The Long Ships (1964)
In this Viking epic, Richard Widmark plays a Norseman with a talent for telling tall tales. There’s a flaw in that plot description, however. Richard Widmark sounds like a cowboy, not a Viking, so how can he convincingly pull off his schemes? He can’t. But, for some unknown reason, no one questions his supposed heritage; when he’s captured by Prince Sidney Poitier’s guards, he tells a tale of a giant golden bell, supposedly worth millions. Sidney agrees to spare his life if he helps him find the bell. Meanwhile, Sidney’s wife, Rosanna Schiaffino, is more than frustrated with her husband’s lack of intimate interest in her, and with another good-looking man in the picture, she might look elsewhere to get her needs met.
While you’re busy scratching your head wondering why anyone cast Dick Widmark in a period piece, you’ll find out he’s not the only unconvincing Viking in the movie. Russ Tamblyn plays his younger brother, who’s in love with Bebe Loncar, and she's just painfully contemporary. The Long Ships gives period pieces a bad name. It’s full of expensive sets and costumes, action scenes and supposedly dramatic dialogue, but it’s just too ridiculous to be taken seriously. Russ gets to demonstrate his famous acrobatic talents in some of the fight scenes, but you’re better off watching Tom Thumb.
The only realistic part of the film is actually quite disturbing. In the middle of the night, the Vikings break into the safety of palace. They see dozens of scantily-clad sleeping women and absolutely lose their minds and attack them. The women are screaming, and the men grab incessantly, pulling them offscreen, dragging them to the floor or wherever they can exert their force and have their way. Since the film was made in 1964, nothing besides forced kisses are shown, but it’s an extremely upsetting scene since that’s probably exactly what happened back then.
Even though 1964 was a more liberated film-making era than the previous decade, certain restrictions were still in place. The women’s costumes bared their bellybuttons—which was previously a no-no—but their torsos were covered with a flesh-colored mesh so as to not shock the audience. Actually, the men’s costumes were much more risqué than the women’s! The Vikings were clad in leather tunics, with extremely short shorts underneath. Russ and Dick seemed to be in constant competition as to who could show off their biceps more often and who could wear the shortest Speedo.
The bottom line is yes, Richard Widmark is incredibly good-looking, but this is a pretty terrible movie. You don’t need to watch it, unless you’re having serious beefcake withdrawals.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Cinema Central Seleus B" for posting!
More Sidney Poitier movies here!
More Richard Widmark movies here!
While you’re busy scratching your head wondering why anyone cast Dick Widmark in a period piece, you’ll find out he’s not the only unconvincing Viking in the movie. Russ Tamblyn plays his younger brother, who’s in love with Bebe Loncar, and she's just painfully contemporary. The Long Ships gives period pieces a bad name. It’s full of expensive sets and costumes, action scenes and supposedly dramatic dialogue, but it’s just too ridiculous to be taken seriously. Russ gets to demonstrate his famous acrobatic talents in some of the fight scenes, but you’re better off watching Tom Thumb.
The only realistic part of the film is actually quite disturbing. In the middle of the night, the Vikings break into the safety of palace. They see dozens of scantily-clad sleeping women and absolutely lose their minds and attack them. The women are screaming, and the men grab incessantly, pulling them offscreen, dragging them to the floor or wherever they can exert their force and have their way. Since the film was made in 1964, nothing besides forced kisses are shown, but it’s an extremely upsetting scene since that’s probably exactly what happened back then.
Even though 1964 was a more liberated film-making era than the previous decade, certain restrictions were still in place. The women’s costumes bared their bellybuttons—which was previously a no-no—but their torsos were covered with a flesh-colored mesh so as to not shock the audience. Actually, the men’s costumes were much more risqué than the women’s! The Vikings were clad in leather tunics, with extremely short shorts underneath. Russ and Dick seemed to be in constant competition as to who could show off their biceps more often and who could wear the shortest Speedo.
The bottom line is yes, Richard Widmark is incredibly good-looking, but this is a pretty terrible movie. You don’t need to watch it, unless you’re having serious beefcake withdrawals.
Want to watch it? Click here to watch it on ok.ru. And thanks "Classic Cinema Central Seleus B" for posting!
More Sidney Poitier movies here!
More Richard Widmark movies here!