“The Terrible Northmen...Sailing on Dragon Ships Like Serpents on the Sea! Shouting a Battle-Cry to Their Awesome God of War, Odin! Mightiest Of Men... Mightiest Of Spectacles... Mightiest Of Motion Pictures!” Those were the taglines used in the ads for the 1958 film- The Vikings, starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine, and Janet Leigh. A beautiful Technicolor film shot, mostly, on location in Norway. It’s the story of a child born from the rape of an English Queen by a Viking raider, who is raised as a Viking slave. Years later another Viking raid brings a young woman, who was to be married to the current King, to Norway where the Viking’s leader’s son has his eye on the beautiful Englishwoman but it is she and the slave who form a bond. The Slave and the English woman escape to England with the warrior Viking Prince hot on their trail. It all comes to a head in the sacking of the same kingdom where the, now ex, Slave is the true ruler.
The Vikings is a beautiful film. Cinematographer Jack Cardiff really knew how to work with Technicolor and took full advantage of the amazing Norwegian vistas. The production design is also top-notch. Completely historically accurate? Not really, but close and it all looks great in those technicolor hues. The film is based on the book “The Viking” which in turn was based on native sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons. For me, Ernest Borgnine, as the Viking leader Ragnar, is the highlight of the film. He plays it with a lot of huge energy and joy. Tony Curtis, in my opinion, has always played the same character, he didn’t have a lot of range (maybe The Boston Strangler is an exception) and, while he’s fine here, he certainly wasn’t working that hard. Star and Producer Kirk Douglas, who was actually a little too old to be playing this character, plays it even bigger than usual. He’s so big that I found it kind of exhausting to watch after a while. Sure, he’s been cocky and loud in other films, quite a few come to mind actually, but in the Vikings he stays at that level until his final lines of dialogue. Janet Leigh, and this is true for most of the roles in her career, doesn’t get a lot to do other than look pretty. It’s a shame because we know from later roles, most notably Psycho, and The Manchurian Candidate, that she actually did have some range.
The Vikings succeeds due mainly to it’s cinematography, Borgnine’s performance, and it’s pace, set by director Richard Fleischer, who’d already directed Kirk Douglas in another big action/adventure film- 1954’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This time out though Douglas was the producer, it was his project, so Fleischer either didn’t try or just couldn’t get him to hold back a bit. For the most part, I enjoyed myself watching this film, but if it had been any longer I would have lost interest. Maybe Douglas had to make this movie as a warm up for his next big producing project- Spartacus in 1960, which would reunite him with co-star Tony Curtis. Both of whom turn in much better performances than they showed in The Vikings.
From what I’ve read production in Norway was difficult. It was very cold and a lot of the film took place in and around water. Water that was only just above freezing and air temperatures only slightly warmer than that. The horses featured in the movie were actual Fjord horses who were totally accustomed to the climate. Richard Fleischer said that it was Ernest Borgnine who kept the cast and crew loose and enjoying themselves, as much as possible, which tracks with him seemingly the person enjoying themselves most on screen. I mentioned earlier that Kirk Douglas seemed a bit old for the role of the young Viking Warrior. He was, as a matter of fact, Douglas was actually a year and a half older than Ernest Borgnine, who played his father.
The Vikings does feel a little like a trial run at producing an epic film. The core cast was small and running time under two hours, but still has something of that epic feel to it. No doubt due to the amazing locations, cinematography, and production design. I’m sure Kirk Douglas took a lot lessons learned here into the production of Spartacus, which is my favorite “epic” movie by the way. While I can’t say I’m a huge fan of The Vikings, I did have a good time watching it. In spite of those issues I did have with it.
I watched The Vikings streamed on Amazon Prime but it is available on DVD for between $10 & $20, though the only Blu-Ray available now is a European release.
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