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Story: Einar and Eric are two Viking half-brothers. The former is a great warrior whilst the other is an ex-slave, but neither knows the true identity of the other. When the throne of Northumbria
Director: Richard Fleischer
Writers: Calder Willingham (screenplay), Dale Wasserman (adaptation)
Stars: Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine
Genre: Adventure, Drama, History
Review: "The Vikings" is essentially an epic, even if it is rather shorter than most films in that genre, set in the Dark Ages rather than the more normal worlds of the Bible or the Greco-Roman classics. The story is loosely based upon Norse sagas (legendary, but with a basis in the real history of ninth-century England) about the struggles between the pagan Vikings and the Christian Anglo-Saxons for control of the Kingdom of Northumbria (today's northern England). Some epics from the fifties, such as "The Robe" or "The Silver Chalice", took the simple view of the "Chanson de Roland" that "Christians are right and pagans are wrong", but not this one. The film's main villain is the cruel and treacherous Christian King Aella and the Vikings, while fierce and warlike, nevertheless have their own code of honour.
As was common with epics, the plot is a complicated one. It revolves around a pair of half-brothers, Erik and Einar, the sons of the Viking chieftain Ragnar. Erik is also, unbeknown to him, the long-lost rightful heir to the Northumbrian throne currently held by Aella. (Northumbrian laws of succession must have been rather loose. Erik is the son of the widowed queen of Aella's cousin and predecessor, who conceived him when she was raped by Ragnar- a rather daring storyline in the days of the Production Code. Such a parentage would not have given Erik a claim to the throne of most European monarchies). For most of the film the two men do not know that they are brothers- indeed, they regard one another as rivals and enemies, a rivalry intensified when both fall in love with the same woman, the Princess Morgana, who also happens to be betrothed to Aella.
Ragnar, Erik, Einar and Aella were all historical individuals, but the film is not noted for its historical accuracy. Indeed, because the history of this particular period is so sketchily recorded, any film about it would be bound to involve more speculation than hard fact. In reality the Vikings and their Saxon enemies, both Germanic peoples, had much in common, apart from in the area of religion, but in the film the two sides are portrayed as being quite culturally distinct. The Vikings are shown as Dark Age barbarians, whereas the Saxons are portrayed as having a much more advanced culture, with their architecture, armour and costumes being those of the High Middle Ages, several centuries after the date at which the events depicted ostensibly take place. If, for example, the Saxons had had stone castles like the one shown here, they would have had much less difficulty in repelling the Viking raids.
Kirk Douglas not only starred in the film (as Einar), he also produced it, a double he was to repeat two years later with "Spartacus". Apparently creative differences led to Douglas falling out with the director, Richard Fleischer, with whom he had previously collaborated on "20,000 Leagues under the Sea", both blaming the other for what they saw as the film's failure. I was, however, surprised to learn this, as I have never considered "The Vikings" to be a failure at all. Certainly, it was a major success at the box office. Fleischer was a director whose films varied widely not only in subject-matter but also in quality. He made a number of films far worse than this one, "Red Sonja" being a particularly egregious example, and only a few better, notably "Ten Rillington Place".
"The Vikings" combines exciting adventure with an engaging human drama, and is wonderfully photographed by the famous cinematographer Jack Cardiff against some striking natural scenery, mostly in the Norwegian fjords, although Aella's castle is actually in Brittany and some other locations are in Croatia. (Cardiff also worked as a director, and was later to make his own Viking epic, "The Long Ships"). Douglas and Tony Curtis as Erik both make dashing heroes, and there are also good performances from Curtis's real-life wife Janet Leigh as the lovely Morgana, Ernest Borgnine as Ragnar and Frank Thring as the villainous Aella. (Curtis and Leigh also starred together in another mediaeval drama, "The Black Shield of Falworth"). The film may not quite have the depth or grandeur of "Spartacus", one of the finest epics ever made, but judged by virtually any other standards it is a pretty good one. 7/10
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