Visible crew/equipment: While Raynar and Einar are arguing about the wench, a crewman surreptitiously sneaks in a mic at the bottom left of the screen. (00:47:54)
The Vikings (1958)
1 picture
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ernest Borgnine, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh
Factual error: The Vikings raided England in the 9th and 10th centuries. The first castles were not built until post 1066. The castle in the film has rounded towers, crenellations and machicolations, which would date it at approximately 1300. That would tend to suggest that these Vikings were 400 or 500 years old, or that they had access to a time machine.
Trivia: At the end of the film, a Viking ship is set afire by flaming arrows in a rendering of a traditional Viking funeral. Director Richard Fleischer took great care to have the archers practice the moment, training them to release the arrows on the count of "three," and hoping at least some of the arrows would arc properly to hit the sail of the ship and set it on fire. When the time came for the live shot, the director only reached the count of "two", when an over-eager archer loosed his arrow. As luck would have it, the arrow arced perfectly and hit the sail. Then, Fleischer called, "Three." and the other archers loosed their arrows. Fleischer decided that he liked the one, single arrow being launched first, and kept the shot in the film because it looked like part of the ceremony.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.