Debuting this month from Kino Lorber is a movie that’s never been released on home video in this country, and one that’s been notoriously difficult to simply see at all, at least since it was taken out of syndicated TV circulation over 30 years ago: the international production MARCO POLO (104 mins., 1962), starring Roy Calhoun as a (predictably) less than an accurate depiction of the real 13th century explorer. This Marco is a dashing Saturday matinee hero who travels the world expanding his trade, helping Kublai Khan and falling for his daughter (Yoko Tani) in the process.
The movie was one of numerous Italian-lensed pictures that were shot with an American lead and then shopped to studios like American-International for release back in the 1960s – think any number of “Hercules” sequels with Steve Reeves or the like. Calhoun himself starred in a few of them, most notably “The Colossus of Rhodes,” and here takes center stage in this film (one that lists Hugo Fregonese and Piero Pierotti as co-directors), which deftly recycles stock footage with Cinemascope sized B-grade adventure – amidst a predictably silly script – that fans nostalgic for the era ought to appreciate.
It’s safe to say nobody has seen “Marco Polo” like this before – in more ways than one. Not only does Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray (2.35, mono) offer a spectacular, fresh and vibrant 4K restoration of the picture, but it’s being screened here in a version never before seen in the U.S.
Back when “Marco Polo” was released by AIP, the studio trimmed the film and redubbed the picture – they also had the movie rescored by Les Baxter, dropping Angelo Francisco Lavagnino’s score from the original European print. This version of the movie was the only one seen in the U.S., but it seems to have been lost to time as Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray debuts the movie’s “export” version instead: a different English dub with additional scenes and Lavagnino’s score fully intact.
Like most, I’ve never seen any previous version of the film so I have no baseline to compare it with, but I did hear Baxter’s punchier score for the AIP cut courtesy of Kritzerland’s release on CD, and it seems like AIP attempted to instill a faster pace and sense of energy this 104-minute cut is mostly devoid of. While you could argue Baxter’s more “colorful” score is livelier, on the other hand, Lavagnino’s score is certainly “prettier” and flows with a more lyrical tone, apropos to what’s on-screen – at least in this version.
Thankfully, Tim Lucas is on-hand here to explain the mystery surrounding the unique home video discovery Kino Lorber has given us. In his commentary, Lucas touches upon the film’s history and tries to make sense of what AIP could’ve cut out of the movie, as well as its special place as an internationally-designed co-production, sporting the sensibilities of filmmakers from all around the globe.