The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (film)

by Rex Ingram

METRO
PRESENTS
REX INGRAM'S
PRODUCTION OF
VICENTE BLASCO IBAÑEZ'
LITERARY MASTERPIECE

THE FOUR HORSEMEN
OF THE APOCALYPSE

COPYRIGHT 1920
BY METRO PICTURES CORPORATION
CONTROLLED BY LOEW INCORPORATED

Produced by
METRO PICTURES
CORPORATION

 

PASSED
BY THE
NATIONAL
BOARD OF
REVIEW

DIRECTED AND SUPERVISED BY
REX INGRAM

Written for the screen by
JUNE MATHIS

Photography by
JOHN F. SEITZ

Film Editor
GRANT WHYTOCK

Technical Staff
AMOS MYERS
JOSEPH CALDER

Assistant Director
WALTER MAYO

Art Title by
JACK W. ROBSON

CAST

Madariaga Marcelo Desnoyers Doña Luisa Julio Desnoyers Chichí Karl von Hartrott Elena Otto von Hartrott Etienne Laurier

Pomeroy Cannon Josef Swickard Bridgetta Clark Rudolph Valentino Virginia Warwick Alan Hale Mabel Van Buren Stuart Holmes John St. Polis

Marguerite Laurier Senator Lacour René Lacour Tchernoff Argensola Lodgekeeper Lieut. Col. von Richthosen The General Lieut. Schnitz

Alice Terry Mark Fenton Derrick Ghent Nigel de Brulier Bowditch Turner Edward Connelly Wallace Beery Harry Northrup Arthur Hoyt

In a world old in hatred and bloodshed, where nation is crowded against nation and creed against creed, centuries of wars have sown their bitter seed, and the fires of resentment smouldering beneath the crust of civilization but await the breaking of the Seven Seals of Prophecy to start a mighty conflagration.

While in the New World, boundless space offers a haven to the alien, and ancient hatreds are forgotten.

And from Spain to the new land of the Argentine had come Madariaga, the centaur. Years of toil had yielded their reward until his vast grazing lands rivaled a king's domain.

Starting life in savage poverty, he became a fearless trader, acquiring boundless fields and populating them with blooded stock.

Capricious and despotic, he was both loved and feared by his workers.

"Ay padres! Ay padres!"

Many of the hybrid youths in his employ bore a strange resemblance to the Spaniard.

Madariaga's tastes were simple. He still clung to his primitive abode—sharing it with his two daughters and their husbands, one—a Frenchman, the other—a German.

The Frenchman, Marcelo Desnoyers, the old centaur's favorite, managed his gigantic enterprises.

The day was filled with expectancy. For seven years, Desnoyers's wife had been childless.

While the German's heart was filled with misgivings.

Karl von Hartrott had married Elena, Madariaga's younger daughter, against her father's will and was tolerated only through the Frenchman's influence.

"At any moment—now. Perhaps my sister's child will be a girl. Then, after all—father's millions will go to our three sons—"

"Any news?"

"It shall be a boy! I shall call him Julio and make him my heir!"

"I need one of my own breed."

"Down with Napoleon!"

"A boy!"

"Hooray!"

Madariaga's dream had come true! From far and wide his workers came to share his joy.

Steeped in Old World sin, harboring the dregs of humanity, the famous Boca quarter of Buenos Aires was a port of last resort.

And with the passing of a score of years, senile and old, living again in his grandson, Madariaga still clung to life and its pleasures.

Encouraged by an indulgent grandfather who was his ideal, what chance had Julio Desnoyers to be other than a youthful libertine?

"That's Madariaga—the richest man in the Argentine! Last week he shipped thirty thousand head of cattle to Europe."

"The boy is part French and the old man's idol. He has no use for his three German grandsons."

"Take me home, Peoncito! I am too old to come with you any more."

And so Madariaga remained at his own fireside, amusing himself with Julio's young sister Chichí.

Luisa, Magariaga's elder daughter, the Frenchman's wife.

"Is it not enough to lead my son into wild ways without teaching my daughter the tango?"

"Would you have the boy grow up like those glass-eyed carrot-topped sharks of your sister's?"

"Por Dios! Women are the plague of our existence, but we cannot get along without them—eh, Frenchy?"

"There's no need to worry about Julio. You're too miserly—youth must have its fling!"

Von Hartrott had reared his sons to respect the teachings of his Fatherland.

Der Mann soll zum Kriege erzogen werden, und
das Weib zur Erholung des Kriegers : alles Andre ist
Thorheit.

Man shall be trained for war, and women for the
recreation of the warrior: all else is folly.

