The Viking Queen is a 1967 Hammer adventure film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Don Murray. It is set in Roman Britain.
The title of the film caused much confusion, because there are no Norse Vikings in the movie. However, there is another meaning of the word "viking": a raider or plunderer, of which there are many such characters in this film. In addition, "viking" was understood internationally, having been recently used in other film titles.
Plot summary
According to her father's wishes, Queen Salina 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 blood of the lovers' followers.
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, and William Shakespeare's King Lear.
Cast
Don Murray as Justinian
Carita as Salina
Donald Houston as Maelgan
Andrew Keir as Octavian
Adrienne Corri as Beatrice
Niall MacGinnis as Tiberian
Wilfrid Lawson as King Priam
Nicola Pagett as Talia
Percy Herbert as Catus
Patrick Troughton as Tristram
Sean Caffrey as Fergus
Denis Shaw as Osiris
Philip O'Flynn as Merchant
Brendan Matthews as Nigel
Gerry Alexander as Fabian
Patrick Gardiner as Benedict
Paul Murphy as Dalon, Maelgan's Son
Arthur O'Sullivan as Old Man at Tax-Enquiry
Cecil Sheridan as Shopkeeper at Protest Gathering
Anna Manahan as Shopkeeper's Wife
Nita Lorraine as Nubian Slave Girl
Production
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.
Reception
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."
Box Office
According to Fox records, the film needed to earn $1,625,000 in rentals to break even and made $835,000, meaning it made a loss.