The Vikings (1958)

Kirk Douglas, you will be sorely missed, you wonderful actor you...

I grew up on 'classic' films such as this one and Kirk Douglas always stood out for me. The guy had so much charisma, enthusiasm and acting chops; combined with that chiselled face you could recognize anywhere and it was a clear recipe for succes. And even though I feel that 'Spartacus' is my all time favourite starring Douglas, this one is a lot of fun too.

Ernest Borgnine is Ragnar, a Viking chieftain who at one point during a raid, rapes Queen Enid. Unbeknownst to the newly appointed king Aella, she is with child. Her son is sent away to Italy, but it turns out his ship was raided by Vikings and he grows up to be a slave in the guise of Tony Curtis. Rganar also has a legitimate son, Einar (Douglas). An English traitor wants to dethrone Aella and seeks the help of Ragnar, discovering along the way that Eric (Curtis) is the heir to the throne. To further this ploy, they kidnap princess Morgana (Janet Leigh) and of course, both brothers fall head over heels in love with her, but it's clear she prefers the softer Eric to the rowdy Einar. But when Aella takes her for his own, kills Ragnar and cuts off Eric's left hand, revenge and battle will ensue.

Sure, it's a triangular love story set in medieval Northumbria and Norway, so storywise, there's not a lot to it. But take a look at that character list! Come on, where else would you find such a gathering of great/cool actors and actresses? I would be rather hard pressed to think of one right away. Even though you have to have some suspension of disbelief that Ernest Borgnine and Kirk Douglas play father and son, seeing as they don't differ that much in age anyway. Curtis does feel better, but he has always had more of a babyface anyway.

In fact, for me, Curtis is the weakest link in the film. Not that he is bad, but he feels a little bland and 'nice'. But it's not easy going up against two guys like Borgnine and Douglas, of course. Speaking of which, you can tell Borgnine is having the time of his life, playing a loud and boisterous Viking. For Douglas, this is also a little bit of a departure, because he's more of a bad guy than usual. Sure, the real big bad is Aella, but Einar is a bit of a dick.

But it's not the story that makes this one stand out to me. The vibrant colours are glorious and lots of this film was shot in Norway. That makes the outdoor shots beautiful and accurate. That is also something that has always amazed me, how a film from 1958 tried its best to portray Vikings as accurately as possible. The clothing and buildings more or less are accurate and their armour and helmets also make sense, in that they have the Norman-style (which again, makes sense as Normans were literally 'Northmen' anyway). So no silly horned helmets, because there's no way Vikings would wear anything like that, except maybe for ceremonial purposes. And sure, maybe they overdid the drinking and feasting and a little rough around the edges, but many a film got so much of this wrong.

Well done, I say.

Don't expect high art or an intellectual challenge, this is just a fun romantic adventure flick with lots of great actors. I will recommend it, but it's not obligatory viewing. It might be fun if you have a thing for Vikings. Or Kirk Douglas.