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MovieMail's Review
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. stars in this glorious harem-panted Hollywood romp. Fans of lusty adventure, rejoice!, cries James Oliver.
Fans of lusty adventure, rejoice; Sinbad the Sailor is Hollywood adventure at (very nearly) its finest, a cavalcade of whirling blades, acrobatic stunts and thigh-slapping bravado. There's even a plot – something about the lost treasure of Alexander the Great – to join the dots together, for those that like that sort of thing.
This is how the dream factory used to do it, in the days before action films became soulless exercises in technology. Indeed, the old-skool movie magic is one of Sinbad the Sailor's greatest charms, building a gloriously fake world out of matte paintings and lurid Technicolor that's much more vivid than today's photo realism and CGI.
Above all, it is a film told with delight. Richard Wallace is an uncelebrated director but invests the film with terrific brio while Fairbanks Jr (a chip of the old block if ever there was one) pinballs around the sets, never dropping his infectious grin whether he be wooing maidens or outsmarting villains.
Doubtless there are 'better' films released this month but none which are as much fun.
Classic Technicolor swashbuckler that sees the suave Sinbad the Sailor (Douglas Fairbanks Jr) embark on an action-filled adventure when he lands on a tropical island in search of Alexander the Great's missing treasure.
In his journey with his friend Abbu (George Tobias), Sinbad rescues and claims property of a drifting boat, meets the ambitious and gorgeous Shireen (Maureen O’Hara) with whom he falls in love, is chased by an evil Emir (Anthony Quinn) who wants the treasure to become one of the most powerful men in the world, and meets the dangerous Melik, who will stop at nothing to get the treasure.
Another long hard-to-see film is resurrected by the enterprising team at Odeon. Here, Douglas Fairbanks Jr steps into his father's swashbuckling shoes in a Technicolor... more >
Another long hard-to-see film is resurrected by the enterprising team at Odeon. Here, Douglas Fairbanks Jr steps into his father's swashbuckling shoes in a Technicolor Arabian nights romp that may be stronger on characterisation and double-cross than supernatural action (those expecting Ray Harryhausen-style animated monsters should look to Ray Harryhausen), but the casting is top notch: Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn (villainous as he always was at this early stage of his career) and Walter Slezak. The print used here is splendid, with colour values rich and full. < less
