Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Nice effects though.

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

A fascinating variation on the old story of the Flying Dutchman and his eternal damnation, which only a true love can save him from, here Ava Gardner at her most intoxicating, while the Dutchman couldn't have been anyone better than James Mason, who later also played Captain Nemo, almost the same character. The film also offers some fabulous bullfighting scenes with its dances of death in some way symbolically illustrating the character of the film, which emanates into the final difficult and unresolvable issue of what death really is, if not just a gateway to another or even the eternal life? The archaeologist, who is the only one who realizes who James Mason is at an early stage, tries to solve the riddles but only succeeds in documenting them. It's a well written story by the director of other similar cases, like "The Moon and Sixpence" and "The Portrait of Dorian Gray", both with George Sanders, somewhat spiritually related with James Mason with the same kind of more bottoms than one, and this is perhaps Albert Lewin's best film, succeeding very well with his characters, especially James Mason and Ava Gardner - I don't think I ever saw her more to her advantage, and still she is not entirely sympathetic here. Her final black dress really puts the final crown on the performance. There are also some very commendable taverna scenes with flamencos and gipsies, which adds to making this half supernatural story more realistic than it is. Everything happens in a small coastal village of Spain, which you recognize from several other films for its picturesqueness, contributing essentially to the very enjoyable beauty of the scenery throughout the film. The brief appearance of Marius Goring in the beginning should not be ignored in any review - it sets the mood for the entire half melodrama, half noir, half science fiction and half occult character of timelessness of the film, which clearly was the aim of the writer/director, which he succeeds in reaching.

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...

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?

Well, call me "histrionic" (hahahahaha), but... I'm watching it just now for perhaps the third or fourth time since I was seven or eight years old. I was dumbstruck by it then. I guess she was, too. I met her 20 years later. She'd literally made herself into this character. The woman men will do anything for. We took her marriage apart then, and took one of mine apart 15 years later.Well, she wanted to be stimulated, and I evidently did it as well as anyone for a time, even though I was no James Mason, Clark Gable or even Leslie Howard.Today, I am a devotee of direct, wordless experience. And there is much to be directly experienced right =now=. "And to have found her faithless!" So I "killed all that I loved," and shut myself off from that much life after so many years of trying to find it again. "Faith is a lie, and God himself is chaos!" "He will find no woman faithful and fair." "Would I sail alone 'til doomsday?"Bewitched (or =something=) by all this drama, I suffered as he did for 35 years... until I put my wordless consciousness into the oven and used this film again to be "there" with her. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, P&TFD is a ten for me =personally=, even if it is a product of its time and a pretty fair attempt to follow in the footsteps of George Bernard Shaw. The melancholy may dearly love it. But those who need to work their way through a "timeless love" may find the keys to their prison cells right here.