The Viking
Varick Frissell, George Melford, 1931, English, 71 min, bw
Set against the backdrop of the icy, oceanic dangers of the Newfoundland seal hunt, this film is, technically and thematically, a remarkable example of maverick filmmaking in the north. An extraordinary portrait of a people’s “dramatic struggle for existence,” with extensive actuality footage of shipboard life and the hunt itself woven into the story, it captures scenes that had never before been recorded on film—and cost 26 lives in the making.
the film crew of "The Viking"
Screening
Saturday, February 19, 7:30pm
Event: Cinema as Sacred Site
Part of a double bill with
Total screening time: 2hrs, with a 15min intermisssion.
About the Director
Varick Frissell
b 29 August 1903
d 15 March 1931 near Horse Island, Newfoundland (shipboard explosion)
FILMOGRAPHY (as director)
Ceux du viking (1931), aka Those of the Viking (International English title)
(USA)
The Viking (1931)
The Great Arctic Seal Hunt (1928) aka The Swilin’ Racket
The Lure of Labrador (1926)
George Melford
b 19 February 1877, Rochester, NY
d 25 April 1961; Hollywood, California
Hollywood director from the early 1910s through late 1930s, he was thereafter
a character actor through the 1940s and 50s.
Cast and crew
Producer
Varick Frissell and Newfoundland-Labrador Film Company
Writer
Varick Frissell, Garnett Weston
Cinematographer
Alfred Gandolfi, Maurice Kellerman, Alexander G. Penrod
Editor
H. P. Carver
Principal Cast
Bob Bartlett – Captain Barker
Wilfred Grenfell – Prolog Voice
Louise Huntington – Mary Joe
Charles Starrett – Luke
Arthur Vinton – Jed
Links
