I really liked this film but think that if fell very short in several things. The story is of two old adversaries who can not give up the fight and a third that is thrust into the middle of the feud. Grudges are hard enough to give up but commitment to causes that cost blood are all but impossible. That is what this movie does so well as it tells this story. The three principals, being the kind of actors they are simply did what they always did and put the stamp of their own character on the role they played. It is so easy to transpose almost any character played played by Gregory Peck or Anthony Quinn between the different movies they act in. Omar Shariff does a lot better taking on the role rather.The ending is without adequate support in my opinion and seems more meaningless than it was intended to be. Peck's character seems to want to make some grand statement but there is no real motivation for it.The boy Paco who is so important in the movie is unfinished and unredeemed. Marietto plays Paco very well and Paolo Stoppa outshines most of the others.

This 1964 Fred- Zinneman-directed film begins with documentary footage of the Spanish Civil War. However, the verisimilitude is abruptly interrupted when the familiar face of Gregory Peck is glimpsed among a line of partisans who are fleeing across the Pyrenees from Spain into France. While the black-and-white cinematography and location filming among the snow-capped mountains and in the picturesque French city of Pau evoke realism throughout, the questionable star casting of Peck, Anthony Quinn, and Omar Sharif undercuts those efforts. Peck, especially, seems miscast as a crusty Spanish Republican fighter who has gone into exile in Southern France. Quinn as Peck's nemesis, a Franco Loyalist soldier, is on firmer acting ground, and his efforts to trap Peck when he returns to see his dying mother propel the story. Sharif, the third above-the-title star, plays a Spanish priest with a message for Peck, but he has little to do other than flash his doe-like eyes and look appropriately solemn.Unfortunately, "Behold a Pale Horse" which begins well and promises much, tends to unravel and wind down as the plot unfolds. The cat-and-mouse premise that pits the aging partisan against the womanizing soldier is intriguing and holds the viewer's attention for most of the film. However, motivations become vague and coincidences become facile plot devices in the second half. The film seems to end on an abrupt note and leaves the viewer without a satisfying conclusion. Although not completely successful, "Behold a Pale Horse" is a noble effort by expert filmmakers and merits viewing. Despite his miscasting, Peck makes a valiant effort and earns his star salary, while Quinn can always be relied upon to entertain, even if at times he seems to be playing Zorba in a Spanish police uniform. The lesser-known European supporting players are more effective, and the film would have benefited from a full cast of unknowns. Despite the casting quibbles, a disappointing second half, and a tendency to talkiness, "Behold a Pale Horse" offers an often gripping and suspenseful tale that unfolds during a seldom-portrayed period of the Franco era.

I watched this movie, and like most of the people have already expressed it, must say that this is truly a classic. The acting crew is excellent with Peck, Shariff and Quinn giving some very intense performances. But the surprise package is the boy who crosses over to the French part where he goes in search of Manueal to ask him to avenge his father's death at the hands of Vinollas. I often read comments that Peck is stuff or wooden on occasions, but I find him one of the most intense actors because of his ability to convey through his eyes. Like most actors, he is gifted of conveying a lot more through his eyes than his body might suggest. He conveys the frailing Manuel artigez here very well. We know that Manuel is tired and wary of the struggle he has pursued so passionately. Full credit to Peck for portraying that very effectively. Omar Shariff is also brilliant as the confused priest. Quinn is natural and we feel a certain angst against him, I do not know why. The end is excellent which again, conveys the human side of Manuel very well. All in all, an excellent movie worth watching on a calm Sunday afternoon.

In 1939 like John Wayne's Ethan Edwards in The Searchers, Gregory Peck does not believe in surrenders. When all the others give up their weapons and go home, Peck conspicuously keeps his and keeps up the good fight. Of course twenty years later, Peck's become nothing more than a common bandit with the barest trappings of the revolutionary ardor he once had for the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War.His rival, his Pat Garrett to Peck being Billy the Kid, is the local captain of the Guardia Civil in Anthony Quinn. Peck's constant raids into his border area from France are a source of embarrassment to him and block his chances for advancement. At one time Quinn was a hardened Falangist, but now he's just a policeman.Twenty years as made a lot of changes in both men. Quinn a devote Catholic who probably joined the fascist forces because of the anti-clerical attitudes of the Republican government now observes the form of religion, but he's got a mistress on the side. When he goes to pray it's not for anything profound, just please let him get Peck so he can advance. Peck is as anti-clerical as he was during the Spanish Civil War in the late Thirties, but now is really into it a lot for violence's sake. He also knows his cause is long lost, but needs the excuse for what he's now doing. He also gets quite a surprise in finding a priest like Omar Sharif going to warn him about an informer in his crew. Catholics do come in all shapes and sizes. Although Peck is somewhat miscast as a Spaniard, still he does a good job as does Quinn and Sharif. The strength of Behold a Pale Horse is that it presents both Peck and Quinn as flesh and blood people, neither of them all good or all evil from your point of view.Behold a Pale Horse was made in 1964 and eleven years later Francisco Franco in whose service Quinn was in died after being dictator of Spain for 36 years. When I visited Spain in 2001 the thing that struck me was how there was very little evidence of Franco's reign. Spain has now settled quite nicely into a constitutional monarchy with a functioning parliament. And the Catholic church which rode as high in Spain as it did during Philip II is rapidly losing influence. Kind of makes you wonder just what Peck and Quinn were fighting about.