Vincente Minnelli's

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

(1962) from the novel by Vincente Blasco Ibañez (1867-1928)

The Spanish novelist Vincente Blasco Ibañez published The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in 1919, right after the First World War. It was filmed by Metro Pictures, an MGM precursor, in 1921. An unknown taxi dancer was cast as Julio Desnoyers, whose part was significantly enlarged. The film was an instant sensation when Rudolph Valentino danced the tango in one of the opening scenes. Not only was Valentino one of the biggest stars of the silent era, but this film featuring his first memorable role was one of the highest grossing films of all time. Although the 1962 remake is significantly different from both the source novel and the silent film, it shares the silent film's structural focus on the character of Julio.

The story starts in Argentina, where the family patriarch (Lee J. Cobb), Madariaga—which means "the Centaur," though in the film he is only referred to as "the old one"—has emigrated from Europe. His two daughters have married Europeans, one a Frenchman, Marcello Desnoyers (Charles Boyer), the other a German, Otto von Hartrott, renamed Karl for the film (Paul Lukas). The French branch of the family has two children, Julio, the grandfather's favorite, and Chi Chi (Yvette Mimieux). The German branch has three sons, the youngest of whom, Heinrich (Karlheinz Böhm), has just returned from Germany. Julio Desnoyers is a pleasure-seeking wastrel, a man after his grandfather's heart. Madariaga sees that the coming war between France and Germany will tear his family apart, and broods over the four horsemen, the first four of the seven seals of Revelation. These are conquest, war, famine (or pestilence), and death, harbingers of the Last Judgment.

As in the novel, Julio becomes involved with a woman who is married to an older man. The husband, a friend of Julio's father, agrees to a divorce in the book, but World War I begins before the divorce can be finalized. Julio enlists and is eventually captured by the Germans. Although his German relatives attempt to protect him in captivity, he is sentenced to be shot after defending a woman from sexual assault by a German officer. Julio is saved at the last minute by a French counterattack. Later, he meets his only surviving cousin Heinrich in the trenches. The two refuse to fight, but are both killed by the same shell.

The silent film version follows the outline of Ibañez's novel more closely than the remake, but both films focus more on Julio. When MGM remade one of the studio's greatest silent-era successes in 1962, in color and CinemaScope, they decided to update the story to World War II. Vincente Minnelli's film opens with Julio (Glenn Ford) carousing with Madariaga (Lee J. Cobb). The famous scene where Valentino danced the tango was not reproduced, as it is not in the novel. The two return late to the ranch for Heinrich's homecoming. Heinrich is the youngest son of Karl von Hartrott (Paul Lukas), the German husband of one of Madariaga's two daughters.

Heinrich (Karlheinz Böhm) was supposed to be studying medicine in Germany, but has instead become a dedicated Nazi. We meet Julio's French father, Marcello Desnoyers (Charles Boyer), and sister Chi Chi (Yvette Mimieux). Madariaga realizes that Hitler's program to victimize the defenseless and innocent, will lead to a second war between France and Germany, and destroy his family. Madariaga denounces Hitler as a madman, insulting his German relatives. He dies of despair, witnessing the four horsemen as a fata morgana. The dining room fireplace also has andirons in the form of the four horsemen.

The Desnoyers return to Paris and the German cousins become further embroiled in Nazism. A number of transitional montages signal both the passage of time and illustrate important historical events such as the rise of Hitler, the invasion of Poland, and the fall of France. Before the war starts, Julio establishes a dilettante career as an artist, art dealer, and collector, however, he is primarily a playboy. He meets and falls in love with Marguerite Laurier (Ingrid Thulin). She is married to crusading liberal and anti-fascist newspaper publisher Etienne Laurier (Paul Henried). Her husband neglects her because of his idealistic devotion to his humanitarian pursuits.

In the novel and the silent film, Etienne is much older than Marguerite and Julio, but in this film there is not too obvious an age difference. Etienne's character is more severe and mature than Marguerite's, who is equally more serious than Julio's, at least superficially. When the war starts, Etienne joins the French army as a matter of principle, and is wounded and captured. Because of his anti-Nazi history, he is tortured by the Gestapo. Reluctant to betray her husband but attracted to Julio, Marguerite rejects Julio on the Quai d'Orleans. Julio gives her a key to his apartment, and she finally comes to him for shelter during an air raid.

At the start of the war in 1939, Heinrich is an SS colonel on Reynard Heydrich's staff, and his father is a Wermacht general. France is defeated in 1940, and the allied British Expeditonary Forces are evacuated from Dunquerque. The Germans enter Paris. Actors portraying German soldiers could not display the swastika in Paris for the extensive location filming. They were filmed marching past the Arc de Triomphe and the tomb of the unknown soldier. Etienne Laurier is released and repatriated, returning to Marguerite, but after torture by the Gestapo, is physically the mere shell of a man. (In the novel and silent film, he is blinded in combat, but has already agreed to a divorce before the war. The second film differs in that Etienne refuses to divorce Margurite.) Physically this drives her closer to Julio, but imposes tremendous guilt on all three of them.

