The Viking Queen
| The Viking Queen | |
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.jpg)
UK quad poster by Tom Chantrell
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| Directed by | Don Chaffey |
| Produced by | John Temple-Smith |
| Screenplay by | Clarke Reynolds John Temple-Smith (story) |
| Starring | Don Murray |
| Music by | Gary Hughes |
| Cinematography | Stephen Dade |
| Edited by | Peter Boita |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK) Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (U.S.) |
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Release date
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25 March 1967 |
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Running time
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91 minutes |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ₤411,000 |
The Viking Queen is a 1967 Hammer adventure film set in Roman Britain.
According to her father's wishes, Queen Salinas agrees to share the rule of Icena with Justinian, a Roman. This decision angers both the bloodthirsty Druids and Romans less just than Justinian. As the two rulers fall in love, the Druids and the Romans begin to plot their downfall. It's not long before the hills of Britain are stained with the lovers blood.
The title of the film caused much confusion, because there are no Norse Vikings in the movie. However, another meaning of the word "viking" is that of a raider or plunderer, of which there are many such characters in this film.
The plot combines elements of life of the historic queen Boudica (featuring the Iceni tribe, combat chariots) with elements seemingly drawn from Vincenzo Bellini's opera Norma, though that is set in Gaul.
The film was budgeted at ₤350,000 and went over budget by ₤61,000.
During filming in Ireland, Patrick Troughton, who was playing the part of Tristram, was offered the role of the Second Doctor in Doctor Who. Eventually, he accepted.
The Viking Queen was given mixed reviews on its original release while it performed poorly at the box office.
For a much later television screening, David Parkinson in the Radio Times thought the film used "a story that would struggle to get a pass grade in GCSE English."; while in TV Guide a reviewer wrote that it is "an interesting, well-photographed attempt to depict the land of the blue-painted troglodytes...The costumes reveal more flesh than might have been wise in the cold, damp climate of the Irish mountains where location scenes were shot."
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Wikipedia