The Adventures of Marco Polo main backdrop
The Adventures of Marco Polo main poster

The Adventures of Marco Polo

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6.1/10 • 13

1938-04-071h 44m

RomanceAdventure

HE Came, HE Saw, HE Conquered

The Venetian traveler Marco Polo meets Kublai Khan and foils a plotter with fireworks in medieval China.

Directors
Archie Mayo
Editors
Fred Allen

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Gary Cooper

    Gary Cooper

    Marco Polo

  2. Sigrid Gurie

    Sigrid Gurie

    Princess Kukachin

  3. Basil Rathbone

    Basil Rathbone

    Ahmed

  4. George Barbier

    George Barbier

    Kublai Khan

  5. Binnie Barnes

    Binnie Barnes

    Nazama

  6. Ernest Truex

    Ernest Truex

    Binguccio

  7. Alan Hale

    Alan Hale

    Kaidu

  8. H.B. Warner

    H.B. Warner

    Chen Tsu

  9. Robert Greig

    Robert Greig

    Chamberlain

Reviews2

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Mar 27, 2019

5/10

There's a hole in this particular Polo! The Adventures of Marco Polo is directed by Archie Mayo and John Cromwell and written by Robert E. Sherwood and N.A. Pogson. It stars Gary Cooper, Alan Hale, Binnie Barnes, Basil Rathbone,Sigrid Gurie, George Barbier and Ernest Truex. Music is by Hugo Friedhofer and cinematography by Rudolph Maté and Archie Stout. Adventurer Marco Polo (Cooper) travels to China, where he finds the Emperor Kublai Khan (Barbier) and a wshole bunch of revolutionary intrigue. The legend of Marco Polo has proven to be spurious, so it's no surprise to find that a 1938 filmic production of the man is wholly fanciful. This is not a bad film, in fact it's a pleasant enough way to spend an hour and 40 minutes with. Problem is is that it's pitched more at gentle comedy then anything remotely dramatic. Cast are having fun performing in a costumer (Rathbone on villain duties owns the pic), but you have to cringe at some of the era foibles that sees various races playing the wrong race. The action is competently staged, particularly the final siege and battle, though the speeding up of some sequences is too daft. Likable cast make it worth staying with, but really they could have just made a character up and made this film as it is. 5/10

Media

  • The Adventures of Marco Polo poster
  • The Adventures of Marco Polo poster
  • The Adventures of Marco Polo poster
  • The Adventures of Marco Polo poster
  • The Adventures of Marco Polo poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$2,000,000.00
Revenue
$1,700,000.00
Keywords
historical figuremarco polokublai khan13th century