The mastermind behind a ubiquitous spy operation learns of a dangerous romance between a Russian lady in his employ and a dashing agent from the government's secret service.
Director:
Fritz Lang
Stars:
Rudolf Klein-Rogge,
Gerda Maurus,
Willy Fritsch
Through a fluke circumstance a ruthless woman stumbles across a suitcase filled with $60,000, and she is determined to hold onto it even it if means murder.
While building an irrigation system for a Southwestern desert community, an engineer vies with a local cowboy for the affections of a rancher's daughter.
In this version of the Billy the Kid legend, Billy, after shooting down land baron William Donovan's henchmen for killing Billy's boss, is hunted down and captured by his friend, Sheriff ... See full summary »
Director:
King Vidor
Stars:
Johnny Mack Brown,
Wallace Beery,
Kay Johnson
Yes, it's true, an all color silent movie! The title refers to Leif Ericsson, who leaves Norway to search for new lands west of Greenland. On the way he vies for the love of Helga with his companion Egil and Alwin, an English slave. More conflict arises when he stops at the colony of his father (Eric the Red) in Greenland, for Leif has converted to Christianity, which his father hates. He also has to deal with the unrest of his crew, who fear falling off the edge of the Earth. Written by
Robert Tonsing <rtonsing@vvm.com>
Helga finds her slave (the captured English noble Lord Alwin) reading a book that is clearly a typeset, printed volume - 450 years before Gutenberg invents the printing press. See more »
Quotes
Leif Ericsson:
Helga Nilsson - you should know better than to whip a man like that!
See more »
Soundtracks
Sigurd Jorsalfar (suite), Op.56
by Edvard Grieg (1892)
[Excerpts heard throughout score] See more »
Donald Crisp was an extremely prolific actor in sound films. What many people don't know is that he made even more silent films (as actor and director) than sound films. In The Viking, he plays Leif Ericsson, who plans his greatest adventure, to go beyond Greenland and explore for new lands.
A strikingly handsome LeRoy Mason plays Lord Alwin, an English noble. His castle is attacked by the Vikings early in the film, his family scattered, and he is made a slave.
The lovely Pauline Starke plays Helga Nilsson, who is a spunky Nordic gal who is loved by Leif, Alwin, and... well let's not give away too much of the story here.
What makes this film charming and somewhat unique is that it came at the end of the silent era, when camera technique was at its height. It is also filmed in primitive technicolor. The early technicolor process did not render true color as we know it today. The muted shades of the film actually help to make the historic subject matter of the film more remote, as though one were actually watching something that happened long, long ago.
The version of this film that I saw had sound effects, and a symphonic musical score that mixed new music with lots of Richard Wagner at climactic moments. It all worked very well.
It's amazing to me that this very entertaining film is almost unknown today.
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Donald Crisp was an extremely prolific actor in sound films. What many people don't know is that he made even more silent films (as actor and director) than sound films. In The Viking, he plays Leif Ericsson, who plans his greatest adventure, to go beyond Greenland and explore for new lands.
A strikingly handsome LeRoy Mason plays Lord Alwin, an English noble. His castle is attacked by the Vikings early in the film, his family scattered, and he is made a slave.
The lovely Pauline Starke plays Helga Nilsson, who is a spunky Nordic gal who is loved by Leif, Alwin, and... well let's not give away too much of the story here.
What makes this film charming and somewhat unique is that it came at the end of the silent era, when camera technique was at its height. It is also filmed in primitive technicolor. The early technicolor process did not render true color as we know it today. The muted shades of the film actually help to make the historic subject matter of the film more remote, as though one were actually watching something that happened long, long ago.
The version of this film that I saw had sound effects, and a symphonic musical score that mixed new music with lots of Richard Wagner at climactic moments. It all worked very well.
It's amazing to me that this very entertaining film is almost unknown today.