The Vikings (film)
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| The Vikings | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Richard Fleischer |
| Produced by | Jerry Bresler |
| Written by | Calder Willingham (screenplay) Dale Wasserman (adaptation) Edison Marshall (novel) |
| Starring | Kirk Douglas Tony Curtis Janet Leigh Ernest Borgnine James Donald Alexander Knox |
| Music by | Mario Nascimbene |
| Cinematography | Jack Cardiff |
| Editing by | Elmo Williams |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | June 28, 1958 |
| Running time | 116 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5,000,000 (estimated) |
| Official website | |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Vikings was an action/adventure film directed by Richard Fleischer in 1958, produced by and starring Kirk Douglas, and based on the novel The Viking by Edison Marshall. Other actors included Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh and Ernest Borgnine. The film made notable use of natural locations in Norway, crisply captured on film by cinematographer Jack Cardiff.
Despite being derisively called a "Norse Opera" by New York Times critic Bosley Crowther, the film proved a major box office success and spawned the television series Tales of the Vikings, directed by the film's editor, Elmo Williams, but which included none of the original cast or characters.
The Vikings was the second and, as it turned out, last collaboration between Fleischer and Douglas (the first was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea). According to the All-Movie Guide, the director and star disagreed on the approach to the material and "for years thereafter would hold each other responsible for the film's falling short of its potential."
Much of the plot was later appropriated by Mario Bava for his own Viking epic, Erik the Conqueror.
[edit] Plot synopsis
The King of Northumbria is killed during a Viking raid led by the fearsome Ragnar (Ernest Borgnine). Because the king had died childless, his cousin Aella (Frank Thring) takes the throne. The king's widow, however, is pregnant with what she knows is Ragnar's child, and to protect the infant from her cousin-in-law's ambitions, she sends him off to Italy. By a twist of fate, the ship is intercepted by the Vikings, who are unaware of the child's kinship, and enslave him. The boy grows into a young man named Erik (Tony Curtis).
His parentage is finally discovered by Lord Egbert (James Donald), a Northumbrian nobleman opposed to Aella. When Aella accuses him of treason, Egbert finds sanctuary with Ragnar in Norway. Egbert recognizes the Northumbrian royal sword's pommel stone on an amulet around Erik's neck, placed there by Erik's mother when he was a child. Egbert tells no one.
Erik incurs the wrath of his half-brother Einar (Kirk Douglas), Ragnar's legitimate son and heir, after the former orders his falcon to attack Einar, taking out one of his eyes. Erik is saved from immediate execution when the tribal shaman says that Odin will curse whoever kills him. He is left in a tidal pool to drown with the rising tide, but after he calls out to Odin, the wind shifts and forces the water away, saving him. Egbert then claims him as his slave. Egbert hopes to find an opportunity to take advantage of Erik's unknown claim to the Northumbrian kingdom.
The enmity between the Erik and Einar is exacerbated when they both fall in love with Princess Morgana (Janet Leigh), who was to marry King Aella but is captured in a raid suggested by Egbert. Using a primitive compass, Erik and Morgana flee to England, with Einar and Ragnar in pursuit. In thick fog, Ragnar's longboat hits a rock and sinks. Einar, in another longboat, believes Ragnar to be dead and grudgingly abandons the chase. Ragnar, however, is rescued by Erik and taken prisoner to Aella.
Aella orders the Viking leader bound and thrown into a pit filled with starved wolves. To give Ragnar a Viking's death (so that he could enter Valhalla), Erik, who is granted the honor of forcing him into the pit, cuts the prisoner's bonds and gives him his sword. Laughing, Ragnar jumps to his death. In response to Erik's "treason", Aella cuts off his left hand, puts him back on his ship and casts him adrift.
Erik returns to Einar's settlement, and tells his half-brother how his father died, and what had been Aella's reward for allowing Ragnar to die a Viking's death. Upon hearing Erik's news, Einar decides to invade Northumbria. Putting their mutual hatred aside for the moment, Einar and Erik sail for England.
The Vikings storm Aella's castle. In a bold move, Einar leaps across the moat to the inner part of the castle and opens up the drawbridge, paving the way for the Vikings to overwhelm the outnumbered English. Erik and Einar both set off in search of Morgana. Erik encounters Aella instead and shoves him into the pit of wolves.
Einar finds Morgana in the highest tower of the castle. Erik runs to rescue Morgana and the two bitter rivals engage in a swordfight on top of the tower. Erik's sword breaks, giving Einar the chance to kill him, but Einar hesitates, having recently learned that Erik is his brother. The hesitation gives Erik the opportunity to stab Einar with his broken sword. Erik gives his dying half-brother a sword to hold in his hand so that he too can enter Valhalla. In the final scene, Einar is given a Viking funeral: his body is placed on a longboat, which is set on fire by flaming arrows.
