★ 7 / 10
First thing's first, this is seriously verbose. The
CinemaSerf
First thing's first, this is seriously verbose. The dialogue is mostly second rate and boy, is there a lot of it... That said, though, Douglas Fairbanks is…
First thing's first, this is seriously verbose. The dialogue is mostly second rate and boy, is there a lot of it... That said, though, Douglas Fairbanks is charming in the title role. Here, armed with a medallion/map, he sets out to track down an enormous treasure hidden by Alexander the Great. The supporting characters are fun - the evil "Melik" (Walter Slezak), the gorgeous "Shireen" (Maureen O'Hara) and the avaricious Emir (Anthony Quinn) and the compendium style construction of the film pulls together the adventurous streams into a final quest for the loot in an agreeable manner. It's bright and colourful, there is enough swash and buckle to keep it interesting and Slezak is particularly effective as the scheming plotter. It's a bit too long, to be fair, and is a bit too stage bound at times - but Roy Webb creates a suitably grand Arabian score and the cinematography provides for an enjoyable enough costume adventure that I really quite liked.
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★ 6 / 10
Who, more than all other sons of Allah
John Chard
Who, more than all other sons of Allah, spread glory to the name of Sinbad? Sinbad the Sailor is directed by Richard Wallace and written by John Twist and…
Who, more than all other sons of Allah, spread glory to the name of Sinbad?
Sinbad the Sailor is directed by Richard Wallace and written by John Twist and George Worthing Yates. It stars Douglas Fairbanks Junior, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak, Anthony Quinn, George Tobias and Jane Greer. Music is scored by Roy Webb and Technicolor cinematography by George Barnes.
Sinbad (Fairbanks Jr.) regales all about his Eighth Voyage, where he went to the fabled island of Deryabar in search of the lost treasure of Alexander the Great.
There's so much good about Sinbad the Sailor, the lush colour photography, the skilfully constructed sets and paintings, Roy Webb's evocative score, costuming to dazzle the eyes and Fairbanks Junior with energy and athleticism to burn. The trouble is that RKO only push the boat out half way, for they have let the writers come up with a very verbose screenplay, one which is painfully stretched to nearly two hours of film! For a family fantasy adventure film there is a surprisingly small amount of action to entertain the masses. When it comes, in dribs and drabs, it's well put together and a merciful relief, but alas, more elongated passages of barely worthwhile dialogue is just around the corner.
Still, the good points in the production are reason enough to sit through the two hours. Even the casting decisions, that sees American, Irish, Austrian & Mexican actors playing Asians, are forgiven given the gusto and charm they put into their respective roles. But don't be fooled, the poster proclaimed it as "One Of The Greatest Adventures Of All Times", that would be true, if only they had shaved about 30 minutes off of the first hour! 6/10
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★ 6 / 10
Who at the studio thought this goofy dialog was a good idea?!
planktonrules
"Sindbad the Sailor" is a lovely film to look at and it's obvious that RKO really pulled out all the stops to get this made. While this was a lesser studio in…
"Sindbad the Sailor" is a lovely film to look at and it's obvious that RKO really pulled out all the stops to get this made. While this was a lesser studio in Hollywood, here they use nice garish 1940s Technicolor (the type classic movie fans love--despite its being very unrealistic), lavish sets and tons of costumes. It was obviously a prestige picture--and one on which the studio lavished a lot of attention. Because of this, it's odd that the dialog totally stank. All too often, people talked like they were either making speeches or doing an antiquated play--and in the process, the whole thing came off as stilted and silly. It's a shame, really, as I wanted to like this film a lot, but with B-movie writing, it only was mediocre.In the lead was Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and I assume he was chosen because of his father. Fairbanks, Sr. made a huge mark in the 1920s starring in fabulous action-adventure films like "The Thief of Bagdad" and "The Mark of Zorro" (among many others). His athleticism and wonderful screen presence must have played a huge part in their selecting his son for this 1947 film--especially since Fairbanks, Jr. was a very good actor but really was NOT known for this sort of film. However, despite being far less athletic than Dad, he was quite handsome and very good here...but his dialog....yecch! Overall, the film is an enjoyable escapist film with dialog that will make decent writers cry. The film has action, lovely sets, Maureen O'Hara (playing her rather clichéd petulant woman once again) and is pure escapism. But it plays like a B-movie with a great budget.
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6.1/10
2.6K
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