interesting drama, "The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse" is also one of the few Rudolph Valentino films that still holds up well in its own right, rather than as a mere memento of the popularity he held in his own era. The story works both Valentino and the rest of the cast into a good story that contrasts their lives in peacetime with their experiences during the Great War.

The story is set up well in the earlier stages, as the personalities and the relationships of the characters are defined. When the war begins, the story uses it to bring out many different facets of the characters' natures. Their reactions and decisions not only comment on the war itself, but on human nature and on the way that different persons react in times of crisis.

There are a couple of memorable sequence that tie together several of these themes.

The imagery of the 'four horsemen' is rather obvious, but it is used sparingly enough to keep it from being obtrusive. The story, likewise, makes use of a couple of overly convenient coincidences, but overall it is believable and at times compelling, as is the movie as a whole.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE bring the devastation of the Great War to two Argentine sisters, one married to a Frenchman, the other to a German.

It is a shame that this wonderful film is remembered now almost solely for Rudolph Valentino's first scene, in which he dances a sensual tango. This sequence, which appears in the opening half hour, was enough to put Valentino on the movie map as an important young actor and paved the way for more libidinous roles in the future, but the film is about so much more than just a tango.

World War One had only ended in 1918, barely three years before FOUR HORSEMEN was released. The effects of the War - maimed men and fatherless children - were everywhere, and much devastation still remained in Europe. Director Rex Ingram took Vicente Blasco Ibáñez' novel and turned it into a powerful & disturbing anti-war polemic. The imagery of the Four Horsemen, riding across the screen, becomes a compelling symbol of man's inhumanity.

Although Valentino gets the attention now - and his performance is very fine, showing his character's maturity after encountering the War's harsh realities - he's not the actual star of the film. Equal kudos should also extend to Josef Swickard playing his French father, who dominates lengthy stretches of the story as he frantically reacts to his castle's desecration by the invading Germans, including his own brutal nephew.

Alice White, Ingram's wife, is wonderful as Valentino's conflicted lover, torn between passion for him and duty to her honorable husband. She adds a very real touch of class and believability, just as she would in future films directed by Ingram.

Standouts in the cast include Pomeroy Cannon as the old 'Centaur,' Valentino's hot-blooded Spanish grandfather; Alan Hale as Valentino's stern German uncle; John St. Polis as Miss Terry's affronted spouse; and bullying Wallace Beery as a crude German officer. Gaunt Nigel de Brulier is mesmerizing in his Epiphanic role as the mysterious lodger who explains to Valentino the significance of the Four Horsemen.

Movie mavens will recognize an unbilled Jean Hersholt as Hale's bearded son. Silent star Noble Johnson portrays the first Horseman, Conquest. (Supposedly Ramon Novarro is one of the extras in the Ball scene, probably as a dancer. This is very possible, as he would become a star in Ingram's film release of the following year, THE PRISONER OF ZENDA.)

Although nearly forgotten today, Rex Ingram was an excellent director who knew how to present epic photo dramas on a large scale which did not neglect the small, telling details, such as when the sweeping vistas of the Argentinean pampas gives way to the antics of a tiny pet monkey. His impish affection for the grotesque close-up is also in evidence. Ingram worked closely with his photographer Fred Seitz to achieve the play of light & shadow which enhanced the composition. But it's the authenticity of the performances which he consistently drew from his players that never fails to impress. It should be remembered that it was only six short years since the rather stagy acting of Griffith's THE BIRTH OF A NATION. Ingram had built on the Master's foundation and built well.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN is splendid to simply look at, with its restored tints & artistic title cards. Carl Davis has graced the restoration with a splendid new score which carries the viewer along, emotionally underpinning the dramatics on screen with lilting melodies and robust orchestrations.

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The original references to the Four Horsemen can be found in The Book of Revelations (sometimes called The Apocalypse of St. John) at the end of The New Testament, Chapter 6, verses 1-8 (KJV):

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him; and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.