The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Based on an unreadable novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, this study of an Argentinian family torn apart by war became indelibly famous as the silent movie in which Rudolph Valentino danced the tango and catapulted to stardom. By 1962, MGM was going through a period of reworking former hits on an epic scale (Ben-Hur, Mutiny on the Bounty, Cimarron), so this remake must have seemed a good idea at the time. However, despite the array of talent on display and some stunning CinemaScope photography, this would-be extravaganza stubbornly remains earthbound. It's not helped by the grievous miscasting of the usually dependable Glenn Ford in the Valentino role, while updating the story to the Second World War doesn't wash. But the vision of the Four Horsemen from the Book of Revelation, riding to the strains of André Previn's potent score, is genuinely impressive.