Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)

Director:

Albert Lewin

Writer:

Albert Lewin (story)

Release Date:

15 October 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Romance

Tagline:

The Woman of the year in the picture of the year ! [Australia Theatrical]

Plot:

Albert Lewin's interpretation of the legend of the Flying Dutchman. In a little Spanish seaport named Esperanza...

Plot Keywords:

Flying Dutchman | Yacht | Singer | Legend | Bullfighter

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

James Mason	...	Hendrik van der Zee
Ava Gardner	...	Pandora Reynolds
Nigel Patrick	...	Stephen Cameron
Sheila Sim	...	Janet
Harold Warrender	...	Geoffrey Fielding
Mario Cabré	...	Juan Montalvo
Marius Goring	...	Reggie Demarest
John Laurie	...	Angus
Pamela Mason	...	Jenny (as Pamela Kellino)
Patricia Raine	...	Peggy
Margarita D'Alvarez	...	Senora Montalvo
La Pillina	...	Spanish dancer
Abraham Sofaer	...	Judge
Francisco Igual	...	Vicente
Guillermo Beltrán	...	Barman
Lilli Molnar	...	Geoffrey's housekeeper (as Lila Molnar)
Phoebe Hodgson	...	Dressmaker
Gabriel Carmona	...	Member of Montalvo's cuadrilla
Antonio Martín	...	Member of Montalvo's cuadrilla
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lolita Allergria	...	Singer, Zanba number (uncredited)
John Carew	...	Priest (uncredited)
Helen Cleverley	...	Second nurse (uncredited)
Pepe de la Isla	...	Guitarist, Zambra number (uncredited)
Christiana Forbes	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Eddie Leslie	...	Doctor (uncredited)
Ricardo Valle	...	(uncredited)
Gerald Welsh	...	Assistant doctor (uncredited)

Directed by
Albert Lewin

Writing credits
Albert Lewin		(story and screenplay)

Produced by
Joe Kaufmann	....	producer
Albert Lewin	....	producer
John Woolf	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Alan Rawsthorne

Cinematography by
Jack Cardiff

Film Editing by
Ralph Kemplen
Clive Donner		(uncredited)

Production Design by
John Bryan

Costume Design by
Beatrice Dawson

Makeup Department
Nina Broe	....	assistant hair stylist (uncredited)

Art Department
John Hawkesworth	....	set dresser
T. Hopewell Ash	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Alan Allen	....	sound recordist
Harry Miller	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
W. Percy Day	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Man Ray	....	still photographer
Edward Scaife	....	photographer: second unit

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Julia Squire	....	costumer (uncredited)

Music Department
Hubert Clifford	....	musical director
Alan Rawsthorne	....	conductor
Kenneth V. Jones	....	music coach: Ava Gardner (uncredited)
Gerard Schurmann	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Joan Bridge	....	technicolor color consultant
Gordon Griffith	....	assistant to producers
Angela Allen	....	continuity (uncredited)
Catherine O'Brien	....	unit publicist (uncredited)
Jeanie Sims	....	assistant: Albert Lewin (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Dorkay Productions
• Romulus Films

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Kino Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• J. Arthur Rank Film (1953) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• J.Arthur Rank-Film (1953) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Park Circus (2010) (UK) (theatrical) (re-issue)
• Kino Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Park Circus (2010) (UK) (DVD)
• Éditions Montparnasse (201) (Belgium) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Dorkay Productions

Trivia:

Esperanza, the name of the fishing village, is the Spanish for 'hope' which was the only thing left after Pandora opened her box in the Greek myth

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the workroom where Stephen is repairing his race car, the words "NON FUMAR" are written on the wall, with the English words "NO SMOKING" beneath. The Spanish is incorrect: it should read "NO FUMAR".

Quotes:

Geoffrey Fielding:[about Pandora and the Dutchman] I know now that they were in love. But I have a feeling that they never spoke of it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in All Night Long (2010)

Soundtrack:

You're Driving Me Crazy

Do not be afraid to open the box....

.... cause ,though a bit too long,"Pandora" is an unique film .It is part of those movies in which love refutes everything ,including space and time.It is continuously constructed and when it's over we have the strange feeling of having come full circle.

"Pandora" is wrapped in mystery and it renewed the genre which "Peter Ibbetson "and "portrait of Jennie" had pioneered in the thirties and late forties which "Somewhere in Time" (based on a Richard Matheson novel) would continue in the eighties.

Ava Gardner,the most beautiful woman of that era (and for me the most beautiful woman of all time) is ideally cast as the female lead.Who else could play such a gorgeous creature ?James Mason gives a tormented heartrending performance.

Albert Lewin made few movies but the best of them (the picture of Dorian Gray" "the private Affairs of Bel-Ami" ) are worth seeking out.The only real horror is "Saadia" which even Michel Simon could not redeem.

Ava Gardner and James Mason would play another legendary couple (real this time):Francis-Joseph and Elisabeth of Austria.("Mayerling",Terence Young,1968)