The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)

In Argentina, one daughter of patriarch Madariaga is married to a Frenchman while the other is married to a German thus leading to a crisis when Nazi Germany occupies France and some Madariaga family members fight on opposite sides.

Director:

Vincente Minnelli

Writers:

Robert Ardrey (screenplay), John Gay (screenplay)

Stars:

Glenn Ford, Ingrid Thulin, Charles Boyer

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Glenn Ford	...	Julio Desnoyers
Ingrid Thulin	...	Marguerite Laurier
Charles Boyer	...	Marcelo Desnoyers
Lee J. Cobb	...	Julio Madariaga
Paul Lukas	...	Karl von Hartrott
Yvette Mimieux	...	Chi Chi Desnoyers
Karlheinz Böhm	...	Heinrich von Hartrott (as Karl Boehm)
Paul Henreid	...	Etienne Laurier
Harriet E. MacGibbon	...	Dona Luisa Desnoyers (as Harriet MacGibbon)
Kathryn Givney	...	Elena von Hartrott
Marcel Hillaire	...	Armand Dibier
George Dolenz	...	General von Kleig
Stephen Bekassy	...	Colonel Kleinsdorf
Nestor Paiva	...	Miguel
Albert Rémy	...	François (as Albert Remy)

Storyline

In Argentina, the family man Julio Madariaga is the patriarch of his family and considers his farm the paradise on Earth. One of his daughters, Luisa Desnoyers, has married the Frenchman immigrant Marcelo Desnoyers and they have one son, the playboy Julio, and one daughter, the gorgeous student of Sorbonne Chi Chi. His other daughter, Elena von Hartrott, has married the German Karl von Hartrott, and they have three sons: Heinrich, Gustav and Franz. In 1938, Heinrich returns from Germany for a family reunion and when he tells that he has joined the SS, the displeased Julio Madariaga has a heart attack and dies. When France is occupied by the Germans, the family reunites in Paris and Franz is the Nazi administrator in France. The alienated Julio has a studio where he paints, and has a love affair with Marguerite Laurier, the wife of the owner of a newspaper Etienne Laurier that is fighting in Belgium. Meanwhile Chi Chi joins the French resistance and is arrested. Julio uses the ...

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Plot Keywords:

gestapo | argentina | french resistance | self sacrifice | building collapse | 

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Taglines:

Paris, city of lovers...the day the clocks stopped turning and the world stood still...

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA Mexico

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 July 1962 (Mexico)

Also Known As:

The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Filming Locations:

Chateau de Versailles, Versailles, Yvelines, France

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,913,319

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,100,000, 31 December 1962

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Moctezuma Films, Olallo Rubio

Technical Specs

Runtime:

153 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In an effort to rescue what was viewed as a certain box office failure, the studio scrapped Alex North's film score and hired André Previn to write a new one.

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Goofs

In the scene where the German army parades through Paris (June 1940) they're marching under the Triumphal Arch and past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (this is indicated in the scene's opening shot with the eternal flame on the tomb). In fact, the Germans refrained from marching through the Arch, as did de Gaulle and the Free French in 1944. The German HQ wanted to avoid stirring up revulsion and hatred, and no parade at all has marched there since the Unknown Soldier was put to rest in 1920. They have all passed beside the Arch (part of the symbolism of the Tomb is a wish for "no more wars").

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Connections

Referenced in Finding Vivian Maier (2013)

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Soundtracks

Mine For the Moment
Written by André Previn and Dory Previn
Performed by Eileen Wilson

User Reviews

Minnelli and Visconti.

When you're watching Minnelli's work today you cannot help but thinking that he had a strong influence on Luchino Visconti's "la caditi dei degli" (1969)Actually the two movies begin the same way:a family whose members are tearing each other part because some of them go nazi.It does not matter if the scene takes place in Argentina in Minnelli's work:we find the same madness,the same baroque side and similarities abound:the old man's death echoes to that of the patriarch of the Essenbeck family in " la caduit dei degli" .Karl Boehm's character inspired Helmut Griem's one.And Ingrid Thulin is featured in both films,although she does not appear in the first thirty minutes,the best..

The dinner scene remains impressive today:if it certainly inspired Visconti later ,itself takes probably its roots in Frank Borzague's masterwork "mortal storm" (1940),which tackled long before his two peers the subject of the family and nazism.But Minnelli added gaudy colors ,typical of the fifties melodrama ,and special effects -the four horsemen who will come back ,particularly later when chic people are dancing while war is raging outside.Actually this scene is so strong as the rest of the movie seems like a let-down afterward .All that takes place in Paris does not rise above average.The film never recaptures the intensity of its beginning,except for its very last minutes,with the final confrontation between the two cousins -it's difficult to admit,though ,that Glenn Ford and Karl Boehm are relatives.

If a strong beginning and an effective ending make a good film ,you can say that Minnelli's extravaganza is worth a watch.It's not among his best works ,but if critic Georges Sadoul said "the first sequence is sheer aggressive bad taste" ,do not forget that "good taste" does not necessarily make great works.