Marco Polo (1982– )

The life and experiences of the 13th-century explorer, who sought to connect the civilizations of China and Europe through trade.

Stars:

Ken Marshall, Denholm Elliott, Tony Vogel

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 7 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ken Marshall	...	Marco Polo (8 episodes, 1982-1983)
Denholm Elliott	...	Niccolò Polo (8 episodes, 1982-1983)
Tony Vogel	...	Matteo Polo (8 episodes, 1982-1983)
David Warner	...	Rustichello (7 episodes, 1982-1983)
F. Murray Abraham	...	Jacopo (6 episodes, 1982-1983)
Mario Adorf	...	Giovanni (6 episodes, 1982-1983)
Patrick Mower	...	Brother Damian (6 episodes, 1982-1983)
Ruocheng Ying	...	Kublai Khan (5 episodes, 1982-1983)
Beulah Quo	...	Empress Chabi (4 episodes, 1982-1983)
Junichi Ishida	...	Prince Chinkin (4 episodes, 1982-1983)
James Hong	...	Phags-pa (4 episodes, 1982-1983)
Gordon Mitchell	...	Arnolfo (4 episodes, 1982-1983)
Leonard Nimoy	...	Achmet (3 episodes, 1983)
Bruno Zanin	...	Giulio (3 episodes, 1982)
Lin Lao	...	Bayan (3 episodes, 1983)
Ian McShane	...	Ali Ben Yussouf (2 episodes, 1982)
Sada Thompson	...	Aunt Flora (2 episodes, 1982)
Tony Lo Bianco	...	Brother Nicholas (2 episodes, 1982)
Soon-Tek Oh	...	Wang Zhu (2 episodes, 1983)
Zaibao Yang	...	Yang Ku (2 episodes, 1983)
Shaokang Yu	...	Caidu Khan (2 episodes, 1982-1983)
Riccardo Cucciolla	...	Uncle Zane (2 episodes, 1982)
Erkang Zhao	...	Nayan (2 episodes, 1983)
Hesen En	...	Bektor Khan (2 episodes, 1982-1983)
Hal Buckley	...	Brother William (2 episodes, 1982)
Georgia Slowe	...	Caterina (2 episodes, 1982)
Kathryn Dowling	...	Monica (2 episodes, 1983)
Agnes Chan	...	Mai Li (2 episodes, 1983)
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Saiamon (2 episodes, 1983)
Bruno Corazzari	...	Agostino (2 episodes, 1982)
Gino Santercole	...	Giuseppe (2 episodes, 1982)
Zhengyin Cao	...	Governor (2 episodes, 1983)
Terry Raven	...	Talib (2 episodes, 1983)
Xiaolei Huang	...	Chen Pao (2 episodes, 1982-1983)
Renato Miracco	...	Bartolomeo (2 episodes, 1982)
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Pietro d'Abano (2 episodes, 1983)
John Dicks	...	Brother Philip (2 episodes, 1982-1983)
Nanni Massa	...	Messer Paolo (2 episodes, 1982)
Sun Shulin	...	Argan (2 episodes, 1983)
Salvatore Puntillo	...	Messer Andrea (2 episodes, 1982)
Renhua Na	...	Princess Kokachin (2 episodes, 1983)
Giulio Gaslini	...	Messer Lorenzo (2 episodes, 1982)
Maria Pia Colonnello	...	Caterina's Nurse-Maid (2 episodes, 1982)
Ma Qiang	...	Yeli Shue (2 episodes, 1983)

Storyline

The life and experiences of the 13th-century explorer, who sought to connect the civilizations of China and Europe through trade.

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Plot Keywords:

explorer | china | 13th century | power play | mongolian | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | War

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Details

Country:

Italy USA Japan China

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

16 May 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Marco Polo - Viagens E Descobertas

Filming Locations:

Beijing, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vides Cinematografica, Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI), National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

504 min 270 min (edited) 600 min 480 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono Dolby Digital (2.0 Stereo)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3 full frame

Did You Know?

Trivia

Peter Firth, Michael Ontkean and Mandy Patinkin all turned down the lead role.

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Connections

Referenced in Biography: Leonard Nimoy: Spock and Beyond (1996)

User Reviews

Something Wondrous to Behold

Soon after finding out what IMDb was, only about a year ago, one of the first things I did was to look up Marco Polo in an attempt to find out something about this series on video. How surprised I was to find various contributors bemoaning the fact that they had not been able to track down any version of this magnificent production. For this is what Marco Polo – beware! 1982 version – is. A wondrous work of art; a beautiful piece of story-telling based on this medieval traveller's experiences as he followed the silk route caravans deep into Persia, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and reaching China.

Although nearly twenty years old and with no way of seeing it again since then, memorable scenes from this tremendous production still come to my mind, accompanied by that glorious music – one of Ennio Morricone's crowning achievements. Haunting, exciting scenes, so beautifully filmed by Pasqualino de Santis you could almost smell the thronged streets and cooking turms, the obstinate camels and ragged beggars, and through it all one of the best scores to have ever been written for any TV series.

Oh, how I wish I had had VHS back in those days!

Superb directing by Giuliano Montaldo, who for me is a complete unknown, such that the acting is of the best to be seen anywhere. And what a surprise to see further down the list names such as Anne Bancroft, Sir John Gielgud, Burt Lancaster, Leonard Nimoy and even F. Murray Abraham, could you ever believe that?

Marco Polo in this production was a gigantic production by the Italian RAI. This superb work should be repeated, like any other great work of art; it should be made available on VHS and DVD; it should be shown in cinemas; this fine epic is not like Kleenex – to be used once and thrown away.

Some paltry excuse of copyright would seem to be the problem. But I argue that if other TV mini-series are repeated, why not this one? The only other magnificent TV mini comparable to Marco Polo that I can recall was 'Nostromo' (1996), another European co-production, based on Joseph Conrad's exquisite novel of the same name.

At last, now in 2005 I have managed to get this wonderful series on DVD: more than twenty years waiting for it!