Odin be praised! A massive box-office success upon release in 1958, The Vikings remains Hollywood’s most noteworthy take on the lives of the legendary Norse marauders. It’s a thrilling and, at times, surprisingly brutal historical spectacle of the old school variety, shot in CinemaScope on location on the fjords of Norway by incomparable cinematographer Jack Cardiff.

In this lavish, testosterone-fuelled saga, half-brothers-who-don’t-know-they’re-half-brothers, Erik (Tony Curtis) and Einar (Kirk Douglas), face off for the love of the fair princess Morgana (Curtis’ then wife Janet Leigh), culminating in one of the greatest duels in screen history. Underrated journeyman Richard Fleischer directs this heady, action-packed romp with considerable aplomb and lack of irony (Fleischer would later direct Curtis as real-life serial killer Albert DeSalvo in 1968’s The Boston Strangler). As befits its epic, overblown majesty, The Vikings features narration by one Orson Welles.Due to circumstances beyond our control, Tony Curtis will no longer be coming to Ireland on this occasion and therefore unable to appear at the IFI.
All three screenings (Sweet Smell of Success, The Vikings and Some Like It Hot) will still take place at their scheduled times.