Sinbad the Sailor (1947)

Directed by Richard Wallace. Starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Maureen O’Hara, George Tobias, Anthony Quinn, Walter Slezak, Mike Mazurki, Jane Greer, Alan Napier, Sheldon Leonard.

Fairbanks Jr.’s first film after five years in the US Navy during WWII finds him doing his best imitation of pops in a colorful adventure story modeled off the “eighth voyage” of Sinbad where he seeks the lost treasure of Alexander the Great. Dated production and effects can’t compete with the grandest that Hollywood was offering at the time, with lackluster sets too clearly housed on studio soundstages. Tongue-in-cheek humor helps, but the narrative is flimsy and uninvolving, the romantic chemistry between Sinbad and O’Hara’s harem girl lukewarm, and although the action is exuberant, it’s also in short supply. The first English live-action motion picture featuring the Arabian hero (unless you count Shemp Howard), but all parties are better served sticking with the Ray Harryhausen pictures (the first two, at least). John Twist received screenplay and co-story credits.

51/100