Pandora and The Flying Dutchman (1951)

There are few films that can be acclaimed as truly mad, but Pandora and the Flying Dutchman stands rather wonderfully in this category. Its combination of lust and erudition is inspired by mythology but seems peopled by characters from some hybrid novel co-authored by Somerset Maugham and Ernest Hemingway. Pandora Reynolds (Ava Gardner) is a singer in a coastal town in Spain, where her hobby is attracting the devoted love of powerful men made helpless in her presence. (A race-car driver blithely pushes his one-of-a-kind vehicle over a cliff, just to earn her trust.) While fending off other suitors, including a bullfighter, she becomes intrigued by the mystery man (James Mason) whose yacht is moored offshore. Since he is Dutch, perhaps he is related to the mythical, immortal Flying Dutchman? Don't think it can't happen in this overheated affair. Gardner and Mason are not at their best (she looks ultra-glamorous, of course), but their movie-star wattage is high. The real star is the Technicolor cinematography by the great Jack Cardiff (The Red Shoes); the throbbing colors are just right for the unreal scenario playing out before us. Writer-director Albert Lewin, probably best known for his Picture of Dorian Gray, had a literary bent, and in this movie that means people are constantly planting their feet and reciting snippets of poetry toward the moonlit sea. Somehow this fits in perfectly with the rest of the delirium. --Robert Horton Amazon.com

Classic Ethereal Fantasy

Albert Lewin's independently produced and directed UK film PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN (1951) is one of the most ethereal and haunting love stories ever filmed. Lewin directs with keen eyes and doesn't often stray from the ethereal atmosphere, to the viewers delight. We get truly superb performances by the entire cast, particularly Ava Gardner, who delivers a heart-felt and very memorable performance. Not to mention the other-worldly photography, which is beautifully shot by two-time Oscar winner, the master cinematographer, Jack Cardiff (BLACK NARCISSUS,THE RED SHOES). Another major addition to this film is the musical score by classical composer Alan Rawsthorne, which is dream-like and uplifting, yet blended with a sense of melancholy. The score also blends poetically with the other-worldly visual richness to extraordinary effect. Fans of classic fantasy films are sure to be delighted. Highly recommended. July 27, 2008

Challenging, Intriguing, Entertaining, and Sensual

Albert Lewin, the writer/director of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, had a distinctive style that was unique in Hollywood. His surrealist references, the choreography-like blocking of his characters, and his fascination with existential/psychological themes may have been more obvious in his films of the 1940's (The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Moon and Sixpence) but they are all present here as well. Blended with the lush sensuality of the Spanish Coast, mirrored in his heroine, Pandora, they are less obvious and more richly illustrated.

Lewin was never interested in a naturalistic style of film making; he lets the theme dominate the characters, moving them like chess pieces toward their fate. In this case, the theme is human passion. In the opening scenes we are introduced to the theme through the suicide-for-love of one of Pandora's suitors counterpointed by the impassioned flamenco dancing of La Pillina. To live or die for passion: that is the question. Each of the male characters is driven by their need to possess Pandora and each works it out --and pays for it--in different ways. The Dutchman is the wild card here because he must deal with a fate that has left him with human passions but demands that he transcend his humanity in order to die.

Pandora is more than a mere catalyst for the male characters. Unlike most heroines of the early 50's, she is given a willful personality and left to work out her own fate. Which of the men will she choose and why?

If you are looking for a piece of romantic escapism, this film works on that level but to look at it in this way is to miss its richness and the challenging questions raised by the theme. References to the work of artists Man Ray, De Chirico, Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp and the Surrealist school abound. Aesthetics, philosophy, art, and life are intertwined. Buy the film and watch it. Then peel back the layers with Susan Felleman's book "Botticelli in Hollywood: The Films of Albert Lewin" and watch the film again. It's challenging, intriguing, awkward, entertaining, and a sensual treat. February 29, 2008

ACE

Speedy delivery as always. DVD was delivered in perfect condition and is being well enjoyed. Hope to do more business with you in the near future. October 17, 2007

confusing, Curdled elements. Not the one I originally saw !

Many , many years ago , in Britain, I saw a DIFFERENT version of this movie which was riveting and fascinating. (I have NEVER forgotten the lines about "The moving finger writes and having writ moves on...."!) The end of the movie was in B+W, with them both leaning over the rail of the Flying Dutchman and mist and sea spray adding to the "DOOMED" aura. This version was both disappointing and almost embarassing in its flamboyant, self-indulgent, self-consciousness....PLUS the over saturated color-work. However, as it happens I can find no reference to the copy I originally saw....?? August 24, 2007

Cool and Creamy

Ava beguiles us with her dewy gardenia beauty as Pandora Reymolds, untouchable night club singer. This film noir is soft as a ripple of silk and sensuously ghostly. Pandora's mind is another dimension; where the captain is. A romantic ache is created between the lovers and we long for the completion. This movie is delusively calm.

Fine acting, as expected, from James Mason the love-tortured captain Hendrik of The Flying Dutchman, who waits in the jewelled waters of Esperanza, a Spanish seaport, for fulfillment of a legend. Is love an apparition or is it strong enough to pass through the centuries? Pandora and The Flying Dutchman August 13, 2007

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