Pandora and the Flying Dutchman
Encyclopedia
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman is a 1951
British drama film made by Romulus Films and released by MGM in the United States. It was directed by Albert Lewin
and produced by Joe Kaufmann and Albert Lewin from his own screenplay
, based on the legend of The Flying Dutchman
.
It starred Ava Gardner
and James Mason
, featuring Nigel Patrick
, Sheila Sim
, Harold Warrender, Mario Cabré and Marius Goring
. The cinematographer was Jack Cardiff
. Most of the movie was shot on location in Tossa de Mar
, Spain
, where a statue of Gardner has been erected on the hill overlooking the town's main beach.
MGM delayed its release until Gardner's star-making role in 1951's Show Boat
. The tactic worked, and this film solidified her status as a rising star.
), to the beach. Fielding returns to his villa, and retells the story of these two people, trying to make sense of the events.
Esperanza's small group of English expatriates revolves around Pandora
Reynolds (Ava Gardner), an American nightclub singer and femme fatale
. All the men love her (or believe that they do), but Pandora is unable to love anyone.
She tests her admirers by demanding they give up something they value, citing Geoffrey Fielding's quote that the "measure of love is how much you are willing to sacrifice for it." One of her admirers (Marius Goring
) even commits suicide in front of Pandora and her friends by drinking wine that he has laced with poison, but Pandora apparently shows indifference.
Pandora agrees to marry a land-speed record holder, Stephen Cameron (Nigel Patrick
), after he sends his racing car tumbling into the sea at her request. That same night, the Dutch captain Hendrick van der Zee (James Mason) arrives in Esperanza. Pandora swims out to his yacht and finds him painting a picture of her posed as her namesake, Pandora, whose actions brought an end to the earthly paradise in Greek mythology. As with other men in Esperanza, van der Zee appears to fall in love with Pandora, and he moves into the same hotel complex as the other expatriates.
Geoffrey and Hendrick become friends, collaborating to seek background information on the local finds. One of these relics is a notebook written in Old Dutch, which reveals that Hendrick van der Zee is the accursed Flying Dutchman
, a 16th-century ship captain who murdered his wife, believing her to be unfaithful. His loss of faith leads him to blaspheme against God at his murder trial, where he is sentenced to death.
The evening before his execution, a mysterious force opens the Dutchman's prison doors and allows him to escape to his waiting ship, where in a dream it is revealed to him that his wife was innocent. The next morning, he discovers his ship manned by ghosts, and that for his lack of faith in man and God he is condemned to sail the seas for eternity unless he can find a woman who loves him enough to die for him. Every seven years the Dutchman can go on shore for six months to find a woman willing to sacrifice her life for him. Pandora declares her love for van der Zee, but the infatuated Dutchman is unwilling to let her die, and tries to provoke her into hating him.
On the eve of her wedding, Pandora approaches Geoffrey, pleading to understand who Hendrick really is. Once he sees the Flying Dutchman setting his sails, he hands her the translated copy of the notebook. On learning the truth, Pandora swims to the Dutchman's becalmed yacht. He shows her a portrait of his murdered wife and she realizes why the painting of Pandora looked like her; van der Zee was painting from memory. Hendrik explains they were once man and wife and through this he has been given the chance to lift his punishment, but he has rejected it because it would mean the loss of her life yet again. Pandora realizes this is why he has never felt like a stranger to her, and why she has come to him now, unafraid. He accepts her love and they are reunited for eternity. That night, a fierce sea storm overturns the yacht. The next morning, the bodies of Pandora and the Dutchman wash up on shore. Their destinies have been fulfilled and the curse has been lifted.
1951 in film
The year 1951 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Sweden - May Britt is scouted by Italian film-makers Carlo Ponti and Mario Soldati-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
British drama film made by Romulus Films and released by MGM in the United States. It was directed by Albert Lewin
Albert Lewin
Albert Lewin was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter.He was born in Brooklyn, New York on September 23, 1894 and raised in Newark, New Jersey. He earned a Master's degree at Harvard and taught English at the University of Missouri...
and produced by Joe Kaufmann and Albert Lewin from his own screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
, based on the legend of The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman
The legend of the Flying Dutchman concerns a ghost ship that can never make port, doomed to sail the oceans forever. It probably originates from 17th-century nautical folklore. The oldest extant version dates to the late 18th century....
.
It starred Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
and James Mason
James Mason
James Neville Mason was an English actor who attained stardom in both British and American films. Mason remained a powerful figure in the industry throughout his career and was nominated for three Academy Awards as well as three Golden Globes .- Early life :Mason was born in Huddersfield, in the...
, featuring Nigel Patrick
Nigel Patrick
Nigel Patrick was an English actor and stage director born into a theatrical family.-Biography:...
