Marco the Magnificent

La Fabuleuse Aventure de Marco Polo
La Fabuleuse Aventure de Marco Polo
Directed by	Denys de La Patellière; Noël Howard
Written by	Raoul Lévy; Jacques Rémy; Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Based on	The Travels of Marco Polo; by Rustichello da Pisa
Starring	Horst Buchholz; Anthony Quinn
Release date	1965;
Countries	France; Italy; Yugoslavia; Egypt; Afghanistan
Languages	French; Italian; English

La Fabuleuse Aventure de Marco Polo or Marco the Magnificent is a 1965 international co-production (Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Egypt, France, Italy) adventure film directed by Denys de La Patellière and Noël Howard. Raoul Levy committed suicide in December 1966 after losing most of his fortune financing this film.^[1]

Plot

Marco Polo (Horst Bucholz) is idling around in Venice when Pope Gregory commissions him to take a message of peace and understanding to the Emperor of China on the presumption that a young courier might stand a better chance of reaching China.

On the journey his escort is attacked and killed leaving Marco Polo on his own. He meets with The Old Man of the Mountain; braves all varieties of climatic conditions; is captured by the Mongols and witnesses a sort of "Miss China" competition in order to provide the Emperor with an Empress.^[2]

Cast

Horst Buchholz as Marco Polo
Anthony Quinn as Kublai Khan, Mongol Emperor of China
Omar Sharif as Sheik Alla Hou, 'The Desert Wind'
Orson Welles as Akerman, Marco's tutor
Akim Tamiroff as the Old Man of the Mountain
Elsa Martinelli as the woman with the whip
Robert Hossein as Prince Nayam, a Mongol rebel leader
Grégoire Aslan as Achmed Abdullah
Massimo Girotti as Niccolò, Marco's father
Folco Lulli as Spinello, a Venetian merchant
Guido Alberti as Pope Gregory X
Lynne Sue Moon as Princess Gogatine (credited as Lee Sue Moon)
Bruno Cremer as Guillaume de Tripoli, a Knight Templar
Jacques Monod as Nicolo de Vicenza, a Knight Templar
Mića Orlović as Matteo, Marco's uncle

Production

Filming began in 1962 starring Alain Delon in the title role and co starring Dorothy Dandridge. Shooting halted after $700,000 had been spent. It started again two years later with a new star, writer and director. Filming took place over six months, mostly in Yugoslavia.^[1]

Rotislav Doboujinsky worked on the design of the clothes and caparacons for the men, horses and elephants - the living figures - of the chess game.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b Scheuer, Philip K. (13 July 1964). "Marco Polo Filming Ended by Buchholz". Los Angeles Times. p. IV-18 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "At The Films" column; Gibraltar Chronicle newspaper; 25/08/1969; Page 3
^ Jean-Louis Perrier (June 28, 2000). "Rotislav Doboujinsky". Le Monde.