Too sweet fruits—these the warrior liketh not

"Grandfather gave Julio the strip of land south of the shearing shed today!"

"I heard him tell the lawyer he was growing old—that he wanted to make the changes in his will. Do you think he will leave Julio all his money?"

"Do you worry! Julio is wasting his youth—our day will come!"

And when the morrow's sun had reached the western horizon.

Thus died the centaur, as he has lived, with the lash hanging from his wrist—with his legs bowed by the saddle.

~~ Will ~~

= of Don =

Julio Madariaga

"And it is my will that my entire fortune be divided between my two daughters, Luisa and Elena."

The shattering of youth's ideal—thinking only of his grandfather's broken promise.

"I shall dispose of my share and return to my own country to resume my rightful position—so that my sons may have the advantage of education and culture."

"But you can't do that, Karl! Madariaga always preached that where a man makes his fortune and raises his family—there is his true country!"

"One owes his first duty to his Fatherland—that his children may grow up in allegiance with the advantages of super-culture."

"Karl is right! We owe something to our children. Chichí could make a more suitable marriage in Paris and Julio study art. Why should you not return to your country?"

Marcelo Desnoyers had guarded the secret of his flight to the New World with fear and humiliation.

LE FIGARO — VENDREDI 5 AOÛT 1870

---

---

LES ETUDIANTS SOCIALISTES SE
REVOLTENT

---

Pendant que les Allemands enva-
hissent nos provinces, les étudiants
dont les noms suivent ont refusé de
prendre les armes pour la défense du
territoire. Ils auraient fui à l'étran-
ger pour échapper aux poursuites.

Jean Giraud
Etienne Grossier
XMarcelo Desnoyers
Julien Craven
Raoul Chambre
Robert Sermont

LE FIGARO — VENDREDI 5 AOÛT 1870

---

---

SOCIALISTIC STUDENTS BODY
REVOLTS

---

With Germany within our borders,
the following list of students refused
to defend their country. It is report-
ed that they have fled to other lands
to escape punishment.

Jean Giraud
Etienne Grossier
XMarcelo Desnoyers
Julien Craven
Raoul Chambre
Robert Sermont

"I'll risk it!"

"When one leaves one's home to go to another land, one always risks his happiness. What may come to us on the other land——we cannot tell."

The Old World.

After a few years in Paris, discontent crept into the hearts of the Desnoyers family.

Quisiera que mi hermana fuera la
primera in felicitarme. Carlos a recibido
un reconocimiento especial del Emperador
mientras que il joven Carlos ha sido nombrado
profesor y Otto la ahora teniente en el

I wish my sister to be the first to
congratulate me. Karl has received special
recognition from the Emperor while young
Karl has been appointed to a professorship
and Otto is now First-Lieutenant in the

"Chichí, something tells me that your father has been to another auction! We will be bankrupt if he persists this crazy bargain-hunting!"

"More purchases for the castle on the Marne——where will it all end?"

"Mother! You look like a pawnbroker's lady!"

"You indulge your own foolish whims, yet deny Julio and me the things we care for!"

"I mean that you are miserly! If mother did not give Julio money, he could not continue his studies!"

"Continue his studies! Continue his debauches at Montmartre—"

"—his tango teas—his pretext of painting as an excuse to surround himself with women!"

Julio was a true grandson of the old Spaniard. Women were the "plague" of his existence.

Argensola, Julio's secretary——an indolent Spanish artist.

"From the ladies at the Tango Palace."

"Bills that must be paid at once—or they will appeal to your father."

"Perhaps your mother will let you have the money. You know she would give you her last centime!"

DESNOYERS

"It is the Stranger—who lives on the floor above."

Desnoyers had made two friends in the Old World, Senator Lacour and Etienne Laurier.

"Now, Senator, you have seen my treasures destined for the castle, but this is my pride—a golden bath that once belonged to an emperor!"

"To Laurier there is but one treasure—his beautiful wife. We were to meet her here, and she is late."

The Senator's son, René, preferred Youth to Antiques.

"Your papa has forbidden my giving you any more money, and I decided to obey him when I saw those na—undressed ladies in your studio."

"Your papa will never miss it."

"Naughty boy! One at a time!"

"Marguerite Laurier."

"I have seen you dance very often at the Tango Palace."

"Perhaps some afternoon—you will come and dance with me?"

"I stopped at mother's. My brother is on leave of absence."

"Poor little Marguerite! Laurier is a fine fellow—but too old. Her heart yearns for youth's companionship and——romance."

