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Title: Only I will care.... Post by: Lord Nepenthean on May 17, 2005, 04:32:12 PM Several years ago I saw a 1921 film called The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse while on vacation. It is legendary to film historians and others in the know. Think about the craze that Star Wars or the first Lord of the Rings created, and you'll sort of have the impact this Rex Ingram classic did in 1921. It is one of the first (if not the first) epic film. At over two and a half hours long, it is the longest silent film I have seen to date - and probably the best. The IMDB lists the budget at $800,000, but I have heard numbers as high as $1,000,000. In 1921, when the film industry was still regarded by many as a novelty or fad, that was a really big freaking deal.
Here is the IMDB plot summary (poor punctuation and all): Quote Madariaga is an Argentinian cattle baron with two daughters: one married a Frenchman, the other a German. Madariaga favors his French grandson, Julio, as his heir, but Julio is a wastrel and rake whose greatest achivement is tangoing well. When Madariaga dies, his fortune is split between his daughters. The German side of the family goes back to Berlin, while the French half moves to Paris, where Julio becomes a painter and falls in love with Marguerite, a married woman. When WWI explodes (and is described by the mystic Tchernoff as the coming Apocalypse), and Marguerite's husband is blinded, Julio decides he must join the army, and becomes a reformed character. But Death hasn't finished gathering his harvest yet and Julio must face his own cousin on the battlefield. Oh, and if you've ever seen the famous tango scene with Rudolph Valentino, it is from this film. The other day, I won an auction on eBay for a tape from the only VHS release of this film for $7.50 shipped. I have been searching for this film for about five or six years now, so I am really thrilled to finally be able to see it again soon and (even better) own it. I'll check and see if it is under public domain now, and if it is, I may be willing to convert this to DVD and burn it for anyone interested (HA!). Title: Re: Only I will care.... Post by: shadytool on May 17, 2005, 07:15:04 PM Quote he other day, I won an auction on eBay for a tape from the only VHS release of this film was there only 1 VHS copy and this person made generic copies from that one? i'm confused.. but congrats Title: Re: Only I will care.... Post by: Lord Nepenthean on May 17, 2005, 07:17:30 PM There was one run of this movie, and this VHS I won is from that production line... Very limited release.
Title: Re: Only I will care.... Post by: shadytool on May 17, 2005, 07:32:06 PM ah
nice work. is there a high demand for this or just personal pride that you won this? Title: Re: Only I will care.... Post by: Lord Nepenthean on May 17, 2005, 07:39:59 PM I wouldn't say there is high demand for it.... Just personal pride since it is a very rare movie and I really like it. Imagine if there were only a hundred copies of Dawn of the Dead in the world, but only you and fifty other people had seen it. You would want it, but coming across it would not be easy, even if it wouldn't be worth much.
Title: Re: Only I will care.... Post by: shadytool on May 17, 2005, 07:55:17 PM yeah i can see that... i have heard of this movie, but have never seen it.
Title: Re: Only I will care.... Post by: Sauza12 on May 18, 2005, 07:45:42 AM This movie actuall sounds kind of badass. I might keep me eyes open for a copy of it myself.
Title: Re: Only I will care.... Post by: den68 on May 18, 2005, 08:36:02 AM very cool that you found that. I can relate to the end of a lengthy but successful search that yielded something of interest only to myself.
congrats. I can't say I'm a big silent movie fan but the story does sound interesting. |