The Vikings (film)
"The Vikings" is a 1958 action/adventure film produced by and starring Kirk Douglas, set against the backdrop of 8th-century Northumbria in England. Filmed on location along Norway's picturesque southwest coast, the movie features stunning visuals in Technicolor, though it has been criticized for its historical inaccuracies regarding Viking culture and lifestyles. The plot follows Viking chief Ragnar, who leads raids and faces off against Aella, the usurper of the Northumbrian throne. Key themes include betrayal, family ties, and the complexities of honor, as Ragnar's son Einar and his half-brother Eric become embroiled in a struggle for love and power, culminating in dramatic confrontations.
Though the film was not well-received by critics, who described its portrayal of Vikings as exaggerated and cartoonish, it was a financial success, ranking high in British box office revenues in 1958. The film contributed to the popularity of Viking-themed cinema and inspired a subsequent television series. While not celebrated for its artistic merit, "The Vikings" remains an entertaining epic filled with action, adventure, and larger-than-life characters that resonated with audiences at the time.
The Vikings (film)
- Release Date: 1958
- Director(s): Richard Fleischer
- Writer(s): Calder Willingham
- Principal Actors and Roles: Ernest Borgnine (Ragnar); Tony Curtis (Eric); Kirk Douglas (Einar); Janet Leigh (Morgana); Edric Connor (Sandpiper); James Donald (Egbert)
- Book / Story Film Based On: The Viking by Edison Marshall
The 1958 action/adventure movie The Vikings was produced by its star, Kirk Douglas. Shot in Technicolor, the film was made on location on Norway’s spectacular southwest coast. According to Douglas and costar Tony Curtis, filming was relentlessly chilly and the water barely above freezing. The locations give the movie an air of authenticity despite the many inaccuracies in its depiction of Viking lifestyles and attitudes.
In some respects, great attention was paid to historic detail. The longboats constructed for the movie reputedly were so true to original dimensions, they had to be modified to accommodate the taller twentieth-century extras who rowed them. Similarly, the director was meticulous about using horses that matched the eighth-century mounts used in Norway.
At the same time, the Vikings are depicted almost as caricatures of barbaric, beer-swilling, men of gleeful violence, which led contemporary critics to mock the movie. As Bosley Crowther of the New York Times summed it up on June 12, 1958, "There isn’t much doubt that Kirk Douglas, who personally produced this giant charade, as well as plays the Number One boozer and bruiser on the Norsemen team, set out to make the goldarndest wide-screen and color action film that is physically possible within the confines of ancient castles, grotesque rowboats and bushy beards.
"And, by George, it looks as if he’s got it, so far as sheer agitation is concerned. There is scarcely a minute in its almost two hours that something muscular isn’t happening on the screen."
Plot
The Viking chief Ragnar leads his longboats on raids in eighth-century Northumbria in England. He kills the king, Edwin, and rapes his queen, Enid. When Edwin’s cousin Aella subsequently seizes the Northumbrian throne, Enid confides in a priest named Father Godwin that she is pregnant as a result of the rape. The priest shelters Enid and, when she gives birth to a son, arranges to have the child moved to Italy where the rightful heir of the king will be safe from Aella. The baby wears a necklace with a royal stone to signify his lineage.
The plot then leaps forward twenty years. Enid is dead, and Aella is about to marry a young Welsh princess named Morgana. Enid’s cousin Egbert knows about her son and has been scheming with Ragnar to overthrow Aella. Egbert is later forced to flee to Ragnar’s encampment where Ragnar’s violent, brash young son Einar is introduced. In a conflict with a slave named Eric, who Einar does not know is his half-brother, Einar loses an eye to Eric’s falcon. Staggered but cogent, Einar orders the slave be held until the evening’s feast, at which Eric’s doom will be pronounced.
As Eric is being led away to die, Egbert realizes who the "slave" is. He manages to free Eric and claims ownership of the slave. Because he is essential to Ragnar’s raids in Northumbria, Egbert gets his wish. Egbert then helps hatch a plot to prevent Aella’s marriage to Morgana, and Einar sails off to intercept the princess. Einar succeeds and immediately lusts for the beautiful young woman.
When Einar returns, Eric is also taken with Morgana’s beauty. But that night, when Ragnar throws another debauched feast to honor his son, Ragnar declares that Morgana is Einar’s property. Einar tries to rape Morgana when she refuses to be his wife. Eric intervenes, knocking out the drunken assailant. Eric flees with Morgana, slipping into a fog as a revived Einar and Ragnar pursue in longboats.
Ragnar’s ship founders on rocks and sinks, but Eric rescues the older Viking. Eric declares his love to Morgana, who reciprocates. Eric offers to deliver Ragnar to Aella if Aella will release Morgana from her pledge. Furious that Morgana agrees, Aella throws the princess in a cell.
Father Godwin then realizes who Eric is. While the priest explains Eric’s heritage to Morgana, Aella condemns Ragnar to be thrown into a pit of starving wolves. He orders Eric to push the Viking into the pit. Instead, Eric gives Ragnar a sword so he can die honorably, and the old Viking leaps to the wolves in the movie’s most-memorable scene.
Aella is prevented from killing Eric by Morgana, who offers to marry him if Eric is spared. Aella agrees but chops off the young man’s left hand and sets him adrift in a small boat. Eric manages to return to Ragnar’s land, where he demands a ship so he can return to Northumbria and rescue Morgana. He reveals how Ragnar died, and Einar agrees to help.
Together they attack Aella’s castle. After much fighting, Eric chases down the usurper and throws him into the wolf pit. Meanwhile, Einar has found Morgana in the chapel. When he learns that she loves Eric, he declares that he and Eric will fight for her. Father Godwin tells him that he and Eric are half-brothers, but Einar does not care. After a lengthy sword fight, Einar suddenly pauses and allows Eric to impale him. In repayment Eric gives his brother a Viking funeral. Now destined to be king in Northumbria as well as Ragnar’s heir, Eric and Morgana plan to join the communities in peace.
Significance
The Vikings is better known for making less-than-excellent use of its great cast than for any awards it received or lasting legacy it created. It did spawn other Viking-themed movies, and it was the basis for a 1959 television series called Tales of the Vikings. Elmo Williams, the movie’s editor, directed the television show. The movie was a financial success, ranking third in revenues in Great Britain in 1958.
It is solidly in the tradition of epic films, with unlikely plot twists and coincidences bringing characters together set against historical backdrops that may or may not be accurate. Like many other epics, the cast is laden with established stars. And like many other epics, it was very popular with audiences, with larger-than-life characters and feats of derring-do. In short, like other epics it is a lot of fun, and audiences appreciated the entertainment, critical disdain notwithstanding.
Bibliography
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