The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a 1921 American silent epic war film produced by Metro Pictures Corporation and directed by Rex Ingram.

Based on the 1916 Spanish novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, it was adapted for the screen by June Mathis.

The film stars Pomeroy Cannon, Josef Swickard, Bridgetta Clark, Rudolph Valentino, Wallace Beery, and Alice Terry.

The film turned the little-known actor Rudolph Valentino into a superstar and associated him with the image of the Latin lover.

[5][6] In 1995, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

[8] Madariaga "The Centaur" (Pomeroy Cannon), a harsh but popular Argentine landowner, has a German son-in-law, Karl von Hartrott, whom he dislikes and a French one, Marcelo Desnoyers, whose family he openly favors.

He is particularly fond of his grandson, Julio (Rudolph Valentino), with whom he often carouses at seedy dives in the Boca district of Buenos Aires.

In Paris, Julio enjoys a somewhat shiftless life as a would-be artist and sensation at the local tea dances.

Marcelo is to be executed in the morning, but his life is spared when the French Army counterattacks during the "Miracle of the Marne".

Back in Paris, Marguerite considers abandoning the blinded Etienne, but Julio's ghost guides her to continue her care for him.

The man, with a remorseful expression, lifts his arms, forming the shape of a cross with his body, and says, "I knew them all!"

Then, the man assures him that "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 of mankind."

Among the actors who appear as the focus of a scene but had no words was African American actress Anita Thompson.

[9] Holding a major belief in Spiritualism and the Book of Revelation, Mathis was determined to turn Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse into a film.

[11][12] Valentino had arrived in Hollywood in 1918, where he had worked in many B movies, including All Night with Carmel Myers and The Delicious Little Devil with Mae Murray.

[14] However, Mathis got her way, and after seeing the rushes, she and Ingram decided to expand the role of Julio to showcase the talents of Valentino.

In the scenes between Julio and Marguerite, Valentino and Terry spoke French to impress lip readers.

The camera alights ever so briefly on what appears to be a pair of lesbians sitting together at the tango club, and features a scene with German officers coming down the stairs in drag.

Of the scene, Mathis would later tell the Los Angeles Times, "I had the German officers coming down the stairs with women's clothing on.

With its extended scenes of the devastated French countryside and personalized story of loss, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is often considered to be one of the first anti-war films made.

Metro refused to acknowledge that they had made a star and immediately put him into a B-picture titled Uncharted Seas.