''The Norseman'' is a 1978 American

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, an ...

starring Lee Majors, directed, produced and written by

Charles B. Pierce Charles Bryant Pierce (June 16, 1938 – March 5, 2010) was an American film director, screenwriter, producer, set decorator, cinematographer, and actor. Pierce directed thirteen films over the span of 26 years, but is best known for his cu ...

Plot

An 11th-century Viking prince sails to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

to find his father, who on a previous voyage had been captured by Native Americans.

Cast

* Lee Majors - Thorvald * Cornel Wilde - Ragnar * Mel Ferrer - King Eurich * Jack Elam - Death Dreamer *

Susie Coelho Susie Coelho is an American television personality, author, and businesswoman. Early life Susie Coelho was born in Cuckfield, Sussex, England on December 7, 1953 to George and Rani Coelho. She is of Indian heritage and grew up in Bethesda, Mary ...

- Winetta * Christopher Connelly - Rolf *Jimmy Clem - Olif * Deacon Jones - Thrall *

Denny Miller Denny Scott Miller (born Dennis Linn Miller; April 25, 1934 – September 9, 2014) was an American actor, perhaps best known for his regular role as Duke Shannon on ''Wagon Train'', his guest-starring appearances on ''Gilligan's Island'' and ''C ...

- Rauric * Kathleen Freeman - Old Indian Woman

Production

The film was a co production between Charles Pierce and Lee Majors with AIP doing the distribution. It was Pierce's first film with a major Hollywood studio. 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. He later said "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." The film was shot in Tampa, Florida. Post production was done at Pierce's $2 million facilitiy at Shreveport, Louisiana.A PIERCE FILM: Lee Majors' Image Switch Taylor, Clarke. Los Angeles Times 24 Mar 1978: g20. "There is no character to develop here and hardly any dialogue," said Majors, "this is a formula film."

Reception

The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "tedious business".Majors in Armor as 'Norseman' Thomas, Kevin. Los Angeles Times 7 July 1978: h14.

References

External links

''The Norseman'' review
at The Guardian
The Norsemen
at Letterbox DVD * 1978 films 1970s adventure films American adventure films Films set in the Viking Age Films set in pre-Columbian America Films directed by Charles B. Pierce American International Pictures films Films about Native Americans 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{adventure-film-stub