L'ultimo dei Vikinghi (1961)

User Rating:

4.7/10   

Director:

Giacomo Gentilomo
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Writers:

Arpad DeRiso (story) &
Luigi Mondello (story) ...
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Release Date:

May 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | War

Tagline:

Roaring In From The Sea!!!!!! Brawling! Boisterous! Barbaric!!!!!!

Plot:

Harald and younger brother Guntar return to Norway after a 10-year voyage to find their father murdered...

Plot Keywords:

Brothers | Viking | Sword | Dungeon | Castle

Cast

Cameron Mitchell	...	Harald
Edmund Purdom	...	King Sveno
Isabelle Corey	...	Hilde
Hélène Rémy	...	Elga
George Ardisson	...	Guntar
Mario Feliciani
Andrea Aureli	...	Haakon
Aldo Bufi Landi	...	Londborg
Carla Calò	...	Herta
Corrado Annicelli	...	Godrun
Nando Tamberlani	...	Gultred
Nando Angelini
Piero Gerlini
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrea Checchi
Piero Lulli
Benito Stefanelli

Directed by
Giacomo Gentilomo
Mario Bava		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Arpad DeRiso		(story) &
Luigi Mondello		(story) &
Guido Zurli		(story)
Arpad DeRiso		(screenplay) &
Guido Zurli		(screenplay) &
Giacomo Gentilomo		(screenplay)

Produced by
Roberto Capitani	....	producer
Luigi Mondello	....	producer
Sam Schneider	....	producer (english version) (as Samuel Schneider)

Original Music by
Roberto Nicolosi

Cinematography by
Enzo Serafin

Film Editing by
Gino Talamo

Art Direction by
Italo Tomassi		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Maria Luisa Panaro		(as M.L. Panaro)

Production Management
Roberto Capitani	....	production manager (as R. Capitani)
Augusto Dolfi	....	production supervisor
Tonino Garzarelli	....	production supervisor
Luigi Mondello	....	general manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Giancarlo Marmol	....	assistant director
Pino Mercanti	....	second unit director
Guido Zurli	....	second unit director (as G. Zurli)

Art Department
Saverio D'Eugenio	....	set designer

Camera and Electrical Department
Alvaro Mancori	....	cinematographer: second unit (as A. Mancori)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Assunto Lazzazzera	....	seamstress

Music Department
Luigi Urbini	....	conductor

Other crew
Anita Borgiotti	....	script supervisor: second unit (as A. Borgiotti)
Maria Luisa Roi	....	script supervisor (as M.L. Roi)
Benito Stefanelli	....	fencing master

Production Companies

• Critérion Film
• Galatea Film
• Les Films du Cyclope
• Tiberius Film

Distributors

• Medallion Pictures (1962) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Sinister Cinema (1993) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Ditta Pompei  footwear
• Ditta Rancati  weapons
• Ditta Rocchetti  wigs
• Edizione Musicale - Nazionalmusic  soundtrack
• Fono Roma  sound post-production
• Nettuno Navy Yard  ships provided by
• Tigano Lo Faro  costumes

Also Known As:

The Last of the Vikings (UK) (USA)
L'ultimo dei Vichinghi (Italy) (alternative spelling)
Le dernier des Vikings (France)

Runtime:

USA:103 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Telecolor) | Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:Unrated | Finland:K-16

Filming Locations:

Anzio, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Critérion Film

Quotes:

King Sveno: Don't kill him! Save him! I want him alive!

"The Vikings" on a B-movie diet

Though made in the wake of the worldwide success of "Hercules," this modest but vigorous Italian production plays less like a "sword-and-sandal" and more like a "Robin Hood." Much of the action takes place in the villain's medieval castle but the action, perhaps because of a limited budget, rarely results in the hoped-for excitement. The cast, however, is a notch above average, led by Cameron Mitchell in the good-guy role and Edmund Purdom as the Sheriff-of-Nottingham-like villain. Mitchell's hair has been unconvincingly bleached blond but he manages to get through the proceedings with dignity largely intact. Purdom, however, is another story. He played the title role in 20th Century Fox's most expensive production of 1954, "The Egyptian" and in 1955 he played the leading man to Lana Turner in MGM's most expensive production of that season, "The Prodigal." This one-two punch should have made him a star but he soon wound up back in Europe slumming in B-movies such as this one. Here he plays a mincing, giggling villain who scampers about like a campy Richard III, his eyes darting nervously here and there and his hands, when they're not being wrung, clasped prissily across his chest. It's a "fun" performance but, oh, how the mighty have fallen. Perhaps the film's most memorable moment comes when Mitchell rescues his brother (George Ardisson) from a cell in Purdom's castle. The brother's palms have been nailed to an X-shaped cross and Mitchell has to pull the spikes out, mostly by hand. Fans of beefcake-bondage, laced with blood and sweat, take note.