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Overrated

Brilliant and touching

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) was the biggest blockbuster of its day and among the highest-grossing films of the 1920s. Today, it is the most well-known film of the unsung director Rex Ingram, notable for being the film which launched the career of heartthrob Rudolph Valentino with the iconic tango sequence, and it is lauded as an early anti-war picture. But is it really deserving of the praise and attention it gets outside of historical significance? The film itself is unevenly paced, even stately. One feels every slow minute of its two hours. Ingram's direction is good though, and the visuals are stunning, as they always are in an Ingram production.The acting is uneven too. Valentino does well as Julio, going from a callow philanderer to a selfless war hero. His more restrained technique is a great contrast to the eye-bulging insanity he displays in his most well-known film, that masterpiece of kitsch, The Sheik (1921). However, I think his best performance was still ahead of him in The Eagle (1925), where he juggles drama, comedy, action, and sensual romance with ease.Alice Terry is not one of my favorite actresses, as I find she doesn't possess much charisma for a leading lady. This is probably one of her better performances, a restrained portrait of romantic yearning and a struggle between her happiness and the welfare of her much older husband.Though many have praised his performance, I found Joseph Swickard to be almost embarrassing as Valentino's father. He reacts to the atrocities around him with bulging eyes and cartoonish trembling. When he collapses while telling Julio to be ruthless in war, it comes across as unintentionally comedic rather than emotional.I also disagree with the notion that this is an anti-war picture. The depiction of the Germans in this film is as extreme as the cartoonish villainy of Erich von Stroheim's nurse-raping and child-murdering Prussian lieutenant in The Heart of Humanity (1918). While the characters regret the casualties of the war, the film suggests that the war had to happen because those evil Germans had to be stopped. The enemy are not treated like people; they're all wicked and that is definitely reminiscent of wartime propaganda, not a movie arguing for pacifism or the senselessness of war.Honestly, I wish Ingram were more remembered for his excellent production of Scaramouche (1923), which is even greater than the more celebrated 1953 remake. It also has better performances and pacing. Four Horsemen is a decent epic, but it isn't anymore memorable than any other by-the-numbers blockbuster Hollywood had and has cranked out before or after.

"She discovered me. Anything I have accomplished I owe to her, to her judgment, to her advice and to her unfailing patience and confidence in me," Rudolph Valentino said about an eminent woman in both his career and in the Hollywood of the early 1920s, the first female film executive June Mathis (1887-1927). SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION: It was Ms Mathis who took the key initiative in making one of the cult movies of the silent era, in convincing the studio Metro to hire Rex Ingram on as a director, in discovering the screen idol, Rudolph Valentino. And, perhaps, the latest aspect is the one that has remained associated with this movie. What is more, Ingram, an eminent director of his day, clearly appears to have given, beside Ms Mathis, a free ticket to stardom for the king of tango, for the cherished boy of extravagance."HAIL VALENTINO" one could shout out... Indeed, it seems that most aspects appear to be shadowed by the magnetic presence of the young handsome actor, his genuine performance as youthful Julio whose heart was devoted to tango and whose charm to women. It is clear that the role began the widespread "Valentino mania," which proves the fact that there were hardly any other actors in the history of cinema who, in a short period of time, managed to create a special aura around themselves as intensely as Valentino did. Yet, it would be a serious condensation to claim that the movie is solely a Valentino vehicle.Therefore, NOT SOLELY VALENTINO but lots of aspects, including stunning visuals, beautiful cinematography (great work by John Seitz), grandiose sets, length and the lavish costumes make THE FOUR HORSEMEN an epic proportion silent film, one of the three earliest ones (the two other being D.W. Griffith's 1915 BIRTH OF A NATION and 1916 INTOLERANCE). When I watched the film with my friend, we were entirely mesmerized by the fact that so glorious a motion picture was made as early as in 1921. The impressive number of extras (over 12,000), the glossy sets of the Marne Valley, the beautifully decorated interiors and powerful imagery must have overwhelmed the generation of the silent era viewers. Moreover, what appealed to them even more intensely in 1921 was the content.The POWERFUL CONTENT, based considerably on the novel by Vincente Blasco Ibanez, deals with events that were fresh in the minds of viewers: the WWI (sometimes referred to as the Great War) which had just ended and which was infamous for having brought so much destruction and death to so many people. And here, except for various plots that appear in the content and possible interpretations of "false stereotypes" and clichés, one should be just and state one fact clearly: THE FOUR HORSEMEN is truly one of the most powerful anti-war movies. The truly SYMBOLIC CHARACTER is Tchernoff (Nigel De Brulier) who bases his vision on the theme of four horsemen derived from the Book of Revelation and from the interpretations by Albrecht Duerer, appears to represent human conscience. The focus is clearly put on the Christian faith where there is a strong link between hatred and suffering vs love and peace. The aspect of personal sacrifices, the atonement offered from the depth of one's heart is also memorably manifested here. Consider, for instance, the scene at Lourdes, France.As far as the CAST are concerned, it is, again, not only Valentino who deserves appreciation. I think that wonderful acting is given by many talented actors and actresses who still can make THE FOUR HORSEMEN my cup of tea. It is significant to mention the director's wife, Alice Terry who portrays beautiful Marguerite Laurier in a very subtle manner. Her heart longs for youthful companionship, yet, she chooses to dwell in the joy of self sacrifice by helping others, living for others. Her character represents the way of love that remains in total objection to the way of hatred that war spreads. And isn't her way the only one that may bring relief to suffering humanity? Among other cast, I would make a remark about the aforementioned Nigel De Brulier whose face appears to be particularly mysterious and, for whom, nothing is a mystery. Pomeroy Cannon is also memorable as old Madariaga, the old centaur for whom women were the plague of his existence.All things considered, one could think that the film is too sophisticated and, perhaps, too old to be appreciated nowadays. However, after viewing the movie twice, I say honestly: "It is anything but!" Its legendary role may be a matter of the past only for people who will close themselves in up-to-date technical effects and action. Yet, if you open yourself to the depth of classic motion pictures, to their timeless messages, the legendary role of THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE shall not pass. You will never forget this film because it touches the universal aspects of human existence.It will constitute a silent tribute to the life circle of humanity, to various stories that begin with joyful "Hooray" at their births and end with sorrowful "R.I.P" at their deaths; yet, the stories above which shines the Miracle of Love.