, Sheila Sim
Sheila Sim
Sheila Beryl Grant Attenborough, Lady Attenborough , known professionally by her maiden name Sheila Sim, is an English film and theatre actress and the wife of actor and director Richard Attenborough.- Career :...
, Harold Warrender, Mario Cabré and Marius Goring
Marius Goring
Marius Goring CBE was an English stage and cinema actor. He is most often remembered for the four films he did with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in A Matter of Life and Death and as Julian Craster in The Red Shoes...
. The cinematographer was Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff, OBE, BSC was a British cinematographer, director and photographer.His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor to filmmaking in the 21st century...
. Most of the movie was shot on location in Tossa de Mar
Tossa de Mar
Tossa de Mar is a municipality in Catalonia, Spain, located on the Costa Brava, about 103 kilometres north of Barcelona and 100 kilometres south of the French border...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, where a statue of Gardner has been erected on the hill overlooking the town's main beach.
MGM delayed its release until Gardner's star-making role in 1951's Show Boat
Show Boat (1951 film)
Show Boat is a 1951 Technicolor film based on the musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II and the novel by Edna Ferber....
. The tactic worked, and this film solidified her status as a rising star.
Plot
In the early 1930s fisherman in the small Spanish port of Esperanza make a grim discovery in their nets, the bodies of a man and a woman. The resultant ringing of church bells in the village brings the local police and the resident archaeologist, Geoffrey Fielding (Harold WarrenderHarold Warrender
Harold Warrender was a British film actor.His father was Sir George Warrender, 7th Baronet.-Selected filmography:* Leave It to Blanche * Lady in Danger * Mimi * Lazybones...
), to the beach. Fielding returns to his villa, and retells the story of these two people, trying to make sense of the events.
Esperanza's small group of English expatriates revolves around Pandora
Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts...
Reynolds (Ava Gardner), an American nightclub singer and femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
. All the men love her (or believe that they do), but Pandora is unable to love anyone.
She tests her admirers by demanding they give up something they value, citing Geoffrey Fielding's quote that the "measure of love is how much you are willing to sacrifice for it." One of her admirers (Marius Goring
Marius Goring
Marius Goring CBE was an English stage and cinema actor. He is most often remembered for the four films he did with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in A Matter of Life and Death and as Julian Craster in The Red Shoes...
) even commits suicide in front of Pandora and her friends by drinking wine that he has laced with poison, but Pandora apparently shows indifference.
Pandora agrees to marry a land-speed record holder, Stephen Cameron (Nigel Patrick
Nigel Patrick
Nigel Patrick was an English actor and stage director born into a theatrical family.-Biography:...
), after he sends his racing car tumbling into the sea at her request. That same night, the Dutch captain Hendrick van der Zee (James Mason) arrives in Esperanza. Pandora swims out to his yacht and finds him painting a picture of her posed as her namesake, Pandora, whose actions brought an end to the earthly paradise in Greek mythology. As with other men in Esperanza, van der Zee appears to fall in love with Pandora, and he moves into the same hotel complex as the other expatriates.
Geoffrey and Hendrick become friends, collaborating to seek background information on the local finds. One of these relics is a notebook written in Old Dutch, which reveals that Hendrick van der Zee is the accursed Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman
The legend of the Flying Dutchman concerns a ghost ship that can never make port, doomed to sail the oceans forever. It probably originates from 17th-century nautical folklore. The oldest extant version dates to the late 18th century....
, a 16th-century ship captain who murdered his wife, believing her to be unfaithful. His loss of faith leads him to blaspheme against God at his murder trial, where he is sentenced to death.
The evening before his execution, a mysterious force opens the Dutchman's prison doors and allows him to escape to his waiting ship, where in a dream it is revealed to him that his wife was innocent. The next morning, he discovers his ship manned by ghosts, and that for his lack of faith in man and God he is condemned to sail the seas for eternity unless he can find a woman who loves him enough to die for him. Every seven years the Dutchman can go on shore for six months to find a woman willing to sacrifice her life for him. Pandora declares her love for van der Zee, but the infatuated Dutchman is unwilling to let her die, and tries to provoke her into hating him.
On the eve of her wedding, Pandora approaches Geoffrey, pleading to understand who Hendrick really is. Once he sees the Flying Dutchman setting his sails, he hands her the translated copy of the notebook. On learning the truth, Pandora swims to the Dutchman's becalmed yacht. He shows her a portrait of his murdered wife and she realizes why the painting of Pandora looked like her; van der Zee was painting from memory. Hendrik explains they were once man and wife and through this he has been given the chance to lift his punishment, but he has rejected it because it would mean the loss of her life yet again. Pandora realizes this is why he has never felt like a stranger to her, and why she has come to him now, unafraid. He accepts her love and they are reunited for eternity. That night, a fierce sea storm overturns the yacht. The next morning, the bodies of Pandora and the Dutchman wash up on shore. Their destinies have been fulfilled and the curse has been lifted.