During the opening scene, a messenger combs the streets calling, "Marco Polo! Marco Polo!" because his father is looking for him. It was so laughably awful, I just had to finish the movie. I had to find out how terrible it was. If you're watching it as a historical biopic, it's awful. If you're in the mood for a tongue-in-cheek comedy, it's pretty funny.
Gary Cooper plays Marco Polo, so you know you're going to be in for stilted delivery and no convincing acting. But if he seems to be having a good laugh over the movie, you might as well, too. When first sent around the world, he gets introduced to the new food spaghetti by H.B. Warner. Then, as Marco Polo makes his way to China and falls for the Kublai Khan's daughter, Sigrid Gurie, he teaches her how to kiss. Basil Rathbone's crony spies on them, and since Basil doesn't want the visitor to interfere with Sigrid's arranged marriage, he reports the clandestine activity. Basil's crony also doesn't know what a kiss is, and he has to act it out with another crony to describe to his boss what Gary and Sigrid were doing. They managed to get a male-male kiss past the censors, which was pretty risqué at the time!
In another risqué scene, Alan Hale wants to have an affair without his wife finding out. He orders Gary to "be charming and keep being charming" to his wife so she'll be occupied and he'll have a free evening. "What if my 'charm' runs out?" Gary asks. It's no wonder this movie was so popular in 1938! If you like Gary Cooper, you'll probably like this one. Basil Rathbone fans might not like seeing him as a bad guy yet again, but he was a busy guy in 1938. Try The Dawn Patrol or If I Were King to see him in a better role.
Gary Cooper plays Marco Polo, so you know you're going to be in for stilted delivery and no convincing acting. But if he seems to be having a good laugh over the movie, you might as well, too. When first sent around the world, he gets introduced to the new food spaghetti by H.B. Warner. Then, as Marco Polo makes his way to China and falls for the Kublai Khan's daughter, Sigrid Gurie, he teaches her how to kiss. Basil Rathbone's crony spies on them, and since Basil doesn't want the visitor to interfere with Sigrid's arranged marriage, he reports the clandestine activity. Basil's crony also doesn't know what a kiss is, and he has to act it out with another crony to describe to his boss what Gary and Sigrid were doing. They managed to get a male-male kiss past the censors, which was pretty risqué at the time!
In another risqué scene, Alan Hale wants to have an affair without his wife finding out. He orders Gary to "be charming and keep being charming" to his wife so she'll be occupied and he'll have a free evening. "What if my 'charm' runs out?" Gary asks. It's no wonder this movie was so popular in 1938! If you like Gary Cooper, you'll probably like this one. Basil Rathbone fans might not like seeing him as a bad guy yet again, but he was a busy guy in 1938. Try The Dawn Patrol or If I Were King to see him in a better role.