The Norseman

This article is about the 1978 film. For similar uses, see Norseman (disambiguation).

The Norseman
Directed byCharles B. Pierce
Written byCharles B. Pierce
Produced byCharles B. Pierce
StarringLee Majors
Cornel Wilde
Mel Ferrer
Jack Elam
CinematographyRobert Bethard
Edited byRobert Bell
Stephen Dunn
Aladar Klein
Shirak Kojayan
Sarah Legon
Music byJaime Mendoza-Nava
Production
companies
Charles B. Pierce Film Productions
Fawcett-Majors Productions
Distributed byAmerican International Pictures
Release date
  • October 5, 1978 (1978-10-05)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million[1]
Box office$1 million[2]

The Norseman is a 1978 American adventure film starring Lee Majors and directed, produced and written by Charles B. Pierce.[3]

Plot

An 11th-century Viking prince sails to North America to find his father, who was captured by Native Americans during a previous voyage.

Cast

Production

The film was a co-production between Charles Pierce and Lee Majors, with AIP handling the distribution. It was Pierce's first film with a major Hollywood studio.[1]

Majors said it "took a lot of guts" to play a Viking but was persuaded by a fee of $500,000 and 10% of the profits.[1] He later remarked, "I had a little time off, and they said, "It shoots in Florida, on the coast there, out of Tampa," and they had a bunch of Tampa Bay Buccaneers that were gonna play Vikings, so  ... I don't know, I thought it'd be fun, so I did it."[4]

The film was shot in Tampa, Florida. Postproduction was done at Pierce's $2 million facility at Shreveport, Louisiana.[1]

"There is no character to develop here and hardly any dialogue," said Majors, "this is a formula film."[1]

Reception

The Los Angeles Times called it "tedious business".[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Taylor, Clarke (March 24, 1978). "A PIERCE FILM: Lee Majors' Image Switch". Los Angeles Times. p. g20.
  2. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 301. ISBN 9780835717762. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  3. ^ "NORSEMAN". The Monthly Film Bulletin. Vol. 46, no. 540. London. January 1, 1979. p. 48.
  4. ^ Harris, Will (November 28, 2019). "Lee Majors on Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Elvis Presley, and The Six Million Dollar Man". The A.V. Club.
  5. ^ Thomas, Kevin (July 7, 1978). "Majors in Armor as 'Norseman'". Los Angeles Times. p. h14.


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