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''The Viking'' is a 1928 American
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...
. It was the first feature-length
Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
film that featured a
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...
, and it was the first film made in Technicolor's Process 3. It stars Pauline Starke,
Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...
, and
LeRoy Mason LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota on July 2, 1903. Career 1920s Mason's fi ...
. The film is loosely based on the 1902 novel ''The Thrall of Leif the Lucky'' by Ottilie A. Liljencrantz. ''The Viking'' was directed by
Roy William Neill Roy William Neill (4 September 1887 – 14 December 1946) was an Irish-born American film director best known for directing the last eleven of the fourteen Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, made between 1943 and 1 ...
.


Plot

Lord Alwin (
LeRoy Mason LeRoy Franklin Mason (July 2, 1903 – October 13, 1947) was an American film actor who worked primarily in Westerns in both the silent and sound film eras. Mason was born in Larimore, North Dakota on July 2, 1903. Career 1920s Mason's fi ...
), Earl of
Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
, is captured in a Viking raid and taken to Norway as a slave. There he is bought by Helga ( Pauline Starke), an "orphan of noble blood" under the guardianship of
Leif Ericsson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental Nort ...
(
Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...
). He proves a troublesome slave, and Leif's sailing master, Egil the Black ( Harry Woods), prepares to kill him for his insolence, but Helga stops him. When Alwin challenges Egil to a sword fight, Leif is impressed by his courage and permits it. Alwin manages to break Egil's sword, but spares him. Helga then gives Alwin to Leif. Leif, with the support of King Olaf ( Roy Stewart), the first Christian king of Norway, sets out to search for lands beyond
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland ...
, which was discovered by his pagan father,
Eric the Red Erik Thorvaldsson (), known as Erik the Red, was a Norse explorer, described in medieval and Icelandic saga sources as having founded the first settlement in Greenland. He most likely earned the epithet "the Red" due to the color of his hair ...
(
Anders Randolf Anders Randolf (December 18, 1870 – July 2, 1930) was a Danish American actor in American films from 1913 to 1930. Biography Anders was born in Viborg, Denmark, where he became a professional soldier in the Danish army and a world-class swo ...
). Back in Greenland, Eric kills one of his men after he discovers that the man is a Christian. When Leif stops there to pick up supplies, Eric gives his blessing for his marriage to Helga (unbeknownst to her). However, after it is revealed that Leif is himself a Christian, Eric disowns him and refuses to give him any supplies. Fighting breaks out after Leif instructs Alwin to take the supplies anyway. In the confusion, Helga stows away on Leif's ship. 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 "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run up to World War II in 1938. The later version was notably recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature s ...
'' sung in the background, states that the stone tower still stands in Newport, Rhode Island.


Cast


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. 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 Movietone
sound-on-film Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog ...
system originally developed by
Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...
, with color by Technicolor in their new dye transfer process, now known as Process 3. The film was produced by the Technicolor Corporation, but was distributed by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
, after production chief
Irving Thalberg Irving Grant Thalberg (May 30, 1899 – September 14, 1936) was an American film producer during the early years of motion pictures. He was called "The Boy Wonder" for his youth and ability to select scripts, choose actors, gather productio ...
became impressed with the technology. The film carries MGM's Leo the Lion
logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...
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 Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as brea ...
titled ''The Private Life of Leif Ericson''. The sound film survives today as well as the silent version.


Reception


Critical response

Film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, magazines and other popular mass-media outlets ...
Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' 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." In 1938, Technicolor president
Herbert Kalmus Herbert Thomas Kalmus (November 9, 1881 – July 11, 1963) was an American scientist and engineer who played a significant role in developing color motion picture film. Kalmus was the co-founder and president of the Technicolor Motion Picture C ...
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.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.
Film historians
Sheldon Hall Sheldon Hall is an early 16th-century Grade II* listed manor house located on Gressel Lane in the Tile Cross/Kitts Green area of Birmingham, England, consisting of a main block of two stories and attics built of red and black bricks with stone ...
and Steve Neale wrote in their book ''Epics, Spectacles, and Blockbusters'': "''The Viking'' was neither a talkie nor a musical", as the other two Technicolor films of "the late 1920s and early 1930s".


See also

*
List of films featuring slavery Film has been the most influential medium in the presentation of the history of slavery to the general public. The American film industry has had a complex relationship with slavery, and until recent decades often avoided the topic. Films such ...


References


Citations


Sources

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External links

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Technicolor
- a history of the colour process, including information about ''The Viking''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Viking, The 1928 films 1920s color films American historical romance films American romantic drama films American silent feature films 1920s historical romance films Fictional Vikings Films based on American novels Films directed by Roy William Neill Films set in the Viking Age Films set in the 11th century Films set in England Films set in Greenland Films set in pre-Columbian America Films set in Rhode Island Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Silent films in color Cultural depictions of Erik the Red Cultural depictions of Leif Erikson Early color films 1928 romantic drama films 1920s American films Silent romantic drama films Silent adventure films Silent American drama films