[Regia-NA] Film "The Vikings" trivia.

[rmhowe]

Hazel Uzzell wrote:

>>For a really good laugh, look out for the feature film "The Norseman"
> 
> which
> 
>>included every cliché about Vikings ever thought of and starred the Six
>>Million Dollar Man.
>>
> 
> I love the scene on the beach, with horned helmets silhouetted against the
> sky...they look like a herd of particularly confused longhorn cows. Makes me
> laugh every time I see it...
> Hazel

When you contrast the scraeling silliness of that Lee Majors
film with the early interaction with Indian Tribes in
Black Robe (not medieval)you see one heck of a change.
That one was probably a bit too realistic.  Grittily so.

I'm thinking I may not have the Norseman in my film library.
It's probably one of the very few medieval films available I don't.

I have found eBay useful for finding all manner of films not usually
found here in the States. For example Falstaff aka Chimes at Midnight
with Orson Welles (with Japanese subtitles on the screen no less)
and The Black Rose with Tyrone Power and Orson Welles. The Golden
Horde was another one of those old English films from the 50's
rarely found anywhere else. I remember someone buying the old
huge gong from the Hammer Films introductions. Imagine if it
were hung behind a tapestry at Wychurst. No one would have to
be kicked awake ever again. :)  Kim standing there grinning with
a great big beater. Well, it wouldn't be the great bell from
the Longships but it would be effective.

Pure silliness is when they made John Wayne out to be Genghis Khan
in the Conqueror, the one most memorable line of his was :
"Woman, you inflame my loins!"
Reminds me of a woman two of my college housemates kept trading
crabs off of. Eventually one of them married her.
At least it wasn't something worse than freckles which move.
It predated the serious Herpes and Aids epidemics, which pretty
much later put an end to the cloven fruit practice in the SCA
when I joined. Feasts and afterwards were much different then.
There weren't that many shy females in the SCA of those days.
I once found myself having made a date for our twelfth nite
feast here -"Master Robin, I think I might just be in love..."
"You realize of course she's married!"
Nope. Not really, turned out it was to a colonel at the Pentagon.
That put a lovely end to an interesting night of dancing and
flirting.  Things were much different 22 years ago.

But probably the worst medievalist films are either the Deathstalker
film series, the Barbarian Queen pair, or anything with Jack
Palance being the bad guy in them.  Low budget to the max usually.
City Slickers redeemed his reputation somewhat before he died.

Magnus