However, he went on, "it is amiable make-believe, rich in the outlandish pageantry Hollywood loves to manufacture, facilely narrated and enjoyably played.

"[4] Variety called the film "a spectacular melodrama" and "an excellent vehicle for Cooper" and inaccurately predicted that it would be a box office hit.

[7] John Mosher of The New Yorker called the film "a big disappointment" and described the dialogue as having "the swing of a bad libretto.

"[8] Motion Picture Daily praised the "lavish" production but said the title role would have been much better suited to Rudolph Valentino than Gary Cooper.

[9] The New York Sun wrote, "In spite of its elaborate settings and the presence of Gary Cooper, The Adventures of Marco Polo never quite lives up to its promises.

"[10] In Italy, the fascist censors considered the film disrespectful to the eponymous hero and insisted on re-dubbing it to make the protagonist a Scotsman called MacBone Pan and releasing it under the title Uno scozzese alla corte del Gran Kan (A Scotsman at the Great Khan's court).