Spring smiled on the peaceful village of Villeblanche, and in the distance towered Desnoyers' most recent purchase.

The castle on the Marne had become a colossal treasure palace—an altar to Desnoyers' miserly bargain worship.

The von Hartrott family accepted Desnoyers's hospitality with good-natured superiority.

"You may have your treasures, Marcelo, but I have my sons."

The world was dancing. Paris had succumbed to the mad rhythm of the Argentine tango.

And Julio's boyhood pastime had brought him glory, and with it, many pupils to satisfy his extravagant tastes.

"Julio Desnoyers has neglected all his pupils since Madame Laurier began coming here."

"Someone should inform her husband—our young tango hero would have another duel on his hands."

"That is Laurier's wife!"

"Everyone is watching us! I—I am afraid—it is unwise to come here any more."

"I—I could not bear it if I were not to see you!"

"But my husband——if he should hear—"

"Why not come to my studio? There would be no harm—I promise to be good!"

"You—you promise?"

Women were not strange to Julio's studio, but never before had there been one——like Marguerite.

"A woman?"

"A lady!"

And as the days passed the hours spent together became their only happiness.

L'ARCHIDUC
FRANÇOIS FERDINAND
D'AUTRICHE
ASSASSINÉ

---

VIENNE, le 28 juin. (Havas).—
L'archiduc héritier d'Autriche Fran-
çois Ferdinand a été tué aujour-
d'hui à coups de revolver par un anar-
chiste serbe à Sarajevo, (Bosnie).
La situation politique, déjà si tendue
aux Balkans, se compliquera encore
davantage et devient une menace
pour la situation de l'Alliance des

ARCHIDUKE
FRANCIS FERDINAND
OF AUTRIA
ASSASSINATED

---

VIENNA, June 28th. (Havas).—
Archiduke Francis Ferdinand, heir
to the throne of Austria, was shot
and killed today by a Serbian an-
archist at Sarajevo, (Bosnia). The
political situation, already so tense
in the Balkans, will become still
more complicated and threatens the
Europeans nations' alliance which

2351

Le Figaro

"It is the beginning of the end——the brand that will set the world ablaze"

"It does not seem wrong for me to come here now."

"Do you remember the first day I came and you held me in your arms?"

"That night——"

"It does not seem right when he kisses me. My parents arranged the marriage—I do not love him."

"You do not belong to him—you belong to me!"

"The symbol of the original sin. Do you wonder that the apple—with its brilliant coloring, was chosen to represent the forbidden fruit?"

"But when the beautiful covering is removed, how unlovely—how like a woman bereft of her cloak of virtue."

History in the making is like a stream overflowing its banks.

And during the fateful month of July, startling events overlapped each other—drawing nations into a swirling maelstrom which threatened to engulf all Europe.

EXPOSITION
INTERNATIONALE
DE
MADRID

Sous le Haut Patronat
de sa majesté la reine régente
D'ESPAGNE
DIRECTION GÉNÉRALE:
PALACIO DE LA INDUSTRIA Y
DE LAS ARTES MADRID

 

COGNAC

[PE]INTURES

Petit Parisien.
5 centimesLe plus fort tirage des journaux du monde entier5 centimes

---

RUSSIAN DUMA DECLARES MOBILIZATION

---

Germany resents Russian movement
on frontier

---

France fears she will be drawn into conflict

BYRRH

CHARBON
BOIS

"Do you think they will drag us into it?"

"Two generations have come into the world informed that as soon as they reach a reasonable age—there will be war."

"War will go hard with them. He is a Frenchman—she is German—and their child—God pity it!"

The turbulent situation had brought the Desnoyers family back to Paris.

Cela vous intéressera
sans doute d'apprendre
que Madame Laurier
ne fréquente plus le
Tango Palace avec Monsieur
Julio Desnoyers, mais
passe le quatre à cinq
chez lui dans son
atelier. It will undoubtedly
interest you to know that
Madame Laurier no longer
frequents the Tango Palace
with Mr Julio Desnoyers,
but spends the hour
from four to five at
his studio

"I will trouble you to conduct me to your son's studio!"

"Just imagine what war will mean! No parties—no pretty chothes—women in mourning——nothing but misery!"

"But we will have each other!"

ML

"There is no need of an explanation from either of us!"

"You may send your seconds to me at your earliest convenience!"

"For God's sake, Laurier, let there be no scandal!"

"I shall take you to your mother and tomorrow arrange for a divorce."

