The Vikings (1958)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Richard Fleischer

Writers:

Edison Marshall (novel)
Dale Wasserman (adaptation)

Release Date:

28 June 1958 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Tagline:

Mightiest Of Men... Mightiest Of Spectacles... Mightiest Of Motion Pictures!

Plot:

Einar and Eric are two Viking half-brothers. The former is a great warrior whilst the other is an ex-slave...

Plot Keywords:

Epic | Eye Injury | Cult Favorite | Rivalry | Blood

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Einar
Tony Curtis	...	Eric
Ernest Borgnine	...	Ragnar
Janet Leigh	...	Morgana
James Donald	...	Egbert
Alexander Knox	...	Father Godwin
Maxine Audley	...	Enid
Frank Thring	...	Aella
Eileen Way	...	Kitala
Edric Connor	...	Sandpiper
Dandy Nichols	...	Bridget
Per Buckhøj	...	Bjorn

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 (re-rating) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:16 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Brittany, France

Company:

Brynaprod S.A.

Trivia:

At the end of the film, a Viking ship is set afire by flaming arrows in a rendering of a traditional Viking funeral. Director Richard Fleischer took great care to have the archers practice the moment, training them to release the arrows on the count of "three," and hoping at least some of the arrows would arc properly to hit the sail of the ship and set it on fire. When the time came for the live shot, the director only reached the count of "two", when one over-eager archer loosed his arrow. As luck would have it, the arrow arced perfectly and hit the sail. Then, Fleischer called, "Three!" and the other archers loosed their arrows. Fleischer decided that he liked the one, single arrow being launched first, and kept the shot in the film because it looked like part of the ceremony.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the early scene where the viking ship is first returning to the village a shot from the front of the viking boat (from the camera boat in front) clearly reveals the camera boat's wake trailing behind - but in front of the viking ship.

Quotes:

Eric: Let's not question our flesh for wanting to remain flesh.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Blood of the Vikings" (2001)

A Massive Film, still

I saw this film at the pictures a long, long time ago.

I was a kid and was as wide eyeyed as any kid seeing a spectacular of comparable impact as Star Wars or Harry Paintpot or any derivative.

How on earth could any little lad be less than profoundly moved by the images of of eyes being ripped out by a hawk, people being eaten by crabs, wild wolves eating people in a pit, hands being chopped of.

This was a bloody massive movie and still is.

I just bought it on VCR and feel like a kid again.

I cannot imagine any modern kid being as equally moved but I'm sure they will come across it one day the same way I see impressive movies on TV made way before I was around.

Trouble is, for some reason this film never seems to get shown on either satellite or terrestrial TV. Why is that?

Setting asside my middle aged predudice, I challenge anyone to put forward a movie of a more spectactularly impressive introductary sequence and haunting theme music.