The Four Hourseman of the Apocalypes (1962)

1/1/06

Based on Vicente Blasco Ibanez novel of the same name, Four Horseman of the Apocalypse is the tale of a large and wealthy Argentine family divided over the rise of the Nazi movement. Glenn Ford is about two decades to old to be playing the part of Julio Desnoyers, the young playboy who is moved from his neutral ways by the love of a good (albeit married) women and his experiences in occupied Paris. Julio eventually joins the French resistance and in the coolest scene in the movie kills a German officer in a croweded subway station without anyone noticing. The movies director Vincente Minnelli is best known for musicals, but does an excellent job here of capturing the tension of an occupied city. I do have to fault Minnelli on some of his technical flourishes, including the tinted montage sequences and the overly literal visualization of the 'four horseman of the apocalypse' riding in the sky, these elements were a bit hokey. On the whole though Horseman is a strong story about the development of conscience.