1921 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse 3-Sheet Rudolph Valentino Silent Film

• Date: 1921
• Artist: Unknown
• Size (in): 53.25” x 40.25”
• Size (cm): 135.3 x 102.2
• Condition: B-
• Linen backed: Yes

This is a vintage original partial 3-sheet poster for the 1921 silent epic war movie The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. This 3-sheet features Rudolph Valentino who was little known at the time but starred in the film as Julio Desnoyers in what would became his breakout role establishing his “Latin Lover” persona and turning him into a superstar almost overnight. We have not located another example of this 3-sheet poster anywhere but presumably there would have been an additional sheet at the bottom with the movie’s title and additional text.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse was produced by Metro Pictures Corporation, directed by Rex Ingram and based on the 1916 Spanish novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez. The script was written by June Mathis and the movie starred Pomeroy Cannon, Josef Swickard, Bridgetta Clark, Wallace Beery and Alice Terry along with Rudolph Valentino. The film is considered the first anti-war movie and became the top grossing film of 1921 inspiring a national tango dance craze and gaucho pants fashion fad in 1921 America.

The bottom of the poster is printed “Four Horsemen – 3 SHT – No. 2 – Order No. 1537”. We trace no copies of this poster at auction and don’t locate the poster image anywhere online so suffice it to say this is an extreme rarity.

This poster has been professionally linen backed with some expert touch up and small repairs professionally applied. The poster has a couple small spots of paper loss in the margin near the lower right hand corner which have been professionally replaced. There was some wear on the fold lines and short tears and nicks on the edges. The poster still displays nicely and overall condition is very good.  Email any questions. Thanks for looking.