| The Viking | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Roy William Neill |
| Produced by | Herbert Kalmus |
| Written by | Ottilie A. Liljencrantz (novel) Randolph Bartlett (titles) Jack Cunningham |
| Starring | Pauline Starke Donald Crisp LeRoy Mason Anders Randolf |
| Music by | William Axt (uncredited) Richard Wagner (uncredited) Edvard Grieg (uncredited) |
| Cinematography | George Cave |
| Editing by | Aubrey Scotto |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | November 2, 1928 (US) July 1929 (MGM sound release) 1930 (MGM rerelease) |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
The Viking (1928) was the first feature-length Technicolor film that featured a soundtrack, and the first film made in Technicolor's Process 3.
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Because of the technical limitation of their previous process with printing sound, the film is also the first time a feature film used Technicolor's dye-transfer process. (The previous Technicolor Process 2 used two prints—one red, one green—cemented base-to-base.) The film was considered the finest use of color cinematography at the time of release. The film still survives and remains an impressive example of early color film. The film was based on the novel The Thrall of Leif the Lucky, itself based on Viking history, written by Ottilie A. Liljencrantz.
In 1938, Technicolor president Herbert Kalmus later wrote,
The film critic for the New York Times agreed, noting that "the figures often look as if they had stepped out of an opera comique," and, "The make-up of the players is often more than a trifle overdone, especially when the villain reveals on close inspection his mouse-colored eyelids."[2] [3]
The storyline was based on traditional legend concerning Leif Ericson and the first Viking settlers to reach North America by sea.
The sound was recorded in the Movietone sound-on-film system originally developed by Fox Film Corporation, with color by Technicolor in their new dye transfer process, now known as Process 3.
The film was produced by the Technicolor Corporation, but was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, after production chief Irving Thalberg became impressed with the technology. The film carries the MGM Leo the Lion logo in color. In 1930, MGM reissued the film as a color sound musical film titled The Private Life of Leif Ericson. The sound film survives today as well as the silent version.