My favorite Fleischer work in his vast oeuvre is also a great guilty pleasure: The Vikings (1958)
![Image](http://www.geocities.com/a_and_a2/thevikings2.jpg)
This highly entertaining adventure, told almost entirely from the viewpoint of the cheerfully barbaric Vikings, features some gruesome (for its time) scenes such as when Kirk Douglas has an unexpected non-elective eye surgery courtesy of the raptor trained by Tony Curtis (who's a slave boy prince who's secretly...nah, why spoil it?). Best of all is when Kirk's Dad, played by Ernest Borgnine, chooses to leap to his death in a wolf pit while crying out "Odinnnnn!", therefore earning him a place in Valhalla. (You don't want to see what happens to pretty boy Tony after this event, btw). My sister and I, who used to reenact this leap of faith by Ernie whenever possible as kids, can still crack each other up by murmuring "Odinnnn!" under our breath whenever we are both in attendance at some event that we'd both love to escape from....if necessary, by leaping into a swarm of wolves. Ah, the sweet memories of childhood still warm the cockles of my heart. Thanks, Mr. Borgnine, (seen below in all his glory as he appeared in this landmark film).
I must admit though, that I'm also fond of the films from the early part of Fleischer's career, when, turning away from his family heritage as pioneering animators, he produced with "extensive location work (perhaps mandated by minuscule budgets), Fleischer’s RKO B-movies — “Bodyguard” (1948), “The Clay Pigeon” (1949), “Trapped” (1949, made on loan to Eagle-Lion), “Armored Car Robbery” (1950) and “The Narrow Margin” (1952) [which] function as documentaries on a lost Los Angeles, [and are] given tension and style by Fleischer’s constant reframing of the action and elaborate camera movements."
Any thoughts on Fleischer's films?