The Viking (1928 film)
The Viking | |
---|---|
Directed by | Roy William Neill |
Written by | Randolph Bartlett (titles) Jack Cunningham |
Based on | The Thrall of Leif the Lucky 1902 novel by Ottilie A. Liljencrantz |
Produced by | Herbert Kalmus |
Starring | Pauline Starke Donald Crisp LeRoy Mason |
Cinematography | George Cave |
Edited by | Aubrey Scotto |
Music by | William Axt (uncredited) Richard Wagner (uncredited) Edvard Grieg (uncredited) |
Color process | Technicolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Loew's, Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | Sound (Synchronized) (English Intertitles) |
The Viking is a 1928 American synchronized sound
Plot
Lord Alwin (
Leif, with the support of King Olaf (
Leif has no choice but to take her along. During the voyage, she and Alwin confess their love for each other. Unaware of this, Leif informs her that he will marry her on the "second change of the moon". Egil, in love with Helga himself, foments a mutiny among the crew, who fear sailing off the edge of the world. When Egil prepares to stab Leif in the back during the wedding ceremony, Alwin leaps in the way and is wounded. Leif kills Egil, but is enraged when Helga reveals that she loves Alwin. He raises his sword to kill the unconscious Alwin, but his Christian faith stops him. Just then, land is sighted, and the mutiny dissolves.
Leif steps ashore bearing a makeshift cross. He has a stone tower built and makes friends with the natives. When Leif leaves for home, Alwin, Helga and a few others remain behind. A final, 'modern day,' scene, with God Bless America sung in the background, states that the stone tower still stands in Newport, Rhode Island.
Cast
- Donald Crisp as Leif Ericsson
- Pauline Starke as Helga [Nillson]
- LeRoy Mason as Alwin
- Anders Randolph as Eric the Red
- Richard Alexander as Sigurd
- Harry Lewis Woods as Egil
- Albert MacQuarrie as Kark
- Roy Stewart as King Olaf
- Torben Meyer as Odd
- Claire MacDowell as Lady Editha (credited as Claire MacDowell)
- Julia Swayne Gordon as Thorhild
- Iron Eyes Cody as Indian (uncredited)
- Frank Ellis as Man Who Gives Sword to Alwin (uncredited)
- Francis McDonald as Viking Friend of Leif (uncredited)
- Lon Poff as Friar Slain by Vikings (uncredited)
- Angelo Rossitto as Viking Dwarf (uncredited)
- Dick Sutherland as Viking (uncredited)
Production
The Viking was the first feature film to use Technicolor's dye-transfer process because of the technical limitation of the previous process with printing sound, which used two prints cemented base-to-base.[5] The film was considered the finest use of color cinematography at the time of release.
Early sound and color technology
The sound was recorded in the
The film was produced by the Technicolor Corporation, but was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, after production chief Irving Thalberg became impressed with the technology. The film carries MGM's Leo the Lion logo in color, featuring a different lion (called Telly) than the one (Jackie) shown on black-and-white films. In 1930, MGM reissued the film as a color sound musical film titled The Private Life of Leif Ericson. The sound film survives today as well as the silent version.[citation needed]
Reception
Critical response
Film critic Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times wrote in his review: "the figures often look as if they had stepped out of an opera comique…. The make-up of the players is often more than a trifle overdone, especially when the villain reveals on close inspection his mouse-colored eyelids."[6][7]
In 1938, Technicolor president Herbert Kalmus wrote:
There seemed to be two principal troubles with The Viking, both of which I suspected but without certainty. First it came out among the very last silent pictures in 1929, and second, whiskers. Leif Ericson, the Viking hero true to character had a long curling mustache, whereas American audiences prefer their lovers smooth-shaven. At times the whole screen seemed filled with Viking whiskers.[8]
See also
- List of early color feature films
- List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)
- List of films featuring slavery
References
Citations
- ^ Matheson 2011, p. 302.
- ^ Klepper 1999, p. 493.
- ^ Helgason 2017, p. 155.
- ^ Wolf & Mueller-Vollmer 2018, p. 110.
- ^ Usai 2018, p. 61.
- ^ Hall, Mordaunt (November 29, 1928). "A Picture in Colors". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
- ^ The Viking at silentera.com database
- ^ H.T. Kalmus, "Technicolor Adventures in Cinemaland," Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, December 1938. The Viking opened in November 1928, but went into general release in 1929.
- ^ Hall & Neale 2010, p. 68.
Sources
- ISBN 978-0814330081.
- Helgason, Jón Karl (2017). "Leif: When civilization was less civilized". Echoes of Valhalla: The Afterlife of the Eddas and Sagas (Translation ed.). ISBN 978-1780237152.
- Klepper, Robert K. (1999). Silent Films, 1877-1996: A Critical Guide to 646 Movies. ISBN 978-0786405954.
- Matheson, Lister M. (2011). Icons of the Middle Ages: Rulers, Writers, Rebels, and Saints. Greenwood Icons. Vol. 1. ISBN 978-0313340819.
- Usai, Paolo Cherchi (2018). Silent Cinema: A Guide to Study, Research and Curatorship (3rd ed.). ISBN 978-1844575299.
- Wolf, Kirsten; Mueller-Vollmer, Tristan (2018). The Vikings: Historical Facts and Fictions. ISBN 978-1440862984.
External links
- The Viking at IMDb
- The Viking is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
- The Viking at the TCM Movie Database
- The Viking at AllMovie
- The Viking at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Technicolor - a history of the colour process, including information about The Viking.