Julio protects Marguerite from the military governor of Paris, a lecherous and predatory bully. Then Heinrich protects Julio. When Chi Chi is arrested at a student riot, her uncle, General Karl von Hartrott, gets her released, but she is unrepentant and formally joins the resistance. When she is arrested again, her uncle cannot help her a second time, and now has cause to fear the Gestapo himself. The deaths of innocent people at the hands of the Gestapo influence Julio to join, not the French army as in the novel, but the resistance.

Since Heinrich is posted to Normandie in command of a tank regiment, the resistance has Julio ask for permission to visit his cousin. Julio's car carries a radio beacon which is used to call in an airstrike in preparation for D-day. The two fathers get wind of this plan and desperately struggle to save their two surviving sons, and are able to call Heinrich at the last possible moment.

The 1962 film version is notable for its nuanced depiction of its German characters, a sophisticated approach which is not typical of Second World War dramas. The father Karl is shown as an enthusiastic early supporter of Hitler, but eventually comes to regret his complicity in the regime's evil. The son Heinrich is also presented sympathetically, but this is more of a whitewash. His original position in the SS clearly implicates him as an architect of the Holocaust, though nothing in the film forces the viewer to confront this likelihood. His later position in the Waffen-SS is no more blameworthy than his father's position in the army. The depiction of the military governor of Paris as a degenerate sexual predator repeats a plot element of the novel and first film, but is grossly unfair to the historical General Dietrich von Choltitz, who disobeyed Hitler by not destroying the city before its liberation. He is portrayed more accurately and sympathetically by Gert Fröbe in Is Paris Burning? (1966). The 1962 film shows many facets of the war experience which were typically ignored, but it also fails to even elude to the Holocaust.

The musical score by André Previn (1929-) offers some of the most virtuosic music ever composed for a film. It is one of Previn's finest works and it is surprising that he never incorporated its themes in his string concertos. The film is credited as having been filmed in CinemaScope, but as was the practice with MGM productions of the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was filmed with Panavision lenses, so it's more accurate to say it was filmed in Panavision. The Panatar lens offered less optical distortion, and is able to change the field and range of focus without zooming, unlike the older Bausch and Lomb compound lenses introduced for CinemaScope in 1953.

The film was an expensive and elaborate production, with nearly all the exterior scenes filmed on location in Paris. As a result the film looks sumptuous and impressive. Interior scenes were shot on soundstage sets of numerous palaces, apartments, and nightclubs. The film lost MGM $6 million in its initial release and was critically panned, though it fared much better in Argentina, France, and Spain, where it is now considered a classic. Rather than viewing the updating of a classic novel as too much of a liberty, the critical consensus has been that updating the story from World War I to II amplifies its impact and moral relevance and emphasizes the universality of the moral issues the characters confront. The two lead performances have been criticized over the years. The 46-year-old Glen Ford was unfavorably compared to the 26-year-old superstar Rudolph Valentino. Ingrid Thulin's performance was also called wooden. Both were talented actors, and both were said to be too old to portray the characters. There's no reason why Julio and Marguerite can't be seen as forty-somethings rather than twenty-somethings. The supporting cast were and are universally praised, especially Yvette Mimieux, Charles Boyer, Paul Lukas, Paul Henreid, and Lee J. Cobb. Boyer, Lukas, and Henreid all starred in numerous World War II films in the 1940s.

Glenn Ford (1916-2006) starred in many notable films including Gilda (1946) with Rita Hayworth, The Big Heat (1953), Blackboard Jungle (1955), The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), and Is Paris Burning? (1966).

Ingrid Thulin (1926-2004) acted for Ingmar Bergman in several films, including Wild Strawberries (1957) and The Magician (1958). She was fluent in English and made numerous English-language films, however MGM was so insecure about her accent, and the success of this expensive film was so critical to the studio, they had her part dubbed in post-production by Angela Lansbury. This is only annoying if you're aware of it.

Charles Boyer (1899-1978) played Pepe Le Moko in Algiers (1938) with Hedy Lamarr, and also starred with Angela Lansbury in Gaslight (1944). He was nominated for best actor four times.

Paul Lukas (1891-1971) starred in Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939), Watch on the Rhine (1943) by Lillian Hellman, and played Professor Aronnax in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).

Paul Henried (1908-1992) starred with Bette Davis in Now, Voyager (1942), and is the husband Ingrid Bergman leaves Humphrey Bogart for in Casablanca (1942).

Lee J. Cobb (1911-1976) starred in On the Waterfront (1954), The Man in the Grey Flannel Suit (1956), Twelve Angry Men (1957), The Brothers Karamazov (1958), playing the father Karamazov, a role very similar to Madariaga, and Exodus (1960).

Angela Lansbury (1925-), who dubbed Ingrid Thulin's voice, appeared with Charles Boyer in Gaslight (1944) and was twice nominated for best supporting actress for her performances in The Picture of Dorian Grey (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962). She also appeared in Samson and Delilah (1949) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).

Karlheinz Böhm (1928-) portrayed the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I in Sissi (1955) and its two sequels and starred in Peeping Tom (1960).

Yvette Mimieux (1942-) starred in The Time Machine (1960), and The Black Hole (1979).

Vincente Minnelli (1903-1986) directed a dazzling variety of film genres. His credits include Madam Bovary (1949), An American in Paris (1951), Lust for Life (1956), in which Kirk Douglas plays Vincent Van Gogh, Gigi (1958), and The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), also starring Glenn Ford.