The Adventures of Marco Polo

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

This is my kind of topic - an adventure film set at the Mongol Court with loads of intrigue, machinations and sword fights. Sadly, though, this is really not much good at any of that. Gary Cooper is really poorly cast in the title role and Basil Rathbone - probably as good a baddie as you will see on the silver screen, isn't up to much either as the scheming "Ahmed" - the chief advisor to the legendary Kublai Khan (George Barbier). Sadly, this film is really pretty short on action with way too much emphasis put on the love interest provided by Sigrid Gurie's pretty "Princess Kukachin". But for a lively effort from Alan Hale as warrior chief "Kaidu" leading a bit of a charge in the last ten minutes, this really is a procedural vehicle for a star who looks completely disinterested in the role. The writing and production are fine - Sam Goldwyn didn't do low budget - but this really is a lacklustre stab at what could have been a much more engaging and enjoyable action drama that depicts the Khan as a bit of a dunderheaded pussycat!

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John Chard

CinemaSerf