177
The
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
Release date 6th March 1921
Country : USA
Running time : 134 mins
Genre : Romance / War
Starring Rudolph Valentino, Alice Terry
Screenplay by June Mathis
Directed by Rex Ingram
An Argentinian cattle baron has two daughters one has married a Frenchman, the other a German. The cattle baron favours Julio the Frenchman as his heir but Julio is a wastrel who enjoys dancing the tango but little else. On his death the cattle baron's fortune is split, Julio goes to Paris where he falls in love with Marguerite, a married woman. Julio though becomes a reformed character when her husband is blinded in WWI and he goes to the front to be confronted by his German cousin on the battlefield.
The film that made Valentino a star has much more to offer than just the latin lover (he delivers a much more restrained performance than in his later films). It is an epic war film which doesn't flinch on the horrors of the Great War. The only flaw is a tendency to overdo the religious symbolism of the title which can get a bit preachy.
Release date 6th March 1921
Country : USA
Running time : 134 mins
Genre : Romance / War
Starring Rudolph Valentino, Alice Terry
Screenplay by June Mathis
Directed by Rex Ingram
An Argentinian cattle baron has two daughters one has married a Frenchman, the other a German. The cattle baron favours Julio the Frenchman as his heir but Julio is a wastrel who enjoys dancing the tango but little else. On his death the cattle baron's fortune is split, Julio goes to Paris where he falls in love with Marguerite, a married woman. Julio though becomes a reformed character when her husband is blinded in WWI and he goes to the front to be confronted by his German cousin on the battlefield.
The film that made Valentino a star has much more to offer than just the latin lover (he delivers a much more restrained performance than in his later films). It is an epic war film which doesn't flinch on the horrors of the Great War. The only flaw is a tendency to overdo the religious symbolism of the title which can get a bit preachy.
A few years later Valentino's tango
from the film was re-enacted by the star in a personal appearance tour
with his wife Natacha Rambova.
According to some figures this was the most successful silent film at the box office. It earned $9,183,673, close to $300 million in 2005 dollars.
According to some figures this was the most successful silent film at the box office. It earned $9,183,673, close to $300 million in 2005 dollars.
The film was remade with Glenn Ford to
much less effect in 1962.
DVD
not available
178 176
Written content copyright Derek McLellan,2005.
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