Sinbad the Sailor (1947)

Wonderful character development!

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Blistering performances.

Although this isn't technically the best adventure movie. This is really fun to watch. Keep in mind it's 70yrs old and basically tachy but that's what makes it fun not to mention the tongue in cheek acting and the fact that it was completely done on a Hollywood set. It's charming and enjoyable!

A friend lent me the DVD of this film recently which gave me the chance to revisit a film that I first saw on TV when I was about 7. I will not bore you by repeating the complex plot (as almost every reviewer on IMDb seems compelled to do) but I will make some observations about this neglected classic.Firstly, Mr Fairbanks. Having spent most of his career up until 1941 trying to avoid comparisons with his famous father, here, he deliberately channels Douglas Fairbanks Senior and is utterly charming and compelling in the role. Better, he adopts some of his father's mannerisms and at one point even rubs or scratches his left palm when a theft is imminent, exactly as his father had done in THE THIEF OF THE BAGDAD some 20 years before. Most people probably didn't even notice this tribute to Doug Senior.Next, the almost continuous music score by Roy Webb is really excellent. Webb was RKO's house composer and is never mentioned much nowadays. He rarely got such a grandiose opportunity as this and he rises to the challenge beautifully.Last but not least, there is the performance by the great Walter Slezak. This is possibly his best role, although he also appeared memorably in Vincente Minelli's THE PIRATE around the same time and was equally outstanding.Slezak was the son of the famous Austrian tenor Leo Slezak and came to America when the Nazis annexed Austria (his father remained in Vienna). He was an accomplished actor in German films and on the stage and his performance in SINBAD THE SAILOR is absolutely delicious. His mesmerizing presence and exquisite delivery of some very classy dialogue are one of the joys of this film. The film is impressively mounted and unusually lavish for an RKO film, the color photography is ravishing and the large supporting cast well chosen.Oh, and Maureen O'Hara probably never looked as beautiful, though no attempt is made to explain just how an Arabian Princess acquired such a broad Dublin accent. Perhaps she went to a convent there to finish her education?In all, a delightful piece of old school Hollywood escapism with a highly literate script and very good special effects. Were it to be made today, the film would be smothered in CGi and unnecessary, gratuitous sex and violence. Watch it and mourn what the movies have lost.

Like other reviewers here, I first saw this as a child in the late 50s- early 60s on TV in black-and-white. (Can we all say "Million-Dollar Movie"?) And even then, without the sumptuous color but with frequent commercial interruptions, I was captivated by the performances – Fairbanks and O'Hara, naturally–but also the supporting cast, from the creepy Slezak and strutting Quinn to George ("Abner? Abner!") Tobias, Mike Mazursky, and Sheldon Leonard in minor roles. And let's not forget Alan Napier, the original Alfred the Butler on the "Batman" TV series, who even as a kid I thought was doing a loose-limbed Boris Karloff. The miniatures are wonderful, and when I finally saw it in full-blown Technicolor, I was blown away all over again. (Yeah, the mynah bird is unconvincing to the point of being laughable, but since the movie never takes itself seriously, you sort of go with it.) And the score, by underrated RKO house composer Roy Webb, sticks with you for – in my case – decades. It's pure cornball Hollywood hokum of the highest degree, and we will never see it's like again. Watch it, give into it, be a kid again, and enjoy.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (as Sinbad) loves to tell stories, like this one. After a ship's crew is poisoned, Mr. Fairbanks Jr.'s "Sinbad the Sailor" hops on board and finds a map to Deryabar; there, he hopes to find the treasure of Alexander the Great. He also believes he may be the rightful Prince of Deryabar. A greedy couple - the alluring Maureen O'Hara (as Shireen) and her turbaned partner Anthony Quinn (as Emir) get in the way…Colorful lethargy. The stars are much more interesting in other films, although Fairbanks Jr. is somehow engaging; at least, he tries not to look completely bored. The story lacks both focus and humor, and it is way too long. Walter Slezak as "Melik the Hairdresser" is the performance to keep your eyes on, if you watch - he is delicious... ***** Sinbad the Sailor (1/13/47) Richard Wallace ~ Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Walter Slezak, Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn