| The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Rex Ingram |
| Produced by | Metro Pictures Corporation |
| Written by | June Mathis (screenplay) Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (novel) |
| Starring | Pomeroy Cannon Josef Swickard Bridgetta Clark Rudolph Valentino Alice Terry Wallace Beery |
| Distributed by | Metro Pictures Corporation |
| Release date(s) | March 6, 1921 |
| Running time | 134 minutes (edited version) 156 minutes (complete version) |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a 1921 silent movie produced by Metro Pictures Corporation, adapted by June Mathis, directed by Rex Ingram and starring Rudolph Valentino, Pomeroy Cannon, Josef Swickard, Wallace Beery, and Alice Terry. It was based on the novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez.[1]
The film had a huge cultural impact, becoming the top grossing film of 1921 beating out Charlie Chaplin's The Kid, and going on to become the sixth best grossing silent film of all time.[2] The film turned then little known actor Rudolph Valentino into a super star and associated him with the image of the 'Latin Lover'. The film also inspired a tango craze and such fashion fads as gaucho pants.[3] The film was masterminded by June Mathis, who with its success became one of the most powerful women in Hollywood at the time.[4][5]
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In 1919 screenwriter June Mathis became head of the scenario department for Metro Pictures.[6] With this position she became one of the first female executives in film history.[6] Holding a major belief in spiritualism and the Book of Revelation, Mathis was determined to turn Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's novel The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse into a film. The book had been an epic best seller, but most studios found it impossible to adapt to film.[6]
Mathis' adaption so impressed the studio they asked for her input in director and star. For director she chose Rex Ingram who would clash with both her and Valentino.[6][7] Mathis had seen a young actor named Rudolph Valentino in a bit part of a Clara Kimball Young film Eyes of Youth in 1919.[8] Valentino had arrived in Hollywood in 1918, where he had worked in many B movies including "All Night" with Carmel Myers and "The Delicious Little Devil" with Mae Murray.[9] He also worked on a picture with Julian Eltinge and Virginia Rappe that would eventually become, "The Isle of Love". It has been suggested Mathis might have first seen him in that film, as she was a close friend of Eltinge.
Mathis insisted Valentino would play Julio, however studio executives were nervous with the young actor. Valentino, whose parents were French and Italian, had a distinctly Latin look that had not been used much in pictures at that time.[10] However Mathis got her way, and after seeing the rushes she and Ingram decided to expand the role of Julio to showcase the talents of Valentino. Valentino had worked as a taxi dancer during his time in New York. To show off his dancing skills the tango scene was included, though it was not part of the original story.
Alice Terry, a former Follies Girl, was cast as Julio's lover, Marguerite. She would marry Ingram that same year.
Metro paid Ibanez $20,000 and 10% of the gross earning for the rights to adapt his novel.[11] The film took 6 months to shoot, cost $80,000, and had a cast of 72 'principal players'. Valentino was only paid $350 a week which was much less than other players. To add to his troubles he also had to provide his own costumes, which he spent thousands on. The French Village Marne, was constructed at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, CA. In the scenes between Julio and Marguerite, Valentino and Terry spoke French, to impress the lip readers. Valentino's was fluent in French as his mother was French.[12]
Mathis also injected some early depictions of alternative lifestyles; it featured a scene with German officers coming down the stairs in drag. Of the scene, Mathis would later tell The Los Angeles Times, "I had the German officers coming down the stairs with women's clothing on. To hundreds of people that meant no more than a masquerade party. To those who have lived and read, and who understand life, that scene stood out as one of the most terrific things in the picture."[5]
The 1921 film is a fictional story inspired by the history of World War I. Madariaga "The Centaur" (Pomeroy Cannon), a harsh but popular Argentine landowner, has a German son-in-law whom he dislikes and a French one whose family he openly favors. He is particularly fond of his grandson Julio (Rudolph Valentino), with whom he often carouses at seedy dives in the Boca district of Buenos Aires. In one of these bars, the movie's famous tango sequence occurs. A man and a woman are dancing the tango. Julio strides up and asks to cut in. The woman stares at Julio alluringly. The man brushes him off, and they resume dancing. Julio then challenges the man and strikes him, knocking him into some tables and out of the scene. Julio and the woman then dance a dramatic version of the tango that brings cheers from the people in the establishment. Following the dance, the woman sits on Julio's lap. Madariaga then slides to the floor, drunk. The woman laughs at Madariaga. Julio casts her aside in scorn and helps his grandfather home.
Sometime later, Madariaga dies. The extended family breaks up, one half returning to Germany and the other to France.
In Paris, Julio enjoys a somewhat shiftless life as a would-be artist and sensation at the local tea dances. He falls in love with Marguerite Laurier (Alice Terry), the unhappy and much younger wife of Etienne Laurier, a friend of Julio's father. The affair is discovered, and Marguerite's husband agrees to give her a divorce. It seems as though Julio and Marguerite will be able to marry, but both end up getting caught up in the Great War.
Marguerite becomes a nurse in Lourdes. The bravery of Etienne is reported, and he is blinded in battle. Etienne happens to end up at the hospital where she is working, and Marguerite attends to him there. Julio travels to Lourdes to see Marguerite and instead sees her taking care of Etienne. Julio, ashamed of his wastrel life, enlists in the French Army.
The German Army overruns Julio's father Marcelo's Marne Valley castle in the First Battle of the Marne. Marcelo is forced to host a German general and staff in the castle. Marcelo's German nephew is amongst the staff and tries to protect him, but Marcelo is arrested after a melee involving an officer's assault of a woman. Marcello is to be executed in the morning, but his life is spared when the French Army counterattacks in the "Miracle of the Marne".
Julio becomes renowned for his bravery in the trenches on the front. During a mission in no man's land, he recognizes his German cousin. Moments later they are both killed by a shell. Back in Paris, Marguerite considers abandoning the blinded Etienne, but Julio's ghost guides her to continue her care for him. Both families mourn for their fallen sons as the film ends.
The film premiered in New York to great critical acclaim. Many critics hailed it as a new Birth of a Nation. However the German press was less enthused with the portrayal of Germans in the film. It became a commercial success as well. It was one of the first films to make $1,000,000 at the box office, as well as the 6th best selling silent film of all time.[8][13] During its initial run it grossed $4,500,000 domestically. With its extended scenes of the devastated French countryside and personalized story of loss, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is often considered to be one the first anti-war films made.
The film made Mathis one of the most powerful and respected women in Hollywood, said to be only second to Mary Pickford.[5] She was one of the highest paid executives of her time, and went on to work with Famous Players-Lasky and Goldwyn Pictures.[14] She become known for association with Valentino, who became a close friend. She wrote many more films for him, helping to shape his image.[15]
Julio proved to be a breakthrough role for Valentino, who became a superstar overnight. He became heavily associated with the image of a 'Latin lover' though eventually his image as 'The Sheik' may have overshadowed this. Metro refused to acknowledge they had made a star, and immediately put him into a B-picture titled Uncharted Seas.[7][15] Valentino soon left them for Famous Players-Lasky.[15]
The film also helped launch the name of Ingram. Ingram came to resent the break out success of Valentino, as he felt it was his work that made Four Horsemen a success. He went on to make films with Terry, and eventually discovered Ramon Novarro whom he promoted as the new Valentino.[16]
The film was remade in 1962 (the setting was changed to World War II) with Vincente Minnelli as the director. The tango sequence is parodied by Gene Wilder during the opening credits of The World's Greatest Lover (1977).
In 1995, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film is now in the public domain, having been made before 1923. A DVD version was released in 2000 but is now out of print. The film is now available for free on the Internet Archive.[17]