The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)

Director:

Archie Mayo

Writers:

N.A. Pogson (story)
Robert E. Sherwood (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 April 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Biography | Romance

Plot:

Marco Polo travels from Venice to Peking, where he quickly discovers spaghetti and gunpowder and falls in love with the Emperor's daughter...

Plot Keywords:

Marco Polo | Emperor | Kublai Khan | Spaghetti | Princess

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Marco Polo
Sigrid Gurie	...	Princess Kukachin
Basil Rathbone	...	Ahmed
George Barbier	...	Kublai Khan
Binnie Barnes	...	Nazama
Ernest Truex	...	Binguccio
Alan Hale	...	Kaidu
H.B. Warner	...	Chen Tsu
Robert Greig	...	Chamberlain (as Robert Grieg)
Ferdinand Gottschalk	...	Persian Ambassador
Henry Kolker	...	Nicolo Polo
Lotus Liu	...	Visakha
Stanley Fields	...	Bayan
Harold Huber	...	Toctai
Lana Turner	...	Nazama's Maid

Runtime:

104 min (copyright length)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White (Sepiatone)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #3857) | Australia:G (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

'John Cromwell' began directing on June 15th, 1937 but soon left the project after just five days of shooting, due to "differences of opinion on story treatment," according to a press release. The film's producer Samuel Goldwyn then attempted to rope in William Wyler for the job.

Movie Connections:

Featured in History Brought to Life (1950)

Soundtrack:

Charming Eyes

Spaghetti a la Chinese

Archie Mayo's 1938 "The Adventures of Marco Polo" is an odd film to watch. Even giving it the benefit of the doubt, this misguided attempt to bring the legendary figure to the screen doesn't quite make it. Not even by a stretch of the imagination can we believe that the Chinese inhabitants of Cathay could look like these actors on the screen.

John Cromwell and John Ford are not credited, but they must have been called as consultants to a losing enterprise that even these talented directors couldn't help fix. Robert Sherwood, a distinguished writer of better films, is responsible for writing the screen treatment, but frankly, his imprint is lacking in the finished product.

Of course, times have changed and no Hollywood producer would dare to give this type of "entertainment" to today's audiences because they would be seen as ridiculous, at best. The film came out at a time when audiences were less sophisticated and more willing to accept stories such as this one. Even for a film produced by Samuel Goldwyn, this production looks tacky. It's obvious the people behind this film either had budget problems, or they didn't get the right art directors to improve the film.

Gary Cooper, as Marco Polo, appears to be lost. The beautiful Sigrid Gurie is made out to look oriental to resemble this Princess Kukachin she is supposed to be. The only one that escapes the debacle is Basil Rathbone. His Ahmed is a villain, and he plays it with relish. George Truex, Alan Hale, H.B. Warner, are seen in minor roles.

Watch this film as a curiosity, but don't expect too much.