Behold a Pale Horse

Behold A Pale Horse is a film loosely based on the life of the Spanish anarchist guerrilla, Francisco Sabaté Llopart‎. Released in 1964, the film stars Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn. The film is the story of a Spanish guerrilla exiled in France after the Spanish Civil War returning to Spain to visit his mother.

Plot

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Opening on shots from the Spanish Civil War, and a line of Spanish refugees crossing the border into France after defeat by the Francoists, we see Manuel Artiguez turn away from the border and back towards Spain. But his friends stop him, saying "Manuel, the war is over!". The story returns twenty years later, to a young boy named Paco, who asks a man named Pedro why Artiguez has stopped his guerrilla raids against the Francoists in Spain. Pedro sends Paco into France to find his uncle and Artiguez. When Paco finds Artiguez, he tells him he wants him to kill Viñolas, a Francoist police officer, for killing his father. Paco lets Artiguez know that his father was killed because he wouldn't tell the police where to find Artiguez. Meanwhile, Viñolas has learned that Artiguez's mother is dying, and sets a trap at the hospital to capture Artiguez, presuming that he will come to see his mother. In return for information about the layout of the hospital and surrounding area, Paco tells Artiguez to "bump into Viñolas" for him. After Viñolas has laid his trap, Artiguez's mother dies (after asking a priest to warn her son not to come), but Viñolas sends a spy to convince Artiguez otherwise, and to come visit her. When the priest shows up at Artiguez's house, he's out, so the priest tells Paco to pass on the message that his mother is dead, and not to go to San Martin. But, for his selfish reasons, Paco rips up the letter and doesn't pass on the message. Afterwards, Paco recognizes the man (Carlos) in Artiguez's house as an informer, and tells Artiguez about the priest's message. Trying to clear up the mess, Artiguez takes Paco and Carlos to Lourdes to find the priest, but he's not there, and they let Carlos go. However, on the way back, they see the priest, and take him to Artiguez's house. When Carlos returns for his rucksack, he senses the trap, and escapes. After much internal debate, Artiguez then decides to go to San Martin anyway, presumably with the mission of killing Viñolas. Once in San Martin, Artiguez encounters a Francoist sniper on the roof of the hospital, and attacks him, sending him to his death. However, once inside the hospital, he kills a few officers, but is finally shot himself.

See also

Killing a Mouse on Sunday, the novel the film was based on, by E. Pressburger