I had always wanted to watch this Silent version of the Vicente Blasco Ibanez novel (who, incidentally, wrote MARE NOSTRUM as well - also filmed by Ingram in 1926), especially since it's considered to be vastly superior to the 1961 Vincente Minnelli remake in color and widescreen - which is a film I've watched quite a few times and which I've actually always liked! Still, now I can't help but agree that the remake is virtually overblown in every department by comparison with the original; the only thing I could find where it improved on the Silent version is the relationship between Julio and his German cousin, which is rather underdeveloped in Ingram's film (though in both versions, the two of them die together).The large-scale production is truly impressive, with settings ranging from rural Argentina to the French aristocracy and the grimy battlefields of World War I - not to mention a striking vision of Hell, with a gigantic fire-breathing demon unleashing the somber and ominous titular figures. The cast is certainly efficient, though some of the familiar names actually only gained popularity years later (Alan Hale, Wallace Beery and Jean Hersholt): Rudolph Valentino was shot to super-stardom with his role of the gigolo who develops a conscience and gives his life for a country which is not even his (a miscast Glenn Ford was certainly no match for him in the remake!); the tango sequence is justly celebrated, but his performance is excellent throughout (again, this might very well constitute his best work). Needless to say, the female lead was played by Ingram's own wife Alice Terry; also worth mentioning is Nigel De Brulier as a gaunt and gloomy exiled Russian who 'sees' the Four Horsemen and predicts the extent of their havoc. Though quite slow-going, the plot is compelling and the handling vivid enough to withstand its hefty 134-minute duration; as a matter of fact, the film is probably the most notable epic 'family saga' since D.W. Griffith's THE BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) which, obviously, had dealt with the American Civil War and its turbulent aftermath.I've watched 6 Rex Ingram films so far and, apparently, the only two surviving titles of his I've yet to catch up with are THE ARAB (1924) and THE GARDEN OF ALLAH (1927); this is possibly the finest of them, however, despite being the oldest - and I'm surprised it still hasn't made it to DVD (from Warners), ideally as a 2-Disc Set in order to include the Sound remake...

I know that this is a celebrated classic, but it sprawls. Some of the scenes -- Valentino dancing, for example -- are there only for their own sake, and add little to the narrative movement. Many of the long sequences with the greedy Frenchman are just tedious. Like the films of D.W. Griffith, this one is preachy and moralistic. The film finally makes a powerful point -- all the sons of the father who urged them to war,or, in the case of the Frenchman, was delighted to see his son in uniform, die in World War I. The battle sequences -- the epic 'trip to the underworld' -- are interesting for their mix of mud and allegory. Valentino makes the film worth while, and the wonderful Alice Terry, best of the silent screen actresses, makes the film memorable. Had the film tightened around the doomed relationship between Valentino and Terry it would have lost its sweep, but it would have achieved an intensity that the finished product lacks.