There are some rich characterisations in this tale of the early adventures of Marco Polo, which had largely been left uncharted since the formidable Gary Cooper film of 1938. Anthony Quinn's Kublai Khan and Akim Tamiroff's lecherous Old Man of the Mountain (surrounded by a bevy of leather-clad beauties) are especially enjoyable, but Horst Buchholz's weak account of the hero signalled the beginning of his decline in international films. Some of the settings, especially those in Asia Minor and China (though the film was largely shot in Yugoslavia, Egypt and Afghanistan) are superb.

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