Sinbad the Sailor

Told you I'd be back to the "Winter of Fairbanks Jr." with Lisa from Boondock Ramblings again this week!
Today we will enter the world of 1,001 Nights with Sinbad the Sailor. Well, kind of because the movie of the same name from 1947 is about the eighth voyage of Sinbad, but there were only seven told in 1,001 Nights.
 

By RKO Radio Pictures -
http://www.c1n3.org/w/wallace01r/Images/142.html,
Fair use,
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43488069

Sinbad's audience has become tired of him telling them about his seven voyages over and over, so he tells them about the one he has just come back from - as the Prince of Deryabar.

Deryabar is a fabled island where the treasure of Alexander the Great is supposed to be hidden.
Sinbad and his friend Abbu salvage a ship called "Prince Ahmed" whose complete crew has died from poisoned water.
Sinbad doesn't only find a glass window looking like the medaillon he's wearing, but also a chart showing the way to Deryabar. When he turns around, however, the chart has disappeared mysteriously.

The mysterious lady Shireen from the Emir of Daibul's harem tries to buy the ship (a baggala, by the way, spelled that way in the subtitles, and I can't tell you how quickly I tired of hearing the word baggala) and of course Sinbad falls for her right away.
When he visits her in her garden later, she tells him of the mysterious and evil Jamal who indeed tries to kill Sinbad right there and then.

If you now wonder why I keep using the word "mysterious", that's on purpose. Everything is very mysterious.
Shireen is acting on behalf of the Emir although you feel she's drawn to Sinbad somehow. Both she and the Emir think Sinbad is the actual Prince Ahmed of Deryabar and will lead them to the island while Sinbad had hoped Shireen knew the way and would travel there with him.
And of course we know Jamal wants the treasure as well, but who is he and where is he now?

Sinbad and his crew travel to Daibul where he abducts Shireen and escapes daringly, but the Emir follows them and they all meet - Sinbad, Shireen, the Emir, and Jamal (who had posed as the ship's barber). Of course, the Emir wants to get rid of Sinbad right away, but Jamal convinces him that it is best if they all work together.
On reaching Deryabar, they find Aga who's living in an empty palace. He tries to show them that happiness can't be found in treasure, but of course that doesn't work with that kind of people.
Although Sinbad admits that he's not Aga's son when the Emir tries to kill him, Aga reveals the hiding spot of the treasure. While the others are busy with the treasure, he also tells Sinbad that he had given his son to sailors in order to protect him and that Sinbad is in fact Ahmed.
It is also revealed that Jamal has intended to poison the Emir  who makes him drink the poison himself. He dies sitting in the treasure. Meanwhile Sinbad has taken off to free his crew on the Emir's ship and they shoot Greek fire at the boat the Emir took to come back with.

Back home Sinbad tries to spread Aga's moral of happiness being in the heart and the head, but his audience is just interested in the gold and jewels he's showing them.

I didn't sound very enthusiastic, did I?
This was the first on-screen appearance of Sinbad the Sailor which pretty much set our image of him as the bold, romantic hero with the irresistible smile.
Bosley Crowther stated in this New York Times article from January 1947 that "it is quite a pleasure - and quite a reminder, too - to watch young Mr. Fairbanks cut loose in a gymnastic role".
He was of course reminded of the senior in his classic "The Thief of Bagdad" from 1924, the smile, the movements, the bravado.

I have to agree with Crowther, however, about everybody constantly talking in a flowery style and there being very little adventure which can make 108 minutes seem very long. I found myself wishing they would finally shut up and do something.
And where are the monsters? Having grown up with a children's edition of 1,001 Nights, I think it's not asking too much if I want to see Sinbad in a fight with a monster, maybe a little one? According to the German commentary, Ray Harryhausen felt the same which inspired him to do his own Sinbad movies, and who could forget the fabulous monsters in those?!

I think the actors didn't really get much opportunity to shine.
Douglas Fairbanks jr. makes a very good romantic hero, no doubt about that.
Maureen O'Hara is beautiful of course.
Anthony Quinn looks very handsome as the Emir.
Walter Slezak made an interesting villain although I don't really see him as a sword wielding assassin.
All that talking, though!

I was a fan of the cloak Sinbad was wearing on the journey, it fell and swung beautifully which I noticed every time he moved.
The costumes were really rich and lovely, and so were the colors of the movie, but the talking ... I really wanted to like the movie more than I did; and who knows, maybe if there had been a monster for me and if the movie had been a bit shorter and there had been more swordplay and a lot less talking ... actually I think I might have liked it a lot better then.

I started watching the movie with the German commentary  (there was no English one) of Dr. Rolf Giesen, a film scientist and journalist and one of the leading German experts on the fantastic film.
He didn't just talk about the movie, but also shared facts about everyone involved, and so far it has been almost more interesting the movie itself, but of course I love watching documentaries.

It's not as if I didn't enjoy any part of the movie at all (beside the cloak 🤣), but it could have/should have been better, so much better.

P.S. They may not fit the "Winter of Fairbanks jr.", but I will be watching the 1940 "Thief of Bagdad" and the first Harryhausen Sinbad next 😉
Give me monsters!
Maybe I will even be tackling the 2 1/2 hours of the 1924 "Thief" eventually.