The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Directors:

Rex Ingram
Kevin Brownlow

Writers:

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (novel)
June Mathis (written for the screen by)

Release Date:

2 December 1923 (Finland)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

Madariaga is an Argentinian cattle baron with two daughters: one married a Frenchman, the other a German...

Plot Keywords:

WWI | Death | Land Owner | Tango | Blindness

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Pomeroy Cannon	...	Madariaga
Josef Swickard	...	Marcelo Desnoyers
Bridgetta Clark	...	Doña Luisa
Rudolph Valentino	...	Julio Desnoyers
Virginia Warwick	...	Chichí
Alan Hale	...	Karl von Hartrott
Mabel Van Buren	...	Elena
Stuart Holmes	...	Otto von Hartrott
John St. Polis	...	Etienne Laurier (as John Sainpolis)
Alice Terry	...	Marguerite Laurier
Mark Fenton	...	Senator Lacour
Derek Ghent	...	René Lacour
Nigel De Brulier	...	Tchernoff (as Nigel de Brulier)
Bowditch M. Turner	...	Argensola (as Brodwitch Turner)
Edward Connelly	...	Lodgekeeper

Runtime:

132 min (Turner library print) (1993 alternate version) | Spain:150 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Gilmore Ranch, Fairfax, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

President Warren G. Harding and Vice-President Calvin Coolidge, with their respective spouses, attended private screenings of the film.

Quotes:

Dona Luisa: Is it not enough to lead my son into wild ways without teaching my daughter the tango?
Madriaga: Will you have the boy grow up like those glass-eyed, carrot-topped sharks of your sister's?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Once Upon a Time in America (1984)

Soundtrack:

Apocalypse Theme

An irreplaceable item of cinema history.

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.