Josef Swickard in the context of "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921 film)"

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is a 1921 American silent epic war film produced by Metro Pictures Corporation and directed by Rex Ingram. Based on the 1916 Spanish novel The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, it was adapted for the screen by June Mathis. The film stars Pomeroy Cannon, Josef Swickard, Bridgetta Clark, Rudolph Valentino, Wallace Beery, and Alice Terry.

Often regarded as one of the first anti-war films, it had a huge cultural impact and became the top-grossing film of 1921 by beating out Charlie Chaplin's The Kid. The film turned the little-known actor Rudolph Valentino into a superstar and associated him with the image of the Latin lover. The film also inspired a tango craze and such fashion fads as gaucho pants. The film was written by June Mathis, who, by its success, became one of the most powerful women in Hollywood of the time.