4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse

I was going along with this movie for the first twenty minutes. I was rolling over laughing. The film's title is reinforced periodically throughout the two and a half hours with these horsemen-in-the-clouds images. But this is not really the bad part of the movie.

Some of the marginal characters might have been interesting, but the central character is Julio. Julio is a gutless, selfish, unimaginative playboy. Glenn Ford so convicingly played Julio as oblivious to the surrounding circumstances that I found it very difficult to remember that he's not supposed to be an actor in 1961. Nevertheless, I got the impression that the viewer is supposed to sympathise with him. And the melodramatic music, never subtle, always seems to follow his self-absorbed emotions. Personally, I was begging for any character in the movie to punch this guy in the face, knock him down, and let's look for somebody worthwhile to follow around Paris.

With the plot following Julio, it never lives up to the passion of the grandfather's stormy kickoff. We mostly watch Julio's attempts at romancing Marguerite get interrupted by what to him are the annoyances of war. The juxtaposition of the two cousins, Julio and Heinrich, is never given much depth since Heinrich is simply a dead-set Nazi from beginning to end, and Julio doesn't believe in anything or care about anyone from beginning to end. (And no similarity to Rick in Casablanca.) Unlike some movies which add depth to their subject, this one just really hangs on war for what drama it can steal from it. Two stars, just for the scenery, nothing terribly offensive, and the first twenty minutes with the grandfather in Argentina. END


George Dolenz should've had more of a part   August 21, 2001
S. R. T. (Clovis, CA United States)
5 out of 16 found this review helpful

Even tho this is one of George Dolenz's last films before his death in 1963. This movie had a bit of a chill on what was it like during the war. I think (since I run a site on George) he should've been seen more in it than in the mid point, then at the very end...but still casted. I don't know what was up with that.

If you are a fan of movies that were made around this time that take place in another war, this has to be one of your films then. But Glenn Ford did a marvelous job in this film, this would have to go on your list if you are a fan of his. But I enjoyed this movie, wouldn't be in my top 10 list it would maybe be in my top 20 of films of the Dolenzes.


Minnelli's masterpiece   April 4, 1999
3 out of 8 found this review helpful

This compelling drama is less known but superior to An American in Paris or The Band Wagon. It's about engagement, about accepting to fight for one's ideas, even if it's not heroic.


MODERN STORY ABOUT CLASSICAL EMOTIONS   June 10, 1999
2 out of 7 found this review helpful

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFULL MOVIES ONE CAN SEE.IT IS ABOUT A FAMILY LIKE YOU AND I WOULD HAVE BUT BECAUSE OF CONFLICTS , THEY END UP BLOWING EACH OTHER TO BITS INSPITE OF THEIR OBVIOUS LOVE AND RESPECT FOR EACH OTHER