Behold a Pale Horse

CinemaSerf

Nov 22, 2023

7.0

Although this does definitively conclude, there is something almost unfinished about this story based around the aftermath of the Spanish Civil war. We start with "Miguel" (Gregory Peck) joining a long line of defeated republican freedom fighters leaving their country to exile in France. Meantime, his nemesis - police captain "Viñolas" (Anthony Quinn) is scheming up ways to entice him back... An opportunity occurs when the man's mother becomes seriously ill, and so every effort is made to get a message to her son to tempt him back. What now ensues is quite a poignant story that Peck, Omar Sharif as the priest "Francisco" and an effective Raymond Pellegrin as the young and vengeful "Carlos" deliver strongly. Fred Zinnemann take his time to develop the characters and the relationships, to illustrate the manipulation and betrayal - as well as the love, honour and loyalty. There's a little bit of police brutality and religious conflict and the writing leaves us enough space to come to our own conclusions about this developing scenario. Peck was good in these sort of loner, brooding roles, as was Quinn in the rather sinister ones and this is an enjoyable to watch meeting of two character actors making the best of a solid story.