Behold a Pale Horse (1964) was a rare flop for Fred Zinnemann. A portentous revenge saga, its soggy storytelling never comes to life, while miscast stars flounder in unsuitable roles.Ex-Republican soldier Manuel Artiguez (Gregory Peck) hides out in France decades after the Spanish Civil War. Captain Vinolas (Anthony Quinn) of Spain's Civil Guard determines to catch him. A young boy named Paco (Marietto Angeletti) provides the catalyst for confrontation: his father died at Vinolas's hands and he wants Artiguez to seek revenge. Opportunity knocks when Artiguez's mother (Mildred Dunnock) grows ill: Vinolas lays an ambush at the hospital. Caught between the two criminals is naive priest Francisco (Omar Sharif).
Based on an Emeric Pressburger novel, Behold a Pale Horse never comes to life. J.P. Miller's screenplay advances at a dead crawl, careening between subplots. Vinolas disappears for the whole second act and doesn't reappear until the climax. Meanwhile we're locked into tedious moral debates between atheist Artiguez and earnest Francisco, and an overlong subplot about Artiguez's traitorous friend Carlos (Raymond Pellegerin). These lumpen elements prevent Horse from gaining traction: Artiguez agonizes over confronting Vinolas, yet his final decision makes no logical sense.
Zinnemann's inert direction does no favors. Jean Badal's stark photography creates a brooding atmosphere: Horse at least looks good. Yet Zinnemann's impeccable craftsmanship deserts him: the movie clunks between lumpen, overwritten scenes and tortoise pacing. The finale's exciting as a standalone set piece but feels unsatisfying after two hours' build up. Presumably Zinnemann was channeling Italian neorealist epics, which didn't need Classical Hollywood Narrative to work. But that conceit doesn't work with a poor script or A-list stars.
Anthony Quinn does reasonably well: having less screentime than his costars, he's compellingly arrogant and obsessive. Gregory Peck though strains against his awkward casting while Omar Sharif's mostly restricted to moist-eyed close-ups. Zinnemann enlists myriad European stars in supporting roles: Paolo Stoppa (The Leopard) as Artiguez's right-hand man, Raymond Pellegrin as Carlos, Christian Marquand (Lord Jim) as Vinolas's lieutenant, Michael Lonsdale (The Day of the Jackal) as a reporter.
It's unclear what Behold a Pale Horse wants to accomplish. Zinnemann draws his conflicts in crude, overstated terms; his direction is atmospheric but flat; the resolution inexplicable. Many criticize Zinnemann's next film, A Man for All Seasons, for being dramatically simple but it undeniably works. Better that than inscrutable sogginess.
