The Long Ships

"The Viking adventurers who challenged the seas... and conquered the world!"

1964 2h 6m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 66

AdventureDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Moorish ruler El Mansuh is determined to locate a massive bell made of gold known as the "Mother of Voices." Viking explorer Rolfe also becomes intent on finding the mythical treasure, and sails with his crew from Scandinavia to Africa to track it down. Reluctantly working together, El Mansuh and Rolfe, along with their men, embark on a quest for the prized object, but only one leader will be able to claim the bell as his own — if it even exists at all.

“The Viking adventurers who challenged the seas... and conquered the world!”

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Cast

Richard Widmark
Rolfe
Sidney Poitier
Aly Mansuh
Russ Tamblyn
Orm
Rosanna Schiaffino
Aminah
Oskar Homolka
Krok
Edward Judd
Sven
Lionel Jeffries
Aziz
Beba Lončar
Gerda

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jack Cardiff
Writers: Berkely Mather, Beverley Cross
Languages: Arabic, English
Countries: United Kingdom, Yugoslavia

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

62 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Arabic, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, Yugoslavia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jack Cardiff, shot by Christopher Challis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dušan Radić. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Geoffrey Foot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier and Russ Tamblyn carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jack Cardiff directs. Christopher Challis behind the camera. Dušan Radić scores. Geoffrey Foot cuts. Produced in United Kingdom, Yugoslavia. Dialogue in Arabic, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
262 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Arabic, English.
4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, Yugoslavia.
5Directed by Jack Cardiff, shot by Christopher Challis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Dušan Radić. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Geoffrey Foot shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier and Russ Tamblyn carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The Viking adventurers who challenged the seas... and conquered the world!".
10IMDB entry: tt0057259 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Only 66 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Original score: Dušan Radić
Editing: Geoffrey Foot
Production design: Zoran Zorčić
Costume design: David Ffolkes
Makeup / hair: Neville Smallwood
Runtime: 126 min · 2h 6m
Status: Released
Budget: $3,000,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Long Ships (1964)

Also by

Jack Cardiff

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-06-14
★ 5/10
Sidney Poitier just about carries his role off, as a Moorish prince obsessed with a mythical great golden bell ("The Mother of All Voices") - reputedly made by monks many years ago. The rest of the cast, however, are fish out of water - Richard Widmark and Russ Tamblyn are not at all plausible as Viking raiders/explorers and the ebbs and flows of the storyline and the pretty verbose dialogue stretch the imagination well beyond the point when it stops being fun and starts being dull. Oskar Homolka gets up to some mischief as the only potentially realistic Viking "Krok" but then Lionel Jeffries and Gordon Jackson show up and it is laughable again. The film does have a good, lavish, look about it and the attention to detail (costumes etc.) are suitably sumptuous but it is way too long and wastes a good adventure story.

Production companies