Fred Zinnemann’s Behold a Pale Horse, a Spanish Civil War drama, is loosely based on the life of Spanish anarchist guerrilla, Francesc Sabate Llopart.
Grade: C+ (** out of *****)
Behold a Pale Horse | |
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![]() Original theatrical poster
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Adapted from the novel by Emeric Pressburger (who’s better known as a director), “Killing a Mouse on Sunday,” the movie miscasts Gregory Peck as Manuel Artiguez, an aging, stubbornly committed war veteran, who continues to wage a one-man offensive, decades after the hostilities had officially ceased.
Exiled to France, Artiguez is lured back to Spain by a vengeful police officer, Captain Vinolas (Anthony Quinn).
Meanwhile, father Francisco (Omar Sharif) advises him that he’s tricked, but Artiguek is determined to return to Spain in order to bid farewell to his dying mother (Mildred Dunnock).
Halfway through, the film bogs down into a ponderous preachifying and moralizing tale.
Met with mixed to negative reviews, Behold a Pale Horse failed at the box-office. Director Zinnemann held that the Spanish Civil War faded from memory, while Time magazine critic summed it up as “a bad film by a good director.”
In 1966, Behold a Pale Horse was scheduled to be telecast on a major TV network, but it was cancelled at the last minute, at the request of the Spanish government.
The movie was a commercial flop, failing to recoup its budget.
Cast
Anthony Quinn as Capt. Vinolas
Omar Sharif as Father Francisco
Raymond Pellegrin as Carlos
Paolo Stoppa as Pedro
Mildred Dunnock as Pilar
Credits:
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
Produced by Zinnemann and Gregory Peck
Written by JP Miller, based on Emeric Pressburger 1961 novel, Killing a Mouse on Sunday
Music by Maurice Jarre
Cinematography Jean Badal
Edited by Walter Thompson
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date: August 14, 1964
Running time: 121 minutes
Budget $3.9 million
Box office est. $3.0 million