In
the 9th Century a Viking raid on Northern England sees the King of
Northumbria slain and his wife brutally raped by the Viking King Ragnar
(Ernest Borgnine). As King Aella takes to the thrown, the former queen
discovers that she is pregnant with the true heir and arranges for him
to be smuggled away for his own protection. Years later an English
Lord, who has betrayed Aella to the Vikings, is locked up by the
Northumbrian King, but escapes and is smuggled up to Scandinavia. There
he meets Ragnar's violent son Einar (Kirk Douglas), and the slave Eric
(Tony Curtis) whom he discovers is actually the true heir to the
British throne. The Englishman conspires with Ragnar to arrange the
kidnap of Welsh Princess Morgana, who is pledged to Aella, and she is
brought back to Scandinavia by Einar who quickly desires her for
himself, but has some competition in the form of Eric...
The
1950s was the era of the big screen epic, although popular since the
dawn of cinema, the epic films were boosted during the decade by the
introduction of widescreen technology that made the spectacle even more
impressive. The screenplay, adapted from a novel, is inspired by
the semi-legendary history of the Norse King Ragnar Lodbrok who lived in the 9th
Century, had sons named Eric and Agnar [Einar] and was eventually captured and killed by the Northumbrian King Aelle II
- although aside from the names, there are few connections between the
screenplay and the legends (Ragnar was captured in battle, and his
first two sons were killed before he was, in battle with their father's
own appointed ruler in Sweden).
Fortunately, while many epic films in the 1950s and 1960s seemed to use plot as filler inbetween epic battle scenes, The Vikings
boasts an enjoyable storyline, full of murder, revenge and betrayal,
that although hardly thought-provoking or unpredictable, does a good
job of capturing the spirit of a classic Viking Saga. Unfortunately the
film does fall short in a few aspects: despite the two hour run-time, a
lot of characters are poorly developed (the treacherous English Lord,
and the mute servant especially) and the screenplay does seem to have
been cut down from a much larger project with various plot aspects
hurried over. However, thanks
to this relatively short run-time, pacing is
strong throughout, and the climactic battle is very thrilling.
Endowed with a big budget, The Vikings
looks superb - with full size ships (exact copies of real Viking
ships), and location photography in Norway giving the film a real sense
of authenticity. The mythology and atmosphere of the film was heavily
researched and quite
accurate, with only a few stylised Hollyood touches (namely Einar's
winged
helmet). Relatively small scale for the era, the film does boast a
rather epic castle attack at its climax. The soundtrack from Italian
composer Mario Nascimbene is instantly recognisable, with its famous
three note theme and solid incidental music throughout.
Top
billed was the new big name in Hollywood at the time, Kirk Douglas -
the manly action hero who came to fame with the classic Disney
adaptation of
20000 Leagues Under the Sea
(1954), also from director Richard Fleischer - suitably rugged, he fits
the role like a glove, with a fantastic performance that would be hard
to match. Ernest Borgnine as Ragnar, seems to be really enjoying
the role and certainly looks the part. Tony Curtis is better known for
his comedy films (most
notably, the classic
Some Like it Hot
(1959)) and to fans of those films, he does seem rather out of place
here and never quite seems to fit in. His wife at the time, Janet
Leigh, plays suitably well as the love interest, in a rather
undeveloped role.
Despite some great performances from Kirk Douglas and Ernest Borgnine, authentic location shooting and a well paced script,
The Vikings
never quite gels - with a
rather detached performance from Tony Curtis and a script that seems to
be missing big chunks of characterisation. Fortunately it remains
enjoyable throughout and comes recommended to all fans of classic
adventure films.