The Vikings
Short description
The Vikings is a historical adventure set in the era of Norse raids on the coasts of England. Ragnar, a Viking king, leads his warriors against the English, and two men find themselves on opposing sides: Einar, Ragnar's brutal son and heir, and Eric, a slave who was taken by the Vikings as a child and has no knowledge of his own parentage. Their rivalry comes to a head over Morgana, a princess of Northumbria, and a contest for the kingdom's vacant throne forces the two into conflict.
Kirk Douglas plays Einar, Tony Curtis plays Eric, Ernest Borgnine is Ragnar, and Janet Leigh appears as Morgana, with James Donald and Alexander Knox among the credited cast of 22. Richard Fleischer directed from a screenplay by Calder Willingham, with Jerry Bresler producing for United Artists, Curtleigh Productions and Brynaprod S.A.
Made for about five million dollars, the film was released in June 1958 and runs 115 minutes. It sits in the middle of Fleischer's career: it was the sixth of the 23 features he directed, arriving between Bandido! and Compulsion. Audiences have rated it 7/10 on IMDb from 17,000 votes and 7/10 on TMDB from 385 votes, while a critics' rating stands at 6.4/10 from 22 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film concludes with a traditional Viking funeral, during which a Viking ship is set ablaze with an arrow tipped with a burning ember. Director Richard Fleischer (1916-2006) extensively trained and prepared the warriors, hoping that at least one arrow would hit the ship's sail and ignite it upon the command of “Three!”. When the time came to film the scene, Fleischer only managed to say “Two…” when one of the warriors released his arrow, resulting in a perfect shot directly into the sail. He then commanded “Three!”, and the remaining warriors fired their arrows as well. Fleischer later decided that he liked that very first shot the most and chose to use it in the film.
- Kirk Douglas served as the film's producer, as he had always wanted to play a Viking.
- The Viking ships were built from the drawings of an authentic vessel that had been salvaged, restored, and exhibited in a museum in Norway. It turned out, however, that the ships created for the film were recreated too accurately, as modern actors were taller than their on-screen counterparts. Every other oar port had to be plugged to give the actors enough room to row, otherwise they would hit the backs of the people sitting in front of them with the oar handles with each stroke.
- Director Richard Fleischer studied Viking civilization for two years before starting filming. He was particularly interested in accurate drawings of Viking ships and the breeds of horses they used.
- A cloudy contact lens, worn by Kirk Douglas (1916-2020) to simulate a damaged eye, caused the actor so much pain that he could not wear it for more than a few minutes at a time.
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