FILM · 1958
The Vikings
29 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (29)
- #001
Ernest Borgnine plays Kirk Douglas's father. In real life, Borgnine was 1-1/2 months younger than Douglas.
- #002
The three Viking ships in the film were designed using plans of a real Viking ship that had been recovered from the water and restored by a Viking museum in Norway. The boats built for the film turned out to be highly accurate, but because modern actors were taller than their historical counterparts, all the other oar holes had to be covered so the men could row with a full stroke. Otherwise, on each new stroke they would push the oar handles forward and hit the backs of the rowers seated in front of them.
- #003
Because Tony Curtis kills Kirk Douglas in this film, it was decided that Douglas would kill Curtis in Spartacus (1960).
- #004
Kirk Douglas offered a prize to every male member of the cast for the best beard grown before arriving on location. They all showed up with huge beards, only to find Douglas clean-shaven.
- #005
The opaque scleral contact lens Kirk Douglas wore to simulate his character's blind eye was incredibly painful. He could only stand to keep it in for a few minutes at a time.
- #006
Kirk Douglas was 40 years old when this film was shot in the summer of 1957, but his character was supposed to be in his twenties.
- #007
The castle seen in the film is Fort-la-Latte in Brittany (northwestern France).
- #008
The film's popularity in Japan inspired Japanese people to refer to a buffet as a "viking," since both Vikings and smorgasbords are associated with Scandinavian culture.
- #009
The stuntmen had practiced rowing scenes for weeks. Kirk Douglas told director Richard Fleischer he could do it and performed the rowing several times. After falling into the icy water, he calmly swam to the camera boat and asked whether they had gotten good shots, then swam back to the Viking ship. Fleischer noted that they had watched and filmed an event that had not been performed in 1,000 years.
- #010
In the final battle, Einar loses an eye and Eric loses a hand. In Norse mythology, Odin is said to be one-eyed and Tyr one-handed, which is why Odin is called "One-Eye" and Tyr the "one-handed god." Odin and Tyr are gods of war.
- #011
At the end of the film, a Viking ship is set ablaze with flaming arrows in a depiction of a traditional Viking funeral. Director Richard Fleischer took great care in having the archers practice at that moment, training them to release their arrows on a count of "three," and hoped at least some of the arrows would arc properly and strike the ship's sail and set it on fire. When the live shot came, the director only reached "two" before an overeager archer loosed his arrow. By luck, the arrow arced perfectly and struck the sail. Fleischer then called "Three!" and the other archers released their arrows. Fleischer decided he liked the single arrow fired first, and kept the shot in the film because it looked like part of the ceremony.
- #012
Although the plot is mostly historical fiction, there was a king named Aella in Northumbria who usurped the throne and was soon eliminated by the invading Vikings. It is worth noting that the puppet king installed by the Vikings was named Egbert, the name of the English collaborator in this film.
- #013
The horses Kirk Douglas and Ernest Borgnine ride in Norway are Norwegian Fjord horses.
- #014
Kirk Douglas produced the film to fulfill his childhood dream of playing a Viking.
- #015
While preparing for this film, director Richard Fleischer researched Scandinavian civilization for two years. This included accurate designs for the Viking ships they used and the breed of horses they rode.
- #016
Eileen Way would not shoot outdoors while it was raining, so a local girl (Berit Wollan) was hired as her stunt double for the rainy outdoor scenes.
- #017
In the DVD commentary, director Richard Fleischer said Ernest Borgnine did a good job of keeping the cast loose during the cold conditions of the shoot.
- #018
In an interview conducted shortly after the film's premiere, both Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis said they were cold throughout the entire shoot. The water in the fjord was just above freezing, and the air temperature was only slightly warmer.
- #019
In reality there was a kingdom called Northumbria, and its history undoubtedly formed the basis of the novel on which the film was made: it was founded around AD 616 by the union of two smaller kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira, with Edwin, son of the Deirian ruler Aella, as its first king. It came under Viking control in AD 867 when it was conquered by two brothers, Ivar and Halfdan Ragnarrson, and integrated into the Danelaw, a Viking kingdom established in Britain. The area of present-day Northumbria was later divided between two rising kingdoms, Scotland and England. The English portion became known as "Northumberland."
- #020
In his autobiography, Tony Curtis writes that the shooting conditions were absolutely terrible because of endless rainy days when the entire crew (hundreds of people) had to take shelter under the tents and wait for the weather to let up briefly. Curtis also says that as producer, Kirk Douglas was a great help to Richard Fleischer, because Fleischer was occupied with hundreds of details on set that could not be corrected.
- #021
The melody played when Ragnar sails home through the fjord is a West Swedish song titled "Ack Värmland, du sköna."
- #022
The Vikings, starring Richard Widmark, and The Long Ships (1964) are often confused because of their similar content. There is still a connection, however: Jack Cardiff (holder of a lifetime Oscar achievement) directed The Long Ships and was the cinematographer on The Vikings.
- #023
Some of the names used in the film, such as Einar and Ivar, are names that have been widely used in Norway for hundreds of years and still are.
- #024
Crime fiction writer James Ellroy went to Hollywood Boulevard with his father to see this film, on the night his mother was murdered in 1958.
- #025
The Vikings was the first film shown on The ABC Sunday Night Movie, which premiered in the 1964-65 TV season. An earlier series of Sunday night movies, The Hollywood Special, had aired on ABC from the spring of 1962 to the summer of 1963 and was temporarily replaced by the weekly 90-minute series Arrest and Trial (1963).
- #026
The Vikings marked Kelly Curtis's debut.
- #027
On 30 April 1958 the film was passed by the British Board of Film Censors with an "A" certificate (suitable for children accompanied by an adult), and on 8 July 1958 its Royal Gala Premiere was held at the Leicester Square Theatre. The event was in aid of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme, and the Duke himself attended. The film ran at the Leicester Square Theatre for five weeks and generally went on general release at normal prices on Sunday, 3 August 1958.
- #028
The Vikings is one of director John Milius's favorite films.
- #029
The Vikings (1958) is an American epic historical fiction spectacle directed by Richard Fleischer, shot in Technirama and printed in Technicolor. It was produced by Jerry Bresler and Kirk Douglas (who also starred in the film) through Douglas's Brynaprod company. It is based on Edison Marshall's 1951 novel The Viking, which in turn drew on material from the sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons. The other leading roles were taken by then-married couple Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, as well as Ernest Borgnine. The film made notable use of natural locations in Norway. It was shot mostly at Maurangerfjorden and Maurangsnes and filmed by cinematographer Jack Cardiff, but Aella's castle was the real Fort-la-Latte in Brittany, northeastern France.
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