# Help me ID these old movies, based on one scene each **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 2, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-these-old-movies-based-on-one-scene-each/374905 "2006-10-02T00:31:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-these-old-movies-based-on-one-scene-each/374905/1 "2006-10-02T00:31:28Z")
I’m remembering two movies I saw as a young boy. This would have been sometime in the 1970s. Thing is, I remember only one scene from each movie. For some reason, these particular scenes have stuck in my mind for 30 years or so. These were both “cast of thousands” -type movies, set in ancient (Roman or pre-Roman) times. I’ve no idea who starred in these films. I’m afraid my recollections of these scenes is fairly minimal, but I hope somebody can help me identify the movies. I’d like to watch them again, if only to find out if they live up to my memory of these scenes. Movie #1: An army has overrun a walled city. A woman, the Queen of the city, I believe, is dragged outside the city walls, where she is hung by her wrists between two posts, stripped from the waist up (long hair covering her breasts), and flogged. Movie #2: An army is preparing to execute some prisoners, using an unusual execution method. The prisoners are to be forced to “ride the dragon’s tail”. The “dragon’s tail” is an ornate, immense … knife. It’s shaped like a dragon’s tail, edge up, and supported at one end so that it’s at an angle. Basically, it’s like a playground slide (helter skelter, for our British readers), but with a knife edge where the sliding surface would be. The prisoners were made to climb a ladder to the top, straddle the blade, and … well, you can imagine what comes next. Messy. I realize my description of the first scene is pretty generic-sounding and isn’t much to go by, but I hope the second one, at least, is distinctive enough to ring some bells. I can’t say if the movies were in color, as my family had a black & white TV set, but the movies had the look of something from the late-1950s - early '60s. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![Papermache\_Prince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f05b48/32.png) [@Papermache\_Prince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papermache_Prince)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-these-old-movies-based-on-one-scene-each/374905/2 "2006-10-02T01:12:44Z")
#2? That might be [The Long Ships](http://www.net-monster.com/classicfilms_longships.html), with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier. Link has picture of “the Mare of Steel.” ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-these-old-movies-based-on-one-scene-each/374905/3 "2006-10-02T02:20:12Z")
I’ll agree with Papermache Prince that #2 is probably “The Long Ships” I once asked a question about that movie, because I had forgotten the title, and used the same scene. Was there a golden bell involved? A black ruler, played by Sidney Poitier? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-these-old-movies-based-on-one-scene-each/374905/4 "2006-10-02T04:47:45Z")
#1 — The Hammer production _[The Viking Queen](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0062443/)_ (1967), set in Britain during the Roman period. The Roman military governor’s second-in-command has the title character arrested and flogged. But she later takes up the sword and leads a revolution against the Romans. [A favorable review](http://www.dvdcult.com/rev_VikingQueen.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-these-old-movies-based-on-one-scene-each/374905/5 "2006-10-02T04:52:07Z")
[Flogging scene here](http://www.ziggysvideorealm.com/reviews/vikingqueen.html). ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-these-old-movies-based-on-one-scene-each/374905/6 "2006-10-02T06:00:27Z")
Wow, you guys are good! The Long Ships: Bingo! It seems that “Mare of Steel” got turned into “The Dragon’s Tail” in my memory. There no mistaking that device, though. The Viking Queen: That’s probably it, though I’d swear it was more of a desert setting, and that the woman had dark hair. But as I said, I saw it on B&W television, and it was long, long ago when I was young. I can’t even recall whether I saw either movie in its entirety. But thanks to the SDMB, I can now track these movies down and watch 'em again. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-these-old-movies-based-on-one-scene-each/374905/7 "2006-10-02T12:20:47Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ll agree with Papermache Prince that #2 is probably “The Long Ships” I once asked a question about that movie, because I had forgotten the title, and used the same scene. Was there a golden bell involved? A black ruler, played by Sidney Poitier? Yes, the Vikings end up searching for a giant golden bell, which is cleverly hidden. And Sidney Poitier was the ruler: [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057259/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057259/) I read the Frank Bengsston book it was based on. It’s a good book, and vastly different from the movie (the original title is “Red Orm”). There’s the big bell, but the hiding isn’t a big deal. I think the “Mare of Steel” isn’t in it. And the Vikings have a lot more adventures in the book, going to Russia and elsewhere.