The Old World hatreds had burst their bonds, and for the next forty-eight hours the electric web encircling the continent vibrated incessantly with its transmission of hopes and fears until——

ARMEE DE TERRE ET ARMEE DE MER

 

ORDRE
DE MOBILISATION GENERALE

---

Par décret du Président de la République, la mobilisation
des armées de terre et de mer est ordonnée, ainsi que la
réquisition des animaux, voitures et harnais nécessaires au
complément de ces armées.
Le premier jour de la mobilisation est le dimanche 2 août 1914.

ARMY AND NAVY FORCES

 

ORDER
FOR GENERAL MOBILIZATION

---

By decree of the President of the Republic, mobilization
for the army and navy is ordered, as well as the requisition of
animals, vehicles and equipment necessary for the completing of
these branches.

The mobilization begins on Sunday, August 2, 1914.

While the spirit of France responded to the call—the tango idol was forgotten.

"Little sister—take good care of our mother."

"Good looks do not count now! All one needs is a uniform—gold braid—"

"My master is never home so early—"

"In the enemy's land they too are singing and shouting as they wave their flag—believing they are also right and that God rules for them."

"And when the sun rises in a few hours the world will behold the Four Horsemen——enemies of mankind!"

"Those who go before the Beast——the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! John foresaw it all two thousand years ago."

"I have a book—a rare book—"

"To 'him' nothing is a mystery. He holds the key to every language—living or dead."

"The Revelations of St. John, as conceived by the great master—Albrecht Dürer."

Apocalipſis
cũ Figuris

"It is the age of fulfillment. The Angel of Prophecy is revealed."

"The voice of the Beast shall be heard, commanding the Four Ill-omened Horsemen as they ride forth——to scatter desolation throughout the world!"

"The first Horseman to lead Prophecy's devastating forces is—Conquest!"

"The second—War, in all his hideousness!"

"The third, trailing in their wake—Pestilence, carrying the Scales of Famine!"

"And in relentless pursuit, the fourth Horseman—Death!"

"The agony of humanity under the brutal sweep of the Four Horsemen has already begun!"

For fourteen ill-omened days, the scorching breath of the Beast has seared the earth as nation rose against nation.

[…] DE LA ROTONDE

While all France answered the call to arms, Desnoyers was haunted by the unpaid debt to his country.

"I served in eighteen-seventy!"

REPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE - 1870 -

The flames of war had singed the butterfly's wings and in its place there was—a woman, awakening to the call of France.

"It is wrong to love like this—to be happy——when there is so much sorrow around us!"

"Are we not to be married as soon as you are free?"

"A letter—from my brother!"

Tu ne pourrais
reconnaître Laurier. C'est
un grand héros, aucun acte
de courage trop audacieux,
aucun risque trop grand.

You would
not recognize Laurier. He
is a great hero, no deed
of bravery too daring,
no risk too great.

"It is fortunate you are a foreigner and do not have to go. How horrible it would be to know you were in danger!"

"I shall be late for my class—it will not be long before I have my nurse's diploma."

The last of the Lacours had received an appointment in the auxiliary service.

"How nice that it has been arranged for you to remain at home! I shall call you my little sugar soldier!"

"I wanted to go to the front—only father——"

"Here is your passport to Villeblanche, but I warn you it is dangerous to attempt the journey at this time."

"I came to say good-bye to mother before she leaves for Biarritz. She tells me you are going to the castle."

"By the way, Senator, can you tell me where Madame Laurier has gone?"

"Everyone is leaving Paris at this time. She may have gone with her mother to Bordeaux."

The ceaseless rumble of distant cannon echoing the ominous hoof-beats of Prophecy's Horsemen, was heard in Villeblanche.

And for days, a stunned, panic stricken horde of homeless beings had drifted toward the French capital.

While another horde marched with relentless iron-shod feet, borne by the impetus of the Apocalyptic Beast.

His family safely dispatched to Biarritz—thinking only of his treasures, Desnoyers journeyed toward Villeblanche.

The straggling remnants of an army that for days had endured a continued indefinite retreat.

Only the lodgekeeper and his family remained at the castle.

Only a flimsy shell of defence against the oncoming tide of invasion, but behind it, the spirit of the immortal words—"They shall not pass."

In retaliation, a hot hurricane of death swept across the valley.

ERNEST
FOIN
PLOMBIER

[RE]STAURANT

The serpent had uncoiled itself——twinning its gray-green body through the fertile valley of the Marne, and Villeblanche was invaded.

"Your castle was spared because you are to have the honor of entertaining the General of our Division."

A grim warning.

"They resisted and killed two of our Uhlans!"

DE
1^ER CHOIX

After a night of terror.

"You do not know me, Uncle? I am Otto—Captain Otto von Hartrott."

