Lights! Camera! Disaster! The Viking Tragedy
In 1931 Hollywood came to Newfoundland. They came to the island to make an epic adventure called The Viking — it ended in disaster.
The Film
The Viking is an American film shot in Newfoundland in 1930. It tells the story of Luke, a young fisherman in Newfoundland, who thinks he is jinker, and is reluctant to join a sealing-expedition. After some persuasion, notably from a woman for whom he has feelings, he joins the hunt and —SPOILER ALERT— discovers he isn’t really bad luck after all.
That’s what plays out on screen. The real story, and tragedy, of The Viking plays out off camera.
Varick Frissell
Varick Frissell was an American filmmaker from Boston. While in Boston he heard Sir Wilfred Grenfell speak at Yale about his work in Labrador. Frissell was intrigued and came to Labrador where he worked with Grenfell’s mission. While there he made two documentaries — The Great Arctic Seal Hunt (1928) and The Lure of Labrador (1928).
Frissell felt there were more stories to tell of life in Newfoundland and Labrador. He travelled to Hollywood where he approached Paramount Pictures. Together they formed a plan to shoot in epic film with documentary-style sequences about the Newfoundland seal hunt.
To ensure studio quality, they wanted to use an American film crew but, for authenticity, the wanted to make the movie in Newfoundland. The goal was to capture on film the look and sound of the place. To that end, audio and dialogue were to be recorded on location — a first for a Hollywood feature.
Frissell and crew came to the Newfoundland in 1930 with a script called White Thunder. Most of the filming took place in Quidi Vidi but to capture real danger and adventure, the crew went aboard ship to the Grand Banks and Labrador to collect footage. Some of the shots are harrowing. The movie leaves no doubt that the life of a sealer is not for the faint of heart — just check out the clip below.
Capt. Bob Bartlett: Movie Star
To ensure that audiences understood that the seal hunt was truly a life of adventure, Frissell was not above some stunt casting.
Brigus-native Captain Bob Bartlett appeared in the movie as Captain Barker of The Viking. At the time, Bartlett's name was well-known. He had undertaken extensive voyages to the arctic and had been awarded the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal. And, if people didn’t know who Bartlett was, the pre-film credits spell it out succinctly.
Debut & Disaster
In March 1931, Varick Frissell returned to Newfoundland where he debuted the first cut of White Thunder.
He was not happy with it.
He thought, if it was truly going to be a North Atlantic epic, it needed more footage of the icebergs, expansive ice floes and daring men.
So he, and a small crew, set out aboard the sealing ship SS Viking, captained by Abram Kean Jr. and filled with local fisherman.
By March 15, 1931 the SS Viking had made it to White Bay on the north coast of Newfoundland, where it encountered heavy ice. At 9pm, about 8 miles from Horse Island, the Viking was safe against the ice jam. They intended to stay there for the night. Then disaster struck.
The Viking exploded.
The sound was so loud it was heard for miles. The stern was completely destroyed and what remained of the ship was on fire.
27 people died, including Frissell.
Injured survivors had to make their way across the ice to Horse Island — miles away, over heavy sea and in deteriorating ice conditions. It is almost unimaginable.
It was thought the explosion was caused by blasting powder. At the time it was customary for sealing ships to carry explosives. Careful detonations were used to break apart the ice, allowing ships to move. The Viking’s stores of explosives had caught fire, possibly due to careless handling. There were reports of pipe smoking near the blasting powder — a similar accident caused great damage to Cabot Tower some years previous.
The Show Must Go On
Despite the tragedy the film was released the following summer. It was screened under the new title The Viking. The final cut included a prologue delivered by Sir Wilfred Grenfell, detailing the events that led Frissell to Newfoundland and his untimely death.
The movie has the dubious distinction of incurring the largest number of fatalities ever, in the production of a film. Despite the tragedy, the film faded from public consciousness.
According to Turner Classic Movies, the film print was lost until a copy was uncovered in Quidi Vidi in the 1960s.
Today, you can find it on Youtube.
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Varick Frissell, New England Historical Society
The Newfoundland movie that almost went up in flames, Saltwire
March 16, 1931, Evening Telegram
The Viking, Turner Classic Movies
