Douglas, and based on the novel The Viking by Edison Marshall. Other actors included Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh , Ernest Borgnine and Frank Thring. The film made notable use of natural locations in Norway, crisply captured on film by cinematographer Jack Cardiff. The King of Northumbria is killed during a Viking raid led by the fearsome Ragnar (Ernest Borgnine). Because the king had died childless, his cousin Aella (Frank Thring) takes the throne. The king's widow, however, is pregnant with ...