"My nephew__you have come to help me? Look around—see what your comrades have done! Tell them to leave!"

"What else can you expect? This is war!"

"It is well you are speaking in Spanish. If you persist is such denunciation—a bullet will be the answer!"

At Lourdes

In the shadow of the sacred grotto.

Victims of the war-god's lust find rest and peace from the din of battle.

37

"You are not the nurse who was with me this morning. Who are you?"

"Just one who is trying to do her duty."

Le Petit Journal

"I traced you here! So this is why you left Paris without a word——and you pretended to love me!"

"Julio——he——he is blind"

"As yet, he does not know who I am. You are a man—you could never understand a woman's desire for atonement!"

"What of our happiness? You——you cannot do this!"

"Life is not what we thought. Had it not been for the war, we might have realized our dream. But now, my destiny beside him is marked out forever."

"How could I dare hope for your love? I have been a coward!"

"But I will be one no longer! This country is yours—my father's——I will fight for it"

Fof three days the unwelcome guests had held their revels with all the destructive glory of war.

"Ach! Du lieber Augustin! Augustin! Augustin!"

Kind

"We will drink, mine host, to an early meeting——in Paris!"

"Vandals! Murderers! Fiends!"

"I warned you not to interfere! You will probably be shot at daybreak!"

The morning light revealed the miracle of the Marne. The long lines of grey were falling back.

The French were reclaiming their own.

"Master! The brutes have gone! There is a great battle—the castle is filled with dead and dying!"

"They have murdered my husband and—my little girl longs to die!"

Pride and earthly treasure crumble before the hosts of Prophecy.

"Franzosen! Franzosen!"

Through a sea of misery, of dead and dying, Desnoyers returned to Paris.

"I have been in Hell!"

1

"My son—a soldier—defending my country when it is not even yours!"

"You do not know what war is! I have just come from it—it is like a wild beast whose breath scorches and withers humanity!"

"This is not your country——I cannot let my boy go to war!"

"René is going to the front. He has been transferred to the Artillery!"

"I could not keep the child away from René at this time and my place is with you. It is enough to be separated from my sister!"

"Family ties are not formed to our liking. Men of your own blood are fighting on the other side!"

"But they are your enemies! If you meet them—do not spare them—shoot—kill!"

Four years had War, Pestilence and Death held sway until the nations of the Old World were torn asunder and lay bleeding, crying out to a just God to free them from the forces of evil.

And then from the New World came men to cheer and help their brothers.

THE
SALVATION
ARMY

THE DAILY JEWISH T[IMES]

---

די צייט

"Américain!"

EXCELSIOR

"A little surprise from your mother!"

ABRI ^N° 8

"He is a different Julio! One hears everywhere of his unselfishness and his bravery."

ABRI ^N° 1

"I am content—very content."

"I saw her—the night before I left Paris."

"She is very kind to Laurier, but she, too, is suffering."

ABRI ^N° 3

"Kiss Mama for me!"

"No one will kill my boy—my heart tells me so!"

Fighting against her love for Julio, Marguerite had patiently tried to atone.

Oh frightful trend of awful dreams,
What shall fiends next contrive?
An open grave—and as it seems
Men stand in it—alive.

While across the ghostly waste of No Man's Land—another yawning pit of misery.

Pardonne-moi, je m'en
vais. Pour moi, c'est une
moquerie que de rester. Au
fond, je suis une friponne,
un mensonge vivant. Mon
coeur appartient encore à
Julio. Encore une fois,
pardonne et oublie.

Marguerite

Forgive me—I am going
away. Is is a useless
mockery for me to remain.
At heart, I am a cheat—
a living lie. My heart
still belongs to Julio.
Once more, forgive—
and forget

Marguerite

And through the muck and mire of a man-created Hell—were sent Madariaga's grandsons—

One—a French soldier—

—the other, a German.

War's toll.

"My last son."

"You are to blame! If we had followed my father's teachings—we would not have left the Argentine, and our sons would have been alive today!"

The aimless path fades with life's span. Nations mourn, while memory glorifies the brave.

	175   ICI REPOSE
Sous-Lieutenant	JULIO DESNOYERS	72 RT D'INFANTERIE 4E CORPS D'ARMEE 105E DIVISION 22E BRIGADE
MORT AU CHAMP D'HONNEUR LE 8 OCTOBRE 1918

"You knew my son?"

"I knew them all!"

"Peace has come—but the Four Horsemen will still ravage humanity—stirring unrest in the world—until all hatred is dead and only love reigns in the heart if mankind."

THE END