Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Maddyclassicfilms Pandora and The Flying Dutchman is directed by Albert Lewin, produced by Albert Lewin and Joseph Kaufman, has a screenplay by Albert Lewin, photography by Jack Cardiff and stars James Mason, Ava Gardner, Nigel Patrick, Mario Cabre, Harold Warrender, Shelia Sim and Marius Goring.Haunting, poetic, romantic and moving Pandora and The Flying Dutchman is one of the most beautiful films ever made. Cardiff's beautiful Technicolor photography makes it look more like an exquisite painting rather than a film. Ava Gardner is at the height of her beauty and James Mason is at his most intense and brooding.Set on the coast of Spain in the 1930's the film begins with some local fisherman discovering two dead bodies, a man and a woman. In flashback we follow the story of American singer Pandora Reynolds(Ava Gardner),Pandora has many men desperate for her attention and love including British racing driver Stephen Cameron(Nigel Patrick)a good and kind man who is in love with her.There's also pitiful Reggie Demarest(Marius Goring)who is slowly drinking himself to death because Pandora isn't in love with him. Pandora is also involved with the dashing bull fighter Juan Montalvo(Mario Cabre)a jealous and passionate man who would kill any man who love her just to have her as his own.Not really interested in any of these men Pandora meets her predestined match, the mysterious Dutchman Hendrick Van Der Zee(James Mason)a tourist who lives on his yacht just off the shore. Pandora falls in love with him and is intrigued by him and the mystery surrounding him. Her curiosity deepens when it seems he could be the famed Flying Dutchman, cursed to sail the seas for eternity until he finds a woman willing to die for him. Archaeologist Geoffrey Fielding(Harold Warrender)is also intrigued by Van Der Zee and becomes more and more convinced that he may be the cursed Captain.You're not sure for a while whether Van Der Zee is the cursed Flying Dutchman or just a lonely man with some mystery and sadness in his life and if Pandora and Fielding are reading too much into the odd things about him.This film is a love story like no other and the entire cast give brilliant performances.

jackeugenebarry If you dig the Classic Stuff, this is a really strange and righteously romantic fable-like take on an old legend sorta-thing, made in 1950, set in 1930, done in that Classic English version of technicolor (as opposed to the candy-colored American "Wizard of Oz" style). In the way the Brits liked to use it back in the day - usually in the capable painterly hands of this flick's cinematographer, Jack Cardiff - Technicolor was given a whole different look and feel, more muted and elusive, distant and mysterious, but no less stylized or romantic (even rapturous) than our primary-colored U.S. use of the process. In this flick, the color and look and feel of the imagery conveys the vibe of some strange stirring dream that's just so... something... that it couldn't be either true or false. It just sweeps you along in its swell... No joke, movie lovers, This Thing Is The Genuine Goods.AVA GARDNER, smack-dab in her prime right here (somewhere in between "The Killers" & "The Barefoot Contessa", both also Great), was always sultry, seductive, and at a bit of a remove from all the mere men who wanted to get it rollin' with her. Here, she takes that mold and both fills it AND breaks through it. And she stars with JAMES MASON, who was always Really Intense, and always Really Good, and whom we also have here right in the thick of his hot-streak ("Odd Man Out", "A Star Is Born", "Bigger Than Life", "Lolita"). She's this woman who has Everything she could want, but... And he's this man who asks for Nothing, but needs Something, and...Ladies, this one goes nice and old-school for you and the one you love. (and Gentlemen, go with the flow on this one. You'll be cool with it.) Hey, you know what? I can't say anything more, Y'all. Seek this one out and take it in.

MartinHafer This film is a reworking of the legend of the Flying Dutchman. A wild and slightly crazy lady (Ava Gardner) is flighty and, well, rather nuts. When a sailboat nears her home in Spain, she impulsively swam naked out to the boat and meets a man (James Mason) after she wraps herself up in a bit of canvas. He seems VERY preoccupied and moody--and is working on a painting that looks a bit like Gardner (though I didn't think it looked nearly as close as the film said). She is clearly intrigued by this new man and wants to spend much time with him.A bit later, Gardner's friend (Nigel Patrick) shows the moody dude something written in 17th century Dutch--and Mason seems to be able to read it with ease. That's because it is, in fact, his own personal memoirs! It seems he's the famous Flying Dutchman and the paper explains how he came to be cursed to wander the seas alone for eternity--unless, and this is weird, he can get a lady to agree to die for him. You also learn that Gardner is some sort of reincarnated version of the lady Mason murdered--hence, cursing him to his fate."Pandora and the Flying Dutchman" is a lovely film, as the color stock used is quite nice and makes the leading lady (Gardner) look her best. However, it's far from a perfect film and it wasn't exactly my type of film--even though I love older films. The film has two problems for me. First, it's an odd choice having the British actor James Mason play a person who is Dutch. It just didn't seem convincing--much as I love Mason in films. Second, the film took brooding to new heights--with LOTS of pained looks. And, third, the film seemed a bit talky--and I would have preferred a bit more action and romance. Worth seeing but far from a must-see.By the way, wasn't the murder a bit reminiscent of "Othello"? Just thinking...

blanche-2 The story of the Flying Dutchman is given a sumptuous production here, directed by Albert Lewin. Set in the 1930s, Hendrick van der Zee, the captain of a yacht, appears in the Spanish seaport of Esperanza. There he meets the mysterious and beautiful Pandora, a man magnet who has every man in the village, it seems in love with her. Pandora herself has never been in love, but there is incredible chemistry between her and Hendrick. Hendrick is soon found to be the 17th century Flying Dutchman, cursed to wander the world forever, unless he meets a woman willing to die for him.Lewin does a good job both on the screenplay and direction, though both have flaws, and the music is a little overpowering at times. The film moves slowly in places. But the casting is wonderful. The only woman who could have played Pandora in 1951 was Ava Gardner, stunningly beautiful and sexy with that low, husky voice and incredible face. And let's not forget her figure which was dressed in dazzling costumes throughout the film. James Mason is handsome and mysterious as Hendrik, and the entire production is gorgeous to look at.If you're an Ava Gardner or James Mason fan, don't miss this marvelous showcase for their talents. And do they make a fantastic looking couple or what?