Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse (1962)

In 1938 Argentina as WWII looms on the horizon, a family is torn apart by divided loyalties. A patriarch's (Lee J. Cobb) two daughters (Harriet MacGibbon, Kathryn Givney) have married a Frenchman (Charles Boyer) and a German (Paul Lukas) respectively. After the patriarch's death, the divided families move to Europe where they find themselves on opposite sides as Hitler marches through Europe. Dismissed when first released, the film's reputation is slowly turning around and getting recognized (especially in Europe) as a major work in the Vincente Minnelli canon. And some egregious casting decisions aside, it deserves the re-evaluation. It's really quite a good film, a sprawling epic examining how one family is destroyed by circumstances bigger than themselves. A 45 year old Glenn Ford is way too old to play the young playboy (the 51 year old Cobb plays Ford's grandfather!) in the role that made the young Rudolph Valentino a Star in 1921. But Minnelli's stylish direction, the compelling storyline more than compensate for the miscasting. There's a great score by Andre Previn, probably his best. With the Swedish actress Ingrid Thulin (her voice is dubbed by Angela Lansbury) looking every inch a Movie Star, Paul Henreid, Yvette Mimieux, Karlheinz Bohm and George Dolenz.