The Long Ships (1964)

6.0 ? Apr 22, 1964 2h 6m

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Overview

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.

Overview

Genres

Adventure Drama

Release Date

April 22, 1964

Rating

6.0 /10

Runtime

2h 6m

Official Trailer from YouTube

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

Clifford Evans

King Harald

Gordon Jackson

Vahlin

Colin Blakely

Rhykka

David Lodge

Olla

Henry Oscar

Auctioneer

Paul Stassino

Raschild

Jeanne Moody

Ylva

Talitha Pol

Girl in Harem (uncredited)

Julie Samuel

Girl in Harem (uncredited)

Leonard Rossiter

Persian Soldier Who Falls On Sword (uncredited)

CinemaSerf

5.0/10

Jun 14, 2024

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.

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