Sinbad the Sailor

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Wallace directs. George Barnes behind the camera. Roy Webb scores. Frank Doyle cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 279 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by Richard Wallace, shot by George Barnes. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Roy Webb. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Frank Doyle shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Maureen O'Hara and Walter Slezak carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "BRAVE in Adventure! BOLD in Love!".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0039826 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Only 51 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography

George Barnes

Original score

Roy Webb

Editing

Frank Doyle

Makeup / hair

Bill Phillips

Stunt coordinator

David Sharpe

Runtime

116 min · 1h 56m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$3,000,000

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Sinbad the Sailor (1947) ↗

Also by

Richard Wallace

• 
  Eight Girls in a Boat

  1934 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Lady Be Good

  1928 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Anybody's War

  1930 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Shopworn Angel

  1928 · ★ 9.0
• 
  The Butter and Egg Man

  1928 · ★ 9.0
• 
  A Texas Steer

  1927 · ★ 9.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Sinbad The Sailor 1947 Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2020-07-13
  ★ 6/10

  Who, more than all other sons of Allah, spread glory to the name of Sinbad? Sinbad the Sailor is directed by Richard Wallace and written by John Twist and George Worthing Yates. It stars Douglas Fairbanks Junior, Maureen O'Hara, Walter Slezak, Anthony Quinn, George Tobias and Jane Greer. Music is scored by Roy Webb and Technicolor cinematography by George Barnes. Sinbad (Fairbanks Jr.) regales all about his Eighth Voyage, where he went to the fabled island of Deryabar in search of the lost treasure of Alexander the Great. There's so much good about Sinbad the Sailor, the lush colour photography, the skilfully constructed sets and paintings, Roy Webb's evocative score, costuming to dazzle the eyes and Fairbanks Junior with energy and athleticism to burn. The trouble is that RKO only push the boat out half way, for they have let the writers come up with a very verbose screenplay, one which is painfully stretched to nearly two hours of film! For a family fantasy adventure film there is a surprisingly small amount of action to entertain the masses. When it comes, in dribs and drabs, it's well put together and a merciful relief, but alas, more elongated passages of barely worthwhile dialogue is just around the corner. Still, the good points in the production are reason enough to sit through the two hours. Even the casting decisions, that sees American, Irish, Austrian & Mexican actors playing Asians, are forgiven given the gusto and charm they put into their respective roles. But don't be fooled, the poster proclaimed it as "One Of The Greatest Adventures Of All Times", that would be true, if only they had shaved about 30 minutes off of the first hour! 6/10

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2022-07-07
  ★ 7/10

  First thing's first, this is seriously verbose. The dialogue is mostly second rate and boy, is there a lot of it... That said, though, Douglas Fairbanks is charming in the title role. Here, armed with a medallion/map, he sets out to track down an enormous treasure hidden by Alexander the Great. The supporting characters are fun - the evil "Melik" (Walter Slezak), the gorgeous "Shireen" (Maureen O'Hara) and the avaricious Emir (Anthony Quinn) and the compendium style construction of the film pulls together the adventurous streams into a final quest for the loot in an agreeable manner. It's bright and colourful, there is enough swash and buckle to keep it interesting and Slezak is particularly effective as the scheming plotter. It's a bit too long, to be fair, and is a bit too stage bound at times - but Roy Webb creates a suitably grand Arabian score and the cinematography provides for an enjoyable enough costume adventure that I really quite liked.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  RKO Radio Pictures

  US

Key crew

• ProducerStephen Ames
• EditorFrank Doyle
• Art DirectionCarroll Clark
• Art DirectionAlbert S. D'Agostino
• Set DecorationClaude E. Carpenter
• Set DecorationDarrell Silvera
• Costume DesignerEdward Stevenson
• Makeup ArtistBill Phillips
• Makeup SupervisorGordon Bau
• Assistant DirectorLloyd Richards
• SoundClem Portman
• SoundJohn E. Tribby
• Special EffectsGeorge Big Jim Saunders
• Special EffectsVernon L. Walker
• Special EffectsHarold E. Wellman
• StuntsJimmy Dime
• StuntsMary Jane French
• Stunt CoordinatorDavid Sharpe

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• treasure map
• sinbad / sindbad
• pirate
• gold digger
• hidden treasure

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1947-01-13NR

Also known as

International titles

• Синдбад